More than 40 organisations -- nearly half of them in NSW -- will share nearly $AUD10 million from the fourth round of the federal government's Biotechnology Innnovation Fund (BIF) grants announced today. [ + ]

Medical diagnostics company Ambri is striving to tap fresh funding sources while engaging in further staff and cost cutbacks to stretch dwindling cash reserves. [ + ]

The wide range of views on genetically modified (GM) crops will be aired next week as the 2003 Biotechnology Innovation Festival highlights various aspects of biotechnology in regional Australia from veterinary and medical sciences to pharmacy, agriculture and the environment.

Impressive US test results which indicate the effectiveness of a potential anti-HIV/AIDS drug is generating good news on three levels for anti-viral specialist Biota Holdings. [ + ]

A Northern Territory radioecology study being conducted by ANSTO will substantially improve environmental risk assessments in tropical nations across the world.

Recent revelations about Pan Pharmaceuticals and Curacel International have thrown the efficacy of Australia's regulatory system into question, with potentially thousands of product lines facing recall and criminal charges being filed. [ + ]

While the observation of bubbles in action is endlessly fascinating for children and adults alike, the understanding of their formation and movement is a topic of intense scientific research - a field in which the University of Technology, Sydney has reached a new landmark.

A coral protein with an intense blue colour has properties that could prove useful as a biological probe to track interactions between proteins and cells, according to new research from Monash and Queensland universities. [ + ]

An international symposium on nanoscience will be held at the Australian Academy of Science on Friday 2 May, as part of its Science at the Shine Dome events.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have provided evidence for the first time that stem cells derived from adult bone marrow and injected into the blastocyst of a mouse can differentiate into all major types of cells found in the brain.

United Nations health authorities have asked CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) to join in the global effort to combat the SARS virus. [ + ]

With SARS ravaging Asia and avian flu decimating Dutch poultry farms, antiviral company Biota is to ramp up activities within the both the treatment and diagnostic fields. [ + ]

Another West Australian ex-mining listing has finally shaken off the last vestiges of mineral exploration and turned completely to the world of biotech. [ + ]

Geneticists at the National Human Genome Research Institute in Washington last week celebrated the publication of the identity of the faulty gene involved in a devastating premature-ageing disorder. But it was only half the story -- an Australian collaboration has provided a bigger picture, reports Graeme O'Neill. [ + ]

Australia's first GM mammal virus is poised to slash millions of dollars off grain spoilage figures, if medium-scale mouse-limitation trials go according to plan [ + ]