Daily Business Report: Aug. 16, 2023
Researchers engineer bacteria
that can detect tumor DNA
Advanced biosensor leverages gene swapping to identify colon cancer
By Mario Aguilera
Pushing into a new chapter of technologically advanced biological sensors, scientists from the University of California San Diego and their colleagues in Australia have engineered bacteria that can detect the presence of tumor DNA in a live organism.
Their innovation, which detected cancer in the colons of mice, could pave the way to new biosensors capable of identifying various infections, cancers and other diseases.
The advancement is described Aug. 11, 2023, in the journal Science.
Bacteria previously have been designed to carry out various diagnostic and therapeutic functions, but lacked the ability to identify specific DNA sequences and mutations outside of cells. The new “Cellular Assay for Targeted CRISPR-discriminated Horizontal gene transfer,” or “CATCH,” was designed to do just that.
Photo: Scientists from UC San Diego and Australia have engineered bacteria that detect the presence of tumor DNA in live organisms. (Credit: iStock/CIPhotos)
Tracking California wildfires
Calmatters
In a fast-changing natural world, there are some things California fire officials can reliably count on: the unpredictability of climate-driven wildfires, their increasing size and the inevitability of new blazes. If this is war, it seems Californians are losing, with billions spent to combat fires yet an alarming rise in lives and property lost.
This dashboard — updated daily — tracks large California wildfires currently engulfing parts of the state, along with historical context showing how much more destructive and widespread fires are today compared to decades past. Have a suggestion to improve the dashboard? Send it to us.
Water Authority OK’s suit to keep districts from leaving as they rush to pack
By MacKenzie Elmer | Voice of San Diego
San Diego’s biggest water seller will sue the boundary referees that allowed two of its buyers to leave its business territory.
After hours of deliberation in a closed meeting last week, the board of the San Diego County Water Authority voted to sue the Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO. That’s because LAFCO’s board agreed to let Rainbow Municipal Water District and the Fallbrook Public Utilities District divorce from the Water Authority last month so they could buy cheaper water from Riverside County.
The Water Authority board approved the lawsuit by a slim margin. Thursday’s vote was the board’s third try to garner enough support after the first two attempts were either thwarted by not having enough members to legally hold a quorum, or to offer more negotiation time between the parties.
Northrop Grumman’s B-2 capabilities enhance its digital communications
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC), in partnership with the U.S. Air Force, successfully completed an integrated airborne mission transfer (IAMT) demonstration with the B-2 Spirit at Whiteman Air Force Base in Palmdale as part of the ongoing modernization efforts incorporating digital engineering.
IAMT delivers an advanced capability that enables the B-2 to complete a digital, machine-to-machine transfer of new missions received in flight directly into the aircraft. IAMT is part of Northrop Grumman’s B-2 Collaborative Combat Communication (B2C3) Spiral 1 program that digitally enhances the B-2’s communications capabilities in today’s battlespace.
Cal State San Marcos defies odds with historic fundraising year
In a year characterized by philanthropic challenges nationwide, California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) achieved remarkable philanthropic success during the 2022-23 fiscal year, which ended June 30. University supporters donated over $12 million, surpassing the previous record of $10 million raised in 2018, and marking the highest total amount raised in CSUSM’s 34-year history.
According to “Giving USA: The Annual Report on Philanthropy,” considered the seminal publication reporting on the sources and uses of charitable giving in the United States, 2022 was one of the worst years in philanthropy history with charitable giving experiencing a 10.5 percent decline across the United States, marking only the fourth time that donations have fallen since Giving USA started keeping track in 1956. Contributing factors to the national decline include inflation and stock market losses.
Bucking the trend, CSUSM’s achievements tell a different story, shattering records and setting new standards in multiple areas, thanks to the unwavering dedication of university supporters. In total, the university saw a 23 percent increase in total donors and a 20 percent increase in alumni donors.
How the Cloud is Revolutionizing Fintech & Healthcare Services in San Diego
Fintech and healthcare have grown enormously since the pandemic. According to data from Statista, the digital assets market alone is expected to show a 34.5 percent revenue growth for the United States in 2024. For these markets, the cloud has become a massive tool that is revolutionizing industries in San Diego in a few ways.
Better Crisis Management for Data
Thanks to cloud computing, the risk of irreparable data loss is minimized. In industries as important and commonly targeted as fintech and healthcare, it’s a wonder that cloud platforms have reached a point where anomalies are quickly detected and any potential data crises can be averted quickly.
At the forefront of this in San Diego are some financial industry solutions like IBM Cloud, which was designed to provide early-stage fintech the ability to innovate without being at risk of compliance failures and the like. This sort of powerful business continuity is built up from the programs and systems laid out by pioneers like former CEO Ginni Rommetty. Being well-versed in crisis management since leading the Global Services Americas division, she would put down the groundwork for this type of fearless innovation. Now, new names entering the field are able to access robust resources with fewer of the risks that once plagued the industry.
