An international team of scientists has identified an activator-inhibitor system that functions to generate patterns in developing vertebrates that was first theorized by renowned mathematician Alan Turing 60 years ago. Turing, who is also considered the father of computer science and helped to crack Nazi Enigma code during World War II, wrote in a 1952 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B paper that chemical substances, called morphogens, could react together and diffuse through a tissue to give rise to patterns such as tentacle patterns on Hydra, whorled leaf patterns in plants, and stripes or spots on big cats like tigers and leopards.

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center is driving the redevelopment and economic revitalization of a large section on the eastern edge of downtown Winston-Salem. The latest evidence of this development is Wake Forest Biotech Place, a state-of-the-art multipurpose biotechnology research and innovation center and the sixth building Wake Forest Baptist has opened in the growing Piedmont Triad Research Park.

The new research building is a world-class 242,000 square foot historic structure comprised of two former R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. warehouses that have been redeveloped into a modern biotech research laboratory where internationally renowned Wake Forest Baptist researchers are pioneering new fields of medicine discovering tomorrow’s treatments today.

We are tremendously excited by the recent reauthorization of the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) program.  The program is an important one to small businesses, each year providing more than $2 billion of R&D funding to innovative small business across a broad range of technologies.  After a long series of temporary reauthorizations, Congress voted to reauthorize the program and the President signed the bill into law on December 31, 2011.

At SBA, we are now laser-focused on implementing the reauthorization. I thought it would be helpful for the small business community and other stakeholders to lay out our basic plan of attack for implementation.

Josh Buckley, chief executive of an online gaming startup, is looking forward to next month's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, particularly for the parties and the accompanying schmoozing with industry A-listers.

There's one problem: Buckley, who will turn 20 this week, may be turned away from many of the parties because he is not old enough to drink. His fake ID was recently confiscated, and the two new ones he ordered from a company in China have not yet arrived.

Such are the dilemmas facing the ever-younger entrepreneurs that Silicon Valley investors are backing these days.

Michael Duda uses the word fun quite a bit when talking about what he does. It’s not hard to see why. He’s co-founder of Consigliere Brand Capital, a New York-based investment and consulting firm focused crafting great brands from the ground up. Duda comes from the advertising agency Deutsch, and is joined by others from Madison Avenue (Brent Vartan), Wall Street (Andrew Mitchell), even the NBA—Phoenix Suns player Steve Nash is co-founder of the firm.

So far they’ve invested in startups offering subscription services for beauty products (Birchbox) and kids’ activities and toys (Kiwi Crate); a jewelry e-tailer (Chloe + Isabel); a company developing online customer service ratings (StellaService); and an online platform for connecting writers and publishers (Contently). Consumer-oriented businesses are a major focus, as are entrepreneurs who are genuinely nice people. In addition to backing and advising startups, the firm works as a consultant for companies like GNC and Under Armor to develop their brand messages.

Manufacturing matters to the United States because it provides high-wage jobs, commercial innovation (the nation’s largest source), a key to trade deficit reduction, and a disproportionately large contribution to environmental sustainability. The manufacturing industries and firms that make the greatest contribution to these four objectives are also those that have the greatest potential to maintain or expand employment in the United States. Computers and electronics, chemicals (including pharmaceuticals), transportation equipment (including aerospace and motor vehicles and parts), and machinery are especially important.

BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI), a new regional private-public partnership focusing on commercializing market-relevant biohealth innovations and increasing access to early-stage funding in the Central Maryland region, announced today the appointment of its Board of Directors, including Scott Carmer, MedImmune Executive Vice President of Commercial Operations, as Chairman.

"The State of Maryland is known as one of the most well-established biohealth research regions in the world," said Richard Bendis, BHI Interim CEO, "what we need is an integrated commercialization ecosystem to turn such research assets into economic success by fostering the next generation of 'MedImmunes' here. We are grateful for MedImmune's strong support and Scott's leadership to help us advance early-stage research from laboratories to market with the founding of new start-up companies."

State officials said Friday that its tax credit program aimed at spurring investors to fund Minnesota start-ups raised $63.1 million last year for local companies, more than double the amount invested in 2010.

Incentives from the Minnesota Angel Tax Credit Program led to funding for 113 budding firms. The program, which started in the summer of 2010, seeks to help local start-ups become well-established names, with the broader goal of creating jobs in the state.

"If one or two of those 113 firms in 20 years is a Medtronic or 3M, with tens of thousands of employees, I think the program will be a success," said Jeff Nelson, the program's coordinator.

As a result of the $63.1 million in funding, investors received nearly $15.8 million in tax credits. The number of jobs created last year won't be released until March.

You have a BIG idea. A HOT idea. An INSPIRED idea -- one that will make a difference. Maybe it's an idea for a new product... or a new service... or a process improvement. Or maybe you just want to move away and join the circus.

You cannot shake this idea. It shakes you. But you have not told anyone about it. At least not recently. I'm not sure why. Maybe you think you'll be ridiculed... or there's no budget for it... or you don't have the time. So what? If you don't speak up, nothing will happen and you'll only end up cranky and wondering "What if?"

Ben Horowitz, venture capital investor in Silicon Valley, has been using rap lyrics to explain business lessons to techs.

He first discovered the relevance of rap to technical issues after he began incorporating lyrics in business lessons as a chief executive. He actively does this through his blog where he has garnered a following of readers as a result. In addition, he has been able to use his lyric-driven explanations to bring together cultures in the diversity-lacking area of Silicon Valley.  Readers feel as though his posts bridge the gap between cultures. His blog's relatable content allows them to feel as though they do in fact have a place in Silicon Valley.

