CSIRO scientists have combined solar energy and natural gas in a process capable of producing large-scale energy to power Australia's future industrial and domestic needs.

With NSW in the grip of drought a major new study has been launched to determine the mechanisms linking water availability and plant productivity in Australia.

The 2003 Lorne Protein and Cancer Conferences have snared two of the biggest names in medical research as guest speakers next February: 2002 Nobel Laureates Prof Sir Sidney Brenner and Prof Robert Horovitz. [ + ]

The survival rate of children with childhood cancers has increased spectacularly since the early 1960s, from a bleak 10 per cent to around 75 per cent today. One notable exception to the trend is neuroblastoma, with a survival rate below 50 per cent. [ + ]

Acrux has officially opened its new facilities in West Melbourne, kicking off a new phase in the company's growth. [ + ]

Amrad chairman Olaf O'Duill doesn't like it when companies use "cash burn" to absolve themselves of their spending, and wants Amrad to think about cash earned, he told the company's annual general meeting yesterday. [ + ]

The bacteria that infect human beings have disarmed almost the entire modern arsenal of antibiotics. Not long after new antibiotics are deployed, resistance appears almost magically. [ + ]

The Kerry Packer-backed financial services and venture capital (VC) group Challenger International is nearing the end of negotiations to form a biotech VC fund out of Singapore which will trawl for investment opportunities across Asia, Australia and New Zealand, the company revealed on Wednesday. [ + ]

Brisbane biotech company Agenix will begin safety and efficacy trials of its new Thromboview blood-clot imaging technology in healthy human volunteers early next year. [ + ]

Perched at the top of the ABN Amro Building in the heart of Sydney's 'big end' of town, Sean Mordaunt, business development manager with Challenger International's Corporate Superannuation Fund, thrives on the manic energy pulsing through the busy business hub and the harbour below. [ + ]

Dietary fibre - already known to reduce the risk of colon cancer - may also have the potential to replace antibiotics, lower cholesterol and control blood sugar levels, according to emerging new Australian research.

Researchers at the Optical and Biomedical Engineering Laboratory (OBEL) at the University of WA were left surprised and disappointed after a decision by Perth-based company Xcell Diagnostics to withdraw funding from the lab's skin cancer project, which aimed to develop a new optical pen probe technique for early detection of skin cancers. [ + ]

Research firm IDC is to host two breakfast briefings on the bio-IT industry, with a particular focus on Australia and the Asia-Pacific. [ + ]

Iatia's QPe phase imaging technology proved popular at the recent International Congress on Electron Microscopy in Durban, South Africa, according to CEO Brian Powell. [ + ]

Sydney-based company Pi2 Limited has touted a new business strategy with two acquisitions, one in life sciences and the other in outdoor advertising. [ + ]