Matilda, Australia's first cloned sheep, has died of unknown causes, according to the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI). [ + ]

Prima BioMed subsidiary Panvax has reported that recent trials of its DCtag vaccine technology in sheep have confirmed its potential for developing novel vaccines and immunotherapies for human diseases including cancers, viral infections, malaria and tuberculosis. [ + ]

An Adelaide University study has shown that confining transgenes to nature's own handy bottle, to prevent them escaping from genetically modified crops into non-GM crops or their weedy relatives, will not necessarily prevent transgenes escaping. [ + ]

Sydney-based biotechnology company Gradipore (ASX: GDP) announced today that it had demonstrated removal of both infectious and non-infectious prion proteins from human biological samples using its proprietary Gradiflow technology. [ + ]

CSIRO and eight other leading international science and technology institutions have formed an organisation committed to applying their combined knowledge to solving some of the world's most pressing problems.

The commercialisation arm of Queensland's premier biotech research centre, the Institute for Molecular Bioscience, has capped a national search for a new chief executive by reaching into the Queensland bioscience community for its successful candidate. [ + ]

Sydney company Proteome Systems has released two electrophoresis systems, the latest additions to its broad ProteomIQ platform for integrated high throughput proteomic analysis. [ + ]

Pharmaceutical company Chemeq has completed a highly successful capital raising to fund construction of its $AUD25 million plant in Perth to manufacture its revolutionary antimicrobial polymer to suppress bacterial infections in livestock. [ + ]

Pharmacia has announced the recipients of its two inaugural Pharmacia Foundation Australia Fellowships, Dr Sally Dunwoodie of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute and Dr Steven Stacker, of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. [ + ]

The new Ian Potter Foundation Centre for Cancer Genomics and Predictive Medicine was opened today at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute by Victorian Innovation Minister John Brumby. [ + ]

Sydney biotechnology company EvoGenix has been granted a key patent for its proprietary EvoGene technology in the US. [ + ]

A young researcher in the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences at UNSW has won the Outstanding New Researcher's Award for 2003 from the UK-based Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB). Dr Rob Brooks, 32, will travel to Leeds in April to accept the award, which is given for excellence in research on animal behaviour which "will shape the future of [the] discipline".

VRI BioMedical's OncoAlert diagnostic test has performed well in a clinical study examining the test's ability to diagnose Helicobacter pylori infections. [ + ]

Melbourne-based Prima Biomed has taken the unusual step of forming a strategic alliance with legal firm Blake Dawson Waldron's patent services group to manage its entire patent portfolio, which includes 26 granted patents and 44 patent applications at various stages. [ + ]

Australia's cotton farmers are following a trend in the US industry to adopt conservation tillage practices as herbicide-tolerant cotton varieties revolutionise weed control. [ + ]