Josh Buckley, chief executive of an online gaming start-up, is looking forward to next month's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, particularly for the parties and the accompanying schmoozing with industry A-listers.

There's one problem: Buckley, who will turn 20 this week on Feb. 22, may be turned away from many of the parties because he is not old enough to drink. His fake ID was recently confiscated, and the two new ones he ordered from a company in China have not yet arrived.

Such are the dilemmas facing the ever-younger entrepreneurs that Silicon Valley investors are backing these days. While little data on the phenomenon exists, venture capitalists say they are funding more chief executives under age 21 than ever before.

To hear most in the medical device industry tell it, the medical device tax proposed by the Obama administration would result in hellfire and damnation raining down on the industry.

Jobs will be cut, production will shift overseas, American innovation will be stifled and the U.S. will lose its position as the world’s dominant player in medical technology — all because of stupid and short-sighted bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.

Then there’s Paul Stein — a California scientist and clinical investigator who previously worked with Medtronic and St. Jude Medical, and is a member of the device industry who (gasp!) actually supports the tax.

University of Maryland Associate Vice President for Research and Economic Development Brian Darmody is adding to his portfolio the newly created position of University Director of Corporate Relations.

In the new role, Darmody will help coordinate corporate outreach and develop additional corporate partnerships in support of the Great Expectations capital campaign. He will report to both the University's Vice President for University Relations Brodie Remington and to Vice President for Research Pat O'Shea.

You don't need a high-tech lab to live your dream of being a molecular biologist: biohackers work in bedrooms and kitchens. With a few hundred quid and some kit, you too can play God (albeit with lower organisms -- for now), as Mackenzie Cowell, founder of DIY Bio, explains how.

Buy your kit You'll need a fridge, a microwave oven, a freezer and some pipettes. You can grow bacteria in Tupperware boxes. Buy the big stuff online: a thermocycler, an incubator, and a pressure-cooker steriliser from a food-canning machine to kill everything afterwards.

SCRA today announced the closing of the 2012 Industry Partnership Fund (IPF) with a total of $6 million in private contributions. The fund, used to support the SCRA Technology Ventures’ flagship SC Launch program, reached its maximum level of state tax-creditable contributions as defined by the 2006 Industry Partners Act more than two months earlier than last year, with more than 248 individuals and companies donating to this year’s fund.

SCRA exclusively dedicates the funds to spur South Carolina’s entrepreneurial growth and technology-based economic development through support of high-tech, innovative start-up companies in the state. The standout SC Launch program has, since its inception in 2006, provided early stage funding and commercialization support to 251 enterprises, assisted 12 new companies in their relocation to the state and matched 36 federal Small Business Innovation Research awards. These activities have helped position SC Launch portfolio companies to secure more than $167 million in follow-on funding from angel, venture and other private capital sources.

CleanTech, renewable energy and environmentally oriented companies, are reshaping the global economy. While purely resource focused economies may decline, countries that are focused on sustainability are likely to emerge as the new generation of economic leaders. According to researchwhitepaper.com here are ten countries that green investor should consider:

Canada

Canada is doing more than relying on it richness in natural resources. Canada is very smart in terms of capitalizing on the opportunities this richness affords and it is converting these resources into alternative energy. It also has some of the world’s best practices in place for waste management, soil remediation. Canada also has growing green-financial sectors such as various mutual funds dedicated to sustainable companies and green economy.

The days when you locked and loaded your career in school, and then blasted away down that same narrow path the rest of your life, are gone, never to return. Career survival today requires thinking and acting like an entrepreneur starting a business, staying nimble and resilient, willing to pivot, and supersensitive to the market realities of supply and demand.

Over the years I have spent mentoring entrepreneurs and startups, I often notice the similarities between successful professionals managing their careers and successful entrepreneurs building a business. Reid Hoffman, cofounder of LinkedIn, helped me crystallize these similarities with his new bestseller “The Start-up of You.” Here are key survival skills for both lifestyles:

Adopt the mindset of a permanent beta. “Finished” ought to be an F-word for all of us. We are all works in progress. Each day presents an opportunity to learn more, do more, be more, and grow more in our lives and careers. Keeping your career in permanent beta forces you to acknowledge that you have bugs, and intend to improve yourself.

As part of Founder's Day, the 2012 B.E.T.A. Challenge Finals will be held Wednesday, April 18, 2012. Winners of the graduate and undergraduate B.E.T.A. Challenge will win a grand prize of $20,000 in cash and "services in kind" donations from corporate sponsors respectively. In addition, $2,500 will be awarded to the two other finalist ventures. Students will compete for prizes by demonstrating success in achieving major milestones through taking action. Interested in competiting in the B.E.T.A. Challenge? Make sure to submit your executive summary and slide deck by March 2 at 12 noon EST. Eligibility and guidelines of deliverables here!

The Boston metro area is no Silicon Valley. But it fields its fair share of startups and it raked in the lion’s share of the nearly $780 million in venture capital invested in the New England region in the fourth quarter of 2011.

While the area is more famous for the tech luminaries and startups it lost to other regions — Harvard alums Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft’s Bill Gates being the most famous examples  – it still can claim a roster of impressive tech startups.

One of the scariest things to do is drop your day to day nine to five. The paycheck is steady and it comes with a nice health-care package. Lunch with co-workers provides time to unwind and talk about what’s going on in the world. The hours are steady and while it may be demanding, there isn’t much mystery to what you can expect from work.

Venturing out of the workplace leaves a fear of uncertainty. Working for yourself day in and day out is nothing like being in the steady work force. The paychecks are scarcer and health benefits will be coming directly out of your pocket. Lunch consists of only you. And the hours, let’s just say, are not set in stone and work is way more demanding. Starting your own business/career comes with a lot of mystery.