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Tag Archives: sustainability

Access to Tools: Stewart Brand on Synthetic Biology

Interviewed in Newsweek on his latest book, Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto, Stewart Brand stands up against some of the most sacred cows of the mainstream environmental movement. The visionary behind the Whole Earth Catalog, early online community the Well, and the Long Now Foundation, who lives on a biodiesel- and solar-powered houseboat in […]

Another Player on Synthetic Path to Biofuels

I’m not sure exactly why a simple announcement — with no accompanying “proof” — is getting so much play in the media, but a press release this week from the previously “stealth” Cambridge-based biofuels outfit Joule Biotechnologies Inc. has set off a flurry of of breathless blogging and mainstream news pickup. Founded in 2007 by […]

Synthetic Biology News: Promise and Risk

Several news outlets have reported on a recent big deal between ExxonMobil and Synthetic Genomics Inc., a privately held company headed by Craig Venter, to collaborate on the development of biofuels from algae. According to the Business Wire report, if research and development milestones are successfully met, ExxonMobil expects to spend more than $600 million […]

GM Food, All Bad?

Mention genetically modified anything to most sustainable food folks, and you can be pretty sure what you’re going to get: plenty of eye rolling and perhaps a heartfelt, self-righteous diatribe. This Greenpeace link sums up the view pretty well, I think. Looking for a way to reconcile my own whole-hearted enthusiasm for sustainable, organic food […]