VRAL press release
March 9, 2011, 8:07 a.m. EST
VG Energy Report is Featured on EnergyBoom.com
SAN MARINO, Calif., March 9, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- A new report from VG Energy, a subsidiary of Viral Genetics, Inc. (pinksheets:VRAL), is now featured in an article at EnergyBoom.com (link: energyboom.com ). The EnergyBoom.com piece is entitled "Algal Fuel: VG Energy Study Shows Price Parity Possible With Conventional Oil." The original report was undertaken by biofuels expert John Sheehan, an advisor to Viral Genetics and VG Energy, and is available for download at: vgenergy.net.
"The work being undertaken by VG Energy is showing great promise as a viable and cost effective alternative energy source," said Viral Genetics' CEO, Haig Keledjian. "This report by Mr. Sheehan helps to point the way forward for us, and the coverage from EnergyBoom.com indicates that we are making progress and garnering attention from industry. Our next steps are focused on moving from the laboratory to a production setting."
Mr. Sheehan's report indicates that VG Energy's proprietary technology has the potential to create algal biofuel at prices that are competitive with current prices for crude oil. The process that VG Energy and its lead researcher, Dr. M. Karen Newell Rogers, are using could potentially lower the cost for algal oil production by significant amounts, making it comparable with conventional oil. This process results in increased lipid production in the algae cells as well as increasing the ability to recycle these cells. The report models several different production techniques currently in use with their productivity enhanced by use of VG Energy's compounds through increased lipid production and recyclability, showing a range of prices at which algae oil can be produced. VG Energy is planning studies to demonstrate these yields in practice. Mr. Sheehan is currently the Biofuels Coordinator in the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota, and was previously a project manager at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, CO.
The process that VG Energy uses to boost algal oil production is a direct result of work undertaken by Dr. Newell Rogers for cancer treatment. This process, called Metabolic Disruption Technology (MDT), is meant to disrupt cancer cells' ability to burn fat reserves, making them more susceptible to traditional treatments. The same technology appears to also act as a long sought lipid trigger to cause algae cells to store increased fat, making them more productive as an energy source. When the process was applied to algae cells in the lab, extractable lipid, or fat, production was increased by a minimum of 300%. Additionally, the process enables the cells to release fats outside the cell walls, making much of the algae recyclable. The combination of increased lipid production and recyclability appears to make algae economical as a source for a potential biofuel. Dr. Newell Rogers, the Raleigh R. White, Jr. Endowed Professor of Surgical Research at Texas A&M Health Sciences Center and Scott and White Hospital in Temple, Texas, is continuing her research into biofuel technology.
About VG Energy
VG Energy Inc. is an alternative energy and agricultural biotech company that is a majority-owned subsidiary of Viral Genetics Inc., a biotechnology company researching new treatments and methods of detection for diseases including cancer, HIV/AIDS and others. Using its Metabolic Disruption Technology ("MDT"), Viral Genetics' cancer research led to discoveries with major consequences in a wide variety of other industries, including bio-fuel and vegetable oils. VG Energy Inc. holds the exclusive worldwide license to the MDT patent rights for use in the increase of production of various plant-derived oils from algae and seeds. Importantly, these pivotal discoveries promise to allow the biofuel industry to overcome its major obstacle in the area of production efficiency: namely an increase in production yields leading to feasible economic returns on investment allowing renewable biodiesel to be competitive with fossil fuels. For more information please visit jttp://www.vgenergy.net
About Viral Genetics, Inc.
San Marino, California-based Viral Genetics discovers drug therapies. Founded in 1994, the biotech company is researching treatments for HIV/AIDS, Lyme Disease, Strep, Staph and drug resistant tumors. A majority-owned subsidiary called VG Energy (www.vgenergy.net) is dedicated to exploring biofuel and agricultural applications for one of the technologies in its licensed portfolio. Online at viralgenetics.com
Contact: Haig Keledjian, Viral Genetics
info@viralgenetics.com
viralgenetics.com
T: (626) 334-5310
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