A group which explores the living world for fresh ideas about how to design and manage organisations has been launched.

As a desperate measure to keep alive elite dairy and beef cattle herds suffering in one of the worst droughts of the past century, Australia's livestock industries are moving to ship in maize from the US. [ + ]

Genetraks, a start-up biotech developing blood tests for use in pre-race evaluation of animals such as racehorses, has received a $6 million injection of venture capital. [ + ]

Indigenous people's understandings of weather patterns are being recorded as part of a cooperative new project between Monash University and the Bureau of Meteorology. The findings of the project could provide insight into surviving Australia's harsh climate.

Sydney biotech company Psiron has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Canon, providing the Japanese company with exclusive worldwide rights to the Vapotronics inhaled drug delivery system in return for an up-front payment of $US1 million and potentially substantial royalties. [ + ]

Bionic ear company Cochlear has set up a scholarship to encourage recipients of its cochlear implants to go on to tertiary education. [ + ]

Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research is collaborating with gene silencing specialist Benitec to probe the role of specific genes in type 2 diabetes. [ + ]

Perth biotech Q-Vis Ltd is in the hands of administrators Ferrier Hodgson after coming up empty-handed from a six-month search for a strategic partner with deep pockets. [ + ]

A company formed to commercialise technology developed in Queensland to treat pain and control bleeding has secured a $10 million investment deal.

Drug developer Xenome is adding UK biotech TheraSci to the list of partner firms screening Xenome's venom-based peptide molecules against validated drug targets. [ + ]

Melbourne drug discovery company Cytopia is close to selecting its first drug lead compound for the treatment of hormone refractory prostate cancer, after getting encouraging results from pre-clinical animal studies. [ + ]

Virax Holdings has opened a new Vector Construction Unit (VCU) located in the School of Biomedical Sciences at Monash University. [ + ]

A new biotech funding initiative in South Australia, the BioCatalyst Program Fund, will provide grants of up to $250,000 to start up and early stage companies to help them commercialise their ideas. [ + ]

Genetic research will occupy the focus of two of eight new centres of excellence which together will share almost $90 million in Federal funding over the next five years. [ + ]

Several prominent bioscientists, including Prof Adrienne Clarke, Prof Peter Doherty, Cerylid's Jackie Fairley and Prof Alan Trounson, have been appointed to the Victorian government's new Innovation Economy Advisory Board, set up to drive innovation across the state's economy. [ + ]