The United States entered a recession in December, 2007, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.

From the NBER press release (Hat tip to Calculated Risk):

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* Isis-Alnylam MicroRNA venture leaps ahead
The scientific community, and Wall Street, will be buzzing this week about microRNA. That’s because Carlsbad-based  Regulus Therapeutics and its collaborators have suggested for the first time that a drug that blocks microRNA can prevent and treat heart failure in animals. Regulus is a joint venture of Carlsbad’s Isis Pharmaceuticals and Alnylam Pharmceuticals of Cambridge, Mass.

* Internet purchase fraud flourishing

* Johnson & Johnson buying Mentor for $1.07 billion

* Shopping season off to a modest start

* OIl falls below $51 as OPEC doesn’t cut output

* Criminal hackers get more sophisticated with ’surgical strikes’

* Microsoft-Yahoo deal claim by British newpaper debunked as “total fiction”

Monday
ESCONDIDO: San Diego North EDC 10th anniversary holiday luncheon
11:30 a.m.  to 2 p.m. The San Diego North EDC marks its 10th anniversary at this holiday luncheon. Held at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. Cost $45 for members, and $60 for non-members.

Tuesday
CARMEL VALLEY: Connect FrameWorks — Breakaway Innovation
8 a.m. to 11 a.m., at the offices of Mintz Levin. Pre-registration cost is $45, at the door $55 per person.

Wednesday
VISTA: Holiday Sundowner for Vista Chamber of Commerce
The annual Holiday cheer event is scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Vista Entertainment Center, Vista Village off Highway 78 at 435 West Vista Way. Cost is $5 for members and $10 for non-members. Bring in cans of soup as part of a food drive to benefit Angel’s Depot. Receive a raffle ticket for each can you bring! No RSVP is needed.

Thursday
MURRIETA: After-Hours Mixer for Murrieta Chamber of Commerce
5 to 7 p.m. at Rancho Springs Medical Center - Administrative Support Bldg. 25500 Medical Center Dr. Free for Chamber Members  $10 non-members. Bring business cards and be ready to network! Promote your business and bring in a raffle donation.

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Genetically engineered foods have been controversial for years due to their real or imagined potential for harm. But the empty bellies of millions of people have renewed interest in biotech crops. The Associated Press story below describes how this came to be.

It’s a good story, except for its inclusion of the musings of a random uninformed “person on the street.”  Such inserts tell the reader nothing. This paint-by-numbers approach to journalism is rightfully mocked in The Onion.

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Food crunch opens doors to bioengineered crops

By ELAINE KURTENBACH
Associated Press Writer

KUNMING, China — Zeng Yawen’s outdoor laboratory in the terraced hills of southern China is a trove of genetic potential — rice that thrives in unusually cool temperatures, high altitudes or in dry soil; rice rich in calcium, vitamins or iron.
“See these plants? They can tolerate the cold,” Zeng says as he walks through a checkerboard of test fields sown with different rice varieties on the outskirts of Kunming, capital of southwestern China’s Yunnan province.
“We can extract the cold-tolerant gene from this plant and use it in a genetically manipulated variety to improve its cold tolerance,” Zeng says.
In a mountainous place like Yunnan, and in many other parts of the developing world, such advantages can tip the balance between hunger and a decent living. And China is now ready to tip that scale in favor of genetically modified crops.
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* Lake Elsinore housing construction plans moving forward
Construction won’t start anytime soon, but Los Angeles-based Castle & Cooke is going ahead with plans to build hundreds of new homes in northern Lake Elsinore

* Southern California job losses just getting started
Snowballing economic weakness will cause unenployment that afflicting Southern California in the early 1990s, when sharp cuts in federal spending led to tens of thousands of job losses on military bases and for defense contractors.  And California is running out of money to pay unemployment benefits.

* Underemployment adds to worker woes
The average U.S. worker put in about 33 1/2 hours per week last month, about 15 minutes less than during the summer and during October. That statistic probably underestimates reductions among workers paid by the hour because it includes salaried employees whose companies have little incentive to send them home early.

* Increased insurance requirements for cabs in Escondido
Critics say only Yellow Cab of North County can pay the added cost, making it a government-ordained monopoly in Escondido.

The “central dogma” of DNA makes RNA makes proteins has been revised so much since Francis Crick described it that a better term might be “central tendency.” Now scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory,  Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University have found another qualifier — inheritance by a class of small RNA molecules that affects the action of DNA in egg cells.

This epigenetic mode of inheritance was found in fruit fly embryos.  Small RNA molecules from the mother switch off DNA sequences that cause sterility. These are called Piwi-interacting RNAs, or  piRNAs.  They were earlier found to suppress the action of transposons, or “jumping genes,” which can mess up development by interfering with other genes.

The scientific paper documenting the findings appeared in the Nov. 28 online issue of Science.

Since fruit fly genetics bears striking resemblances to human genetics, the discovery has obvious implications for human health. One of the researchers was quoted in the press release as saying these small RNAs are probably deposited in the egg cells of all animals.

