Articles

On October 20, 2015, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a “Final Order and Opinion” against ECM BioFilms, Inc., stating that ECM made false and unsubstantiated environmental claims that its additives for plastics (ECM Plastics) would make treated plastics biodegrade in a landfill. The opinion come two years after FTC issued an administrative complaint against ECM and ten months after an FTC Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) issued an Initial Decision finding ECM violated FTC Act...

The pathway to market for new products utilizing synthetic biology can be difficult to navigate, posing a challenge for companies in their efforts to commercialize new ideas, while the novelty posed by some of these products can make it difficult for regulatory agencies to evaluate risks. This report from the Synthetic Biology Project,The DNA of the U.S. Regulatory System: Are We Getting It Right for Synthetic Biology?, looks at the current regulatory oversight of synthetic biology in the United...

The summer of 2015 was surprisingly busy in the industrial biotechnology policy and regulatory arenas with three important announcements regenerating lots of buzz.  On July 2, 2015, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Office of Management and Budget, the US Trade Representative, and the Council on Environmental Quality issued a memorandum directing EPA, FDA, and USDA to update and modernize the Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology.  A few...

On October 20, 2015, the White House announced a grand challenge to develop transformational computing capabilities by combining innovations in multiple scientific disciplines

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently posted a new document in its Series on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials, Developments on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials: 2013.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) posted a new publication in its Series on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials, Preliminary Guidance Notes on Nanomaterials: Interspecies Variability Factors in Human Health Risk Assessment.

On April 6, 2015, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed an important rule under Section 8(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) concerning reporting and recordkeeping requirements for certain chemical substances when manufactured (including imported) or processed at the nanoscale. This article from the Fall, 2015, issue of Environmental Quality Management assists stakeholders in the nanoscale chemical substance area who will be directly impacted by...

The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) announced on September 17, 2015, that the National Science Foundation (NSF) will provide a total of $81 million over five years to support 16 sites and a coordinating office as part of a new National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI).

On August 31, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed an important rule under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) that would ease the standards for healthcare facilities that dispose of hazardous waste pharmaceuticals. The proposal is of interest to all participants in the pharmaceutical value chain, from manufacturers to health care providers to end users. This column explains why.