It's been said that even if calorie restriction doesn't make you live longer it will feel as though you have. A Sydney University researcher argues that it does work and some of the current life-enhancing medications used to treat age-related diseases are imitating the effects of eating fewer calories.

Ventracor (ASX: VCR) has received conditional approval from the US FDA for a feasibility study leading up to a full scale trial of its cardiac assist device as a bridge-to-transplant. [ + ]

A group of genomics researchers are pushing the Federal government to provide AUD$250 million in funding for genomics research over the next five years. [ + ]

Chemgenex (ASX: CXS) has provided updated results from its Phase I /II clinical study of anti-cancer drug Quinamed at the American Association for Cancer Research's Oncogenomics 2005 conference in the US. [ + ]

'Nanotechnobabble' is already making life difficult for bio-nanotechnology researchers, with technophobes warning of the risk of uncontrollable, self-replicating nanobots overrunning the world, the Lorne Conference on Protein Structure and Function at Phillip Island, in Victoria, heard today. [ + ]

WA biotech Visiomed (ASX:VSG) has replaced retiring CEO Saliba Sassine with William Dolphin, formerly of New Zealand's SpectraNet and patient monitoring equipment company, SonaMed. [ + ]

Peptech (ASX:PTD) CEO Mel Bridges used today's annual general meeting to reveal that the company is keen to use its AUD$65 million warchest to fund acquisitions. [ + ]

Queensland veterinary blood plasma company PlasVacc has purchased US plasma company Veterinary Dynamics Inc (VDI). [ + ]

There is no reason why an Australian biotech company couldn't be the next Amgen, says Chris Henney, the US scientist turned serial entrepreneur who has a seat on Adelaide company Bionomics' board of directors. But he warns that will likely have to move to the US in order to pursue their goal, in part due to the lack of capital available for company growth in Australia. [ + ]

ResMed (ASX:RMD) shares were up almost 5 per cent today after the company announced record revenue and income results for the quarter ended December 31 Revenue for the quarter was US$103.9 million, a 26 per cent increase over the same quarter last year. Net income for the quarter was US$17.4 million. [ + ]

The Burrill Biotech Select Index slipped 4.6 per cent in January, but Steve Burrill is bullish about 2005, despite the ramifications of the Merck-Vioxx situation spilling over into the biotech sector. [ + ]

Bionomics (ASX: BNO) CEO Deborah Rathjen outlined the company's strategy for growth at a briefing this week, noting that the company aimed to become a AUD$200 million company within three years. [ + ]

Australia's CSL (ASX:CSL) and California's Medimmune both won a milestone and royalty bonus today when their collaborators, developers of two competing vaccines for HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccines, announced they would cross-licence patents on which both vaccines were based. [ + ]

NZ biotech company Neuren listed on the ASX today (ASX:NEU) in a less than stellar debut -- the company's shares opened at the issue price of AUD$0.40 but quickly lost ground. At press time, the shares were trading at around $0.37 after dropping as low as $0.335. [ + ]

Western Australia's moratorium on genetically modified crops has emerged as a potential electoral liability for state premier Geoff Gallop's ALP government, as the state approaches a cliffhanger election. [ + ]