* BioTemecula: Biotech program at Chaparral High to stress real-world skills
School officials hope the program will cater to students wondering how school applies to real life. They also want to encourage students to go to college and help them become good candidates for jobs in local biotech companies such as Millipore and Abbott Laboratories.

* Bailout billions not making loans easier to find
Home buyers with a large down payment, solid credit scores and a paycheck have no trouble finding a loan. However, borrowers with plenty of cash but who are self-employed and do not show regular income can struggle to find a home loan. And some businesses, especially those related to the much-maligned housing sector, have seen lines of credit evaporate.

* Construction downturn may be boon to Palomar College
Hungry for business, more contractors than expected are bidding for the expansion work.

* Escondido plans new dam for Lake Wohlford
Aiming to restore Lake Wohlford to full capacity while keeping the city safe from a possible flood, the City Council is moving forward with plans to build a new dam at the lake for somewhere between $19 million and $35 million.

* A scary reminder about Case-Shiller
Whatever impact the recent market and economic turmoil has had on the housing market will not even begin to show up in the Case-Shiller index releases for a couple of months yet.

* In weak economy, bargains loom large
Just before 5 a.m., a line estimated at 3,000 people snaked from Fry’s Electronics store out to San Marcos Boulevard and down one block. Employees there and in front of a nearby Best Buy electronics store checked the inflow, like bouncers in front of a busy nightclub, as the stores filled up.

* San Diego, Riverside County residents still driving less, despite lower fuel prices
Despite the nose-dive in fuel prices, cautious residents are still driving less than they were at this time last year —- and less than they did when prices peaked in early summer, local traffic counts show.

* San Marcos forced to trim its budget
Lower-than-expected sales and property tax revenues are forcing city officials to trim their budget by up to $4 million. The city will postpone buying new equipment —- including a new fire truck —- leave open vacant employee positions for now, and cut other “nonessential” expenses.

* Arena Pharmaceuticals’ sleeper sleep drug
Arena is best known for tackling the growing problem of obesity. But its novel drug for insomnia might just wake up Wall Street.

* San Diego mayor’s belated embrace of reality budgeting
The warning signs that city government was living beyond its means were clear years ago, writes Scott Lewis. But Jerry Sanders treats the current crisis as something that couldn’t have been anticipated.

California and national business news
* Multitasking canola: California’s miracle crop?
It does triple duty in California’s agricultural heartland, absorbing selenium, that once deformed waterfowl by the millions, creating clean-burning biofuel and nourishing cattle with the leftovers.

* Black Friday shoppers out in force, but cautious
Many consumers, clutching the store circulars, were focused on a few bargains Friday and said they were slashing their overall holiday budgets from a year ago as they juggle paying their rent and other bills while putting food on the table.

* Prudent shoppers wary of going further into debt for holidays
Pain for retailers as consumers relearn value of frugality and avoid extravagance.

* Country store helps Escondido hang onto rural life
There’s no other store quite like it in Escondido. Their competitors are mostly pet shops.

* Southwest Riverside County collection plates getting lighter
With cash-strapped parishioners rendering fewer Caesars, church officials trim their budgets and are cautious with their spending.

* Escondido City Council may cancel its pay raise
While eliminating the hikes would only cover about $9,000 of the city’s $6 million projected deficit, council members said they may need to make the move as a symbolic gesture because all 236 employees in Escondido City Hall are slated for 5 percent pay cuts early next year.

 National business news
* Mortgage rates tumble, at last
Smaller, 30-year fixed rate mortgages for well-qualified borrowers have dropped to as low as 5.5 percent with some brokerage fees, several mortgage brokers said Wednesday.

* For stores, the holiday season may already be over
But great news for cash-strapped would-be customers. Experts say discounts are only going to get even better as stores resort to more extreme measures to clear out unsold items.

* Automakers revamp bailout pleas
Comfy auto executives who presided over their industry’s decline may have to cut their gold-plated perks. Auto unions may have to give up some of their cushy benefits, which most taxpayers can only dream about enjoying.

Zevalin, a radioimmunotherapy for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma that has languished for years despite being proven safe and effective, finally has a home.

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals and Cell Therapeutics have agreed to jointly market Zevalin. The companies will form a limited liability company to commercialize Zevalin in the United States.

Cell Therapeutics had acquired Zevalin some time ago from Biogen Idec, which developed it as the next step forward for non-Hodgkin’s treatment after its blockbuster Rituxan.

However, Zevalin sales never took off, in part because its treatment protocol is cumbersome, requiring the use of nuclear medicine facilities and specialists. Also, industry observers have said oncologists have a financial disincentive to prescribe it, because they have to share the revenue from treatment with radiation oncologists.

Cell Therapeutics has worked since acquiring Zevalin to expand its uses and reduce the hurdles to its being prescribed. The new partnership will help with that process.

Zevalin can now be marketed for use in relapsed or refractory, low-grade or follicular B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, including patients who have Rituxan-refractory follicular NHL. In September, Cell Therapeutics submitted an application to expand use to include first-line therapy in untreated patients with follicular NHL.