Recently, Compugen, an Israel-based biopharmaceutical company with over 17 years of research experience, released animal model data from the company’s proprietary Protein Family Members Discovery Platform. This in-house, in silico bioinformatics system provides a predictive view of protein characteristics leading to gene and protein discovery. Read more »
For 40 years, the Southern Surveyor - the research vessel of the Marine National Facility - has conducted scientific voyages covering everything from underwater volcanoes to a carbon chemistry map of the Great Barrier Reef. But soon, it will be replaced with a new vessel, one in which the Australian Government has invested $120 million - the RV Investigator. Read more »
Researchers from the University of Queensland (UQ) Diamantina Institute have played a leading role in a recent study into osteoporosis, more than doubling the number of currently known genes in the disease. Read more »
A 300-atom ion-crystal is poised to be the heart of one of the most powerful computers ever developed - with performance claimed to be 80 orders of magnitude higher than any existing computer. Read more »
The University of Technology, Sydney - Microstructural Analysis Unit is a world-first facility giving scientists unprecedented control over the creation and testing of materials at the microscopic level. Read more »
By measuring diffraction patterns researchers are forming aberration-free images of objects at higher resolutions than can be achieved using normal lenses. Read more »
The 2012 Australian Society for Microbiology Annual Scientific Meeting will showcase the importance of microbiology to our world through presentations delivered by national and international leaders in their disciplines. Read more »
Bio-processing is presenting new challenges as the size and scale of operations increase. Maintaining clean facilities can be problematic as traditional methods of sterilisation become difficult to deploy in a controlled and regulatory compliant way.This article looks at the role and requirements of a modern bio-decontamination solution. It explores the key areas that need to be considered when seeking a solution and provides an illustration of the application of hydrogen peroxide vapour bio-decontamination technology within the biological production industry. Read more »
We’ve all been brought up to believe that scientific innovation is ‘good’ - that it will ultimately result in a better, safer, happier world. But some are now considering that such innovation may not be the vanguard of a sustainable future. Read more »
A bit more about the nature of carbon dioxide has been learned by researchers studying the Fermi resonance patterns as part of their geologic carbon storage research. Read more »
Mitochondria - subunits inside cells that produce energy - have long been thought to play a role in Alzheimer’s disease. Now, Mayo Clinic researchers using genetic mouse models have discovered that mitochondria in the brain are dysfunctional early in the disease. Read more »
To manage data associated with genomics, proteomics and next-generation sequencing, the Queensland Centre for Medical Genomics implementied the GenoLogics LIMS. The LIMS has enabled QCMG to take control of previously unstructured data stored in scattered spreadsheets, enabling them to reduce pipeline stalling errors and measure lab progress to improve efficiency. Read more »
RIKEN researchers are leading the way with novel rare-earth metal catalysts that reduce waste and improve aromatic bond-forming reactions. Read more »
The Attorney-General’s Department’s Chemical Security program requires chemical manufacturers’ and users’ input to develop systems to prevent common chemicals being misappropriated and used in illegal bomb manufacture. Read more »
Memories are maintained by synapses, the connections between neurons, but how do these synapses stay strong and keep memories alive for decades? Neuroscientists at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research have discovered a major clue from a study in fruit flies: hardy, self-copying clusters or oligomers of a synapse protein are an essential ingredient for the formation of long-term memory. Read more »
Scientists from Bristol University have developed a soap, composed of iron rich salts dissolved in water, that responds to a magnetic field when placed in solution. The soap’s magnetic properties were proved with neutrons at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) to result from tiny iron-rich clumps that sit within the watery solution. Read more »
Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have developed a laboratory test that can rapidly identify the bacterium responsible for staph infections. The test takes advantage of unique isotopic labelling combined with specific bacteriophage amplification to rapidly identify Staphylococcus aureus. Read more »
Criegee biradicals may have the potential to play a significant role in offsetting global warming by cooling the planet. Read more »
Type 1 diabetes is caused by the body’s own immune system attacking its pancreatic islet beta cells and requires daily injections of insulin to regulate the patient’s blood glucose levels. A new method described in BioMed Central’s open access journal BMC Medicine uses stem cells from cord blood to re-educate a diabetic’s own T cells and consequently restart pancreatic function reducing the need for insulin. Read more »
In the eighth year of its Mars expedition, rover Opportunity has found evidence that water once existed on Mars. Read more »