1. BIOLOGY ADVANCEMENT
BIOFUEL PRODUCTION – NEW ADVANCES
May 12, 2013 — Advanced biofuels – liquid fuels
synthesized from the sugars in cellulosic biomass –
offer a clean, green and renewable alternative to
gasoline, diesel and jet fuels. Bringing the costs of
producing these advanced biofuels down to
competitive levels with petrofuels, however, is a
major challenge. Researchers at the U.S. Department
of Energy (DOE)'s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), a
bioenergy research center led by Berkeley Lab, have
taken another step towards meeting this challenge with the development of a new technique for
pretreating cellulosic biomass with ionic liquids - salts that are liquids rather than crystals at room
temperature. This new technique requires none of the expensive enzymes used in previous ionic
liquid pretreatments, and makes it easier to recover fuel sugars and recycle the ionic liquid.
With the burning of fossil fuels continuing to add 9 billion metric tons of excess carbon dioxide to
the atmosphere each year, the need for carbon neutral, cost-competitive renewable alternative
fuels has never been greater. Advanced biofuels, produced from the microbial fermentation of
sugars in lignocellulosic biomass, could displace gasoline, diesel and jet fuel on a gallon-for-gallon
basis and be directly dropped into today's engines and infrastructures without impacting
performance. If done correctly, the use of advanced biofuels would not add excess carbon to the
atmosphere.
Environmentally benign ionic liquids are used as green chemistry substitutes for volatile organic
solvents. While showing great potential as a biomass pretreatment for dissolving lignocellulose
and helping to hydrolyze the resulting aqueous solution into fuel sugars, the best of these ionic
liquids so far have required the use of expensive enzymes. Recent studies have shown that acid
catalysts, such as hydrochloric or Brønsted, can effectively replace enzyme-based hydrolysis, but
the subsequent separation of sugars and ionic liquids becomes a difficult and expensive problem
can require the use of significant amounts of water.
Guided by molecular dynamics simulations carried out at DOE's National Energy Research
Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), Simmons and his colleagues at JBEI solved this problem by
deploying the ionic liquid imidazolium chloride in tandem with an acid catalyst.
"Imidazolium is the most effective known ionic liquid for breaking down lignocellulose and the
chloride anion is amenable with the acid catalyst," Simmons says. "The combination makes it easy
to extract fermentable sugars that have been liberated from biomass and also easy to recover the
ionic liquid for recycling. By eliminating the need for enzymes and decreasing the water
consumption requirements of more traditional ionic liquid pretreatments we should be able to
reduce the costs of sugar production from lignocellulose."

2. GREEN BATTERIES FROM A PLANT
Madder yields natural cathode
Updated Apr. 28, 2013 – Recent research shows that Common Madder (Rubia tinctorum) can be
used to produce rechargeable, green batteries. Common Madder, a climbing plant native to
southern Europe and the Mediterranean, is also known as Dyer's Madder because a red dye
extracted from it has long been used to color cloth.
Scientists at Rice University and the City College of New York have discovered that the madder
plant (Rubia tinctorum) is a good source of purpurin, an organic dye that can be turned into a
highly effective, natural cathode for lithium-ion batteries.
According to lead author Arava Leela Mohana Reddy, a research scientist in the Rice lab of
materials scientist Pulickel Ajayan, their team's research is creating environmentally friendly
batteries that will solve many of the problems associated with the ordinary lithium-ion batteries
widely in use today.
"Green batteries are the need of the hour, yet this topic hasn't really been addressed properly,"
Reddy said. "This is an area that needs immediate attention and sustained thrust, but you cannot
discover sustainable technology overnight." He says the focus of the research community is
currently still primarily on improving the features of conventional batteries. Issues such as
sustainability and recyclability tend to get sidelined.
Though lithium-ion batteries are the standard, Reddy said, rechargeable units cost a lot to
produce. "They're not environmentally friendly. They use cathodes of lithium cobalt oxide, which
are very expensive. You have to mine the cobalt metal and manufacture the cathodes in a high-
temperature environment.
"And then, recycling is a big issue," he said. "In 2010, almost 10 billion lithium-ion batteries had to
be recycled, which uses a lot of energy. Extracting cobalt from the batteries is an expensive
process." Eliminating cobalt would mean eliminating a hazardous material, allow batteries to be
produced at room temperature, and greatly reduce the cost of recycling.

3. The team first discovered the special properties of purpurin while they were testing various
organic molecules for the ability to electrochemically interact with lithium. Purpurin turned out to
be the best at binding lithium ions. To add conductivity they added 20 percent carbon, and then
built a half-battery cell with a capacity of 90 milliamp-hours per gram after 50 charge/discharge
cycles. As it turns out, such cathodes can be made at room temperature.
"It's a new mechanism we are proposing with this paper, and the chemistry is really simple,"
Reddy said. He suggested agricultural waste may be a source of purpurin, as may other suitable
molecules, which makes the process even more economical.
But Reddy hopes to formulate completely green batteries. The team is looking for organic
molecules suitable for anodes and for an electrolyte that doesn't break the molecules down. He
fully expects to have a working prototype of a complete organic battery within a few years.
"What we've come up with should lead to much more discussion in the scientific community
about green batteries," he said.

4. AN INNOVATIVE NEW STEM CELL TECHNOLOGY
This could potentially benefit patients of many conditions - including sickle cell anaemia - has
moved a step closer to becoming a worldwide standard, thanks to the help of investors from
the Arab world.
With their continued support the company says its stem cell technology is poised to transform
the lives of millions currently suffering from debilitating diseases.
The successful completion in India of human proof in principle trials of the innovative process,
which could spell relief for those afflicted with anaemia, diabetes and other ailments was
announced this week by TriStem, a company founded in 1999 by Saudi medical specialist Dr.
Ilham Abuljadayel and her husband, investment banker, Mr. Ghazi Dhoot.
The treatment, based on more than a decade of research, challenges the fundamental basics of
cellular biology. It has enormous potential within the Arab world, home of a number of TriStem's
investors and ironically a region with an unusually high incidence of anaemia and diabetes.
Although the path from discovery to distribution of new medical technology is a long and
expensive one, the success of Dr. Abuljadayel's recent proof of principle trials in India have been
a crucial part of the building blocks needed to prove the process is safe and effective.
Source:
 The ultimate middle east ~ http://www.ameinfo.com/47395.html
 Biology Current Events Online
 The Nature ~ http://www.nature.com/nature/focus/index_biologicalsciences.html