The Australian Innovation Festival is finishing with a bang this week, with events including the AIIA iAwards and the Western Sydney Manufacturing Week 2007.

The Australian government will provide $60 million over five years to 217 industry-focused research projects through the Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Projects funding scheme.

In a coup for Victoria, a leading husband and wife scientific team will head to Australia next year. [ + ]

More neural connections may explain synesthesia [ + ]

Research on a rapid bird flu test, prepared by Western Australia’s Murdoch University School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, will be presented at the second International Anti-Avian Influenza conference in Paris at the Pasteur Institute on 31 May and 1 June 2007.

A team of Brisbane researchers is using high-throughput protein analysis to take a closer look at the molecular and cellular basis of prostate cancer. [ + ]

A collaboration between Agilent Technologies and the University of California at Davis (UCD) has developed a new way to characterise glycans in human breast milk. [ + ]

Leading international molecular biologist, Professor Nadia Rosenthal has been appointed head of Victoria’s new Regenerative Medicine Institute in an announcement made by Minister for Innovation, John Brumby.

The Australian-New Zealand Biotech Alliance (ANZBA), in partnership with Invest Australia, has launched a web-based directory to promote the fast-growing regional biotechnology industry to the global market.

When Merck announced last year it was buying Sirna Therapeutics for over US$1 billion, the world sat up and took notice. RNAi was now being seen as not only a revolution in our understanding but something with an unimaginable dollar value as well. [ + ]

A leading Chinese official has highlighted Australia’s opportunity to undertake new R&D collaborations with Hong Kong, in the lead-up to the 2007 Cooperative Research Centres Association Conference.

Could a targeted therapy to activate the endonuclease Drosha in tumour cells force them to differentiate and die? [ + ]

Everyone is excited about the use of RNAi in the laboratory, but some are now taking the next step and looking at its use in vivo. [ + ]

Three of Australia's top universities have formed an alliance to lead the country in climate change research, education and policy.

The University of Tasmania has developed a portable device for explosives fingerprinting, which promises to assist police in apprehending terrorists responsible for bomb blasts.