So much for the halo effect around ethanol and other biofuels.

It turns out that the impact of producing and using biofuels causes twice as many greenhouse gas emissions as petroleum-based fuels, according to two new studies published in the top-tier journal Science. (The Science studies aren’t up yet, but here’s the New York Times’ version of the story, and here’s the Washington Post’s.)

Biofuels produce fewer direct emissions. But growing the crops to make them displaces food crops, which forces farmers to clear more vegetation off the land to produce the food crops. The world’s rainforests are being destroyed especially quickly, the studies say.

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Pharmacyclics, a Sunnyvale drug company that was trying to get federal approval for a drug to treat brain lesions caused by spreading lung cancer, announced late today that the Food and Drug Administration has formally turned down the drug, known as Xcytrin.

The stock, already trading in penny-stock territory, plunged 29 percent to $1.68 a share in after-hours trading, according to Bloomberg News.

I wrote about the company and its CEO, Richard Miller, in October. Miller was on a quixotic crusade to convince drug regulators that they needed to loosen their standards a bit when it comes to approving drugs for cancer and other fatal diseases.

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In my Wednesday column, I explore the issues surrounding the FDA’s slow approval of drugs that prolong the life of people with fatal diseases, especially cancer.

Although the piece won’t appear on the Mercury News Web site for a few more hours, here’s an advance version, annotated with useful links for people who want to learn more about this complicated and emotional topic:

If you were dying of cancer and there were an experimental drug that could give you an extra six months to live, you’d want access to it.

You’d still want it even if it had awful side effects, like turning your skin green and making your fingernails fall off — which can happen to people taking Xcytrin, a drug from a Sunnyvale company that shows promise for treating brain lesions caused by the spread of lung cancer.

But is it the government’s responsibility to make it easier for you to get such life-prolonging therapies, even if they cost tens of thousands of dollars a year?

That’s the question the Food and Drug Administration, Congress and the courts are wrestling with as some drugmakers and patient-rights groups crusade for more flexible rules in evaluating new drugs for terminal diseases.

We all want the best medicine available for ourselves and our loved ones. Yet we don’t want to subsidize ineffectual treatments by paying higher hospital bills and insurance premiums. And we certainly don’t want the government rushing to approve drugs that aren’t safe.

The evidence suggests that when it comes to approving drugs for fatal diseases, especially cancer, regulators at the FDA are being too cautious.

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My Sunday column on patent reform drew a lot of interesting reader comments, mostly from advocates for small inventors who say the current system works just fine.

(My favorite, e-mailed from a guy who claims to represent inventors on patent issues, said, “You are just an ignorant toad, sucking the ass of those who fed you the propaganda you spew. Get a grip, loser.” Jeez, I hope he’s nicer to the patent examiners who turn down his patents.)

The gist of my column is that it’s too easy to get a dubious patent approved, and too hard to overturn one in the court system. When infringement does occur, the penalties are often harsh — such as a judge’s threat to shut down the BlackBerry service last year because manufacturer Research In Motion infringed on NTP’s patents.

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