More Accessible Education in Fintech and Healthcare
With rapid digitalization, there is a demand for a more skilled workforce that is able to keep up with changing times. An analysis of modern workers has found that there is a growing tech skill gap because of how rapidly big strides forward are being released. Thankfully, major figures in San Diego have dedicated assets to ensure that cloud technology can broaden public cloud resources.
Blanchard wins Bronze Stevie Award in 2023 International Business Awards
Blanchard, a global pioneer in leadership development, consulting, and coaching for more than 40 years, was named the winner of a Bronze Stevie Award for Best New Product of the Year in the 20th Annual International Business Awards. Leading People Through Change
Concepts won the award for Best New Product of the Year in the Business–Business category. The course teaches people a high-involvement approach to managing change initiatives that invites all affected parties to uncover employee concerns, address them, and win the support of a critical mass of people.
San Diego Tourism Authority announces $500,000
in support for World Design Capital San Diego Tijuana
The San Diego Tourism Authority announced a partnership with World Design Capital San Diego Tijuana 2024 to promote the cross-border region as a premier design destination and support a year-long slate of innovative programming. San Diego Tijuana is the first U.S. location, and first cross-border region, to receive the World Design Capital designation. Under the partnership, SDTA will provide $500,000 in support, including $250,000 in sponsorship funding and $250,000 of in-kind marketing support.
North Island Credit Union looking to fund innovative teacher projects
North Island Credit Union encourages San Diego County teachers who have an innovative class project idea to apply for a credit union grant through its Teacher Grant program. The grant program is available to full-time teachers in San Diego and Riverside County, or credit union members teaching in California. The project should have clearly defined learning objectives tied to students’ academic needs, display creativity, and benefit a significant number of students. Ten North Island Credit Union grants of $500 each will be awarded to area teachers in early October.
Apply online here.
OneAmerica and Ensight team up to encourage better long-term life planning
OneAmerica, in collaboration with San Diego-based Ensight, the leading life, long-term care (LTC) and annuity digital sales acceleration platform, announces a first-of-its-kind offering that will promote stronger LTC planning conversations between clients and financial professionals. The new Asset Care Sales Story experience will turn coverage options into LTC solutions through the creation of personalized stories for clients. This will ensure that both the client and financial professional have an opportunity to understand all potential solutions and make the best choice.
Biocanic closes $600,000 seed round
Biocanic, a software platform that helps functional and personalized health practitioners manage their clients and their health data, announced that it has closed a $600,000 seed round. The round was led by Potter Ventures LLC, with participation from angel investors. Phil Potter, CEO of Potter Ventures, will take a board position as a part of this investment. With the funds from this round, Biocanic plans to continue development of its platform, expand its team, and market its platform to personalized health practitioners.
Stellar Solar awarded Tesla Performance Excellence award
Stellar Solar, one of the most experienced solar and battery installers in Southern California and Michigan since 1998, has added another impressive award to their collection, this time in the emerging energy storage sector. As winner of the Tesla Performance Excellence award, they have been recognized nationally as one of the leading installers of the Tesla Powerwall and providers of customer support for both new solar installations and additions to existing systems. Stellar Solar has also been installing batteries for over 18 years.
Element Biosciences establishes Scientific Advisory Board
Element Biosciences Inc., developer of the Element AVITI System, an innovative DNA sequencing platform, announced the formation of its Scientific Advisory Board with four leading experts on genomics, oncology, chemistry, and biology. They are: Tanja Andrea Gruber, Stanford University; Chuan He, University of Chicago; Joseph Puglisi, Stanford; and Sarah Teichmann, Cambridge.
Arcturus Therapeutics joint venture awarded $115 million in grants
Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc., a late-stage clinical messenger RNA medicines company focused on the development of infectious disease vaccines, announced that ARCALIS Co. Ltd., its manufacturing joint venture in Japan to support the production of mRNA vaccines and therapeutics, has been awarded $115 million in two separate grants from the Japanese government. The grants will be used to fund the construction of a factory and the purchase of capital equipment to support current Good Manufacturing Practice production of mRNA drug substance and mRNA drug product operations.
Grossmont Healthcare District awards $1.3 million to local nonprofits
The Grossmont Healthcare District (GHD) recently awarded over $1.3 million in community grants and sponsorship awards to 39 nonprofit organizations that operate in East County. National Nonprofit Day is Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. This year’s investment in East County’s network of nonprofit providers is expected to directly benefit more than 80,000 residents. Priority areas for funding during the 2023 fiscal year were projects that provided direct, hands-on care, and those which addressed the unmet health needs of East County residents.
Gordon & Reese adds partner Joseph Huprich
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, the nation’s first and only law firm with offices in all 50 states, welcomes Joseph Huprich as a partner in the firm’s Employment Law practice group in the San Diego office. So far this year, Huprich is the 26th attorney to join the practice on the West Coast. In a legal career that spans over 25 years, Huprich has helped both individuals and businesses overcome their legal challenges. His practice focuses on employment law, labor, commercial litigation, construction, trials, and arbitration. After training at several prominent litigation firms early in his career, Huprich started his own practice in 2008.
