Australia's biotechnology sector is "grossly under-invested" and attracts little interest from most funds and investors, according to a senior portfolio manager at Queensland Investment Corporation. [ + ]

Effective R&D policy would include more flexible career opportunities for scientists, according to Vision Systems managing director Dr Jim Fox. [ + ]

The University of Adelaide has won the bid to host the new $32 million National Centre for Plant Functional Genomics. [ + ]

Perth-based pharmaceutical company Chemeq has raised almost $5 million from institutional investors and hopes to reap a further $5 million from ordinary shareholders by the end of the month. [ + ]

The University of Adelaide's successful bid to host the $32 million National Centre for Plant Functional Genomics is "a vote of confidence in South Australia's scientists and a triumph for the state", according to University Vice-Chancellor Professor Cliff Blake AO.

Novogen's US subsidiary, Edward Marshall, plans to list on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange at the end of the month. [ + ]

The Queensland government has gone one-up on the State and Federal governments by announcing a new $100 million Queensland BioCapital Fund. [ + ]

'Environmental biotechnology' usually conveys a mental image of vats of bacteria busily working on soil remediation. But the issue of indoor air quality is fast becoming an important area of focus in the life sciences arena, according to Sydney-based company Aeris Technologies. [ + ]

A treatment to encourage the immune systems of cancer patients to attack the disease has proven 100 per cent effective in early stage results. [ + ]

Shares in Axon Instruments suffered a kick in the guts after a shareholder update revealed unexpected losses of up to $US4 million in the six months to June. [ + ]

Large venture capital entities have snared all four of the licences to manage the Federal government's new $107 million plan to fill the pre-seed funding gap facing promising technologies. [ + ]

A session on the ethics of pet cloning and genetic modification at this week's Australian Veterinary Association conference in Adelaide heard that people needed to feel comfortable with cloning before they would buy it. [ + ]

Investors continued to punish biotech big gun CSL today, despite analysts recommending the stock as a definite buy. [ + ]

Australia's first for-profit tissue banking service company, Cryosite, listed on the ASX today (May 9). [ + ]

Mass spectrometry is helping Melbourne researchers develop a diagnostic test for the early detection of ovarian cancer. [ + ]