The decision by the world's largest private biotech, BattellePharma, to terminate its research agreement with Melbourne-based drug re-engineering company Eiffel Technologies will have little effect on the company's financial position, an Eiffel spokesman said today. [ + ]

What do certain anaesthetics, sedatives, and drugs for depression, anxiety and epilepsy have in common? [ + ]

Melbourne instrument manufacturer Vision BioSystems is claiming early international success for its new Bond immunochemistry and in situ hybridisation staining system. [ + ]

The latest round of NHMRC funding grants shows Queensland's boast of being the most decentralised state does not extend to medical research. [ + ]

Geneticists have nothing to show after more than a decade hunting for genes involved in bipolar disorder, or manic depression -- even in depression-haunted families in Iceland, and among Pennsylvania's Amish, the quarry has remained elusive. But a Sydney research team believes it may have cornered a gene that causes susceptibility to manic depression that could provide the long-sought entry point into the biochemical maze underlying the disorder. [ + ]

Melbourne devices company Pulmosonix is planning to start clinical trials for its two medical devices earlier than originally foreshadowed, according to a recent announcement by parent company Premier Bionics. [ + ]

With all the excitement over the human genome and its potential for increasing understanding of human disease, microbial disease research has slipped out of the limelight. [ + ]

Researchers at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) and the University of Melbourne are working on a project they hope will result in clear experimental guidelines and methods for mathematical analysis for microarrays. [ + ]

Genetically modified oilseed poppies will be field-tested in Tasmania after receiving approval last week from both the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) and the Tasmanian State Government's Department of Primary Industries, Water and the Environment (DIPWE). [ + ]

A new economic model indicates Australia won't reap an export bonanza by adopting genetically modified (GM) crops, but could see its market share stagnate or decline if it rejects or over-regulates GM crops and foods. [ + ]

Gene silencing company Benitec is treating its de-listing by the Australian Stock Exchange as an administrative hiccup but the incident comes at an awkward time for the young biotech. [ + ]

Australian National University researchers have been awarded a $9 million grant by the US Government to establish a unique library of mice in order to identify genes which regulate immunity and tolerance of disease.

'Smart yoghurts' that improve people's immunity and potentially fight cancer may soon hit the supermarkets shelves following a research breakthrough at the University of Western Sydney.

Perth entrepreneur Farooq Khan has junked his plan to pursue a scrip-based hostile takeover of Biota Holdings Ltd. [ + ]

Ophthalmic laser manufacturer Ellex Medical was battered this week after announcing a downturn in revenues caused by lower than expected sales, as well as the unanticipated resignation of managing director Peter Rowland due to differences with the board over the direction of the company. [ + ]