Despite a flat fourth quarter, the Australian life sciences sector significantly outperformed the All Ordinaries Index in 2013, but PwC believes the challenge will be sustaining the boom. [ + ]

Higher-dose sales of Sirtex Medical's (ASX:SRX) SIR-Spheres liver cancer treatments and a weaker Australian dollar helped the company grow its revenue and profit for the first half of FY14. [ + ]

The source of the magically appearing rock on Mars has been revealed. [ + ]

Researchers have produced a global map detailing the genetic histories of 95 different populations across the world, spanning the last 4000 years. [ + ]

Enzymes are well known for their housekeeping role in cells, but some enzymes bind RNA and might play a significant role in linking intermediary metabolism to gene expression via post-transcriptional regulation.  [ + ]

CSL (ASX:CSL) weathered the impact of a multimillion-dollar settlement payout and a decline in sales at bioCSL to turn in a 3% higher profit in 1H14. [ + ]

Cochlear (ASX:COH) has blamed delays receiving anticipated regulatory approval for new products and the potential costs of a patent violation lawsuit on a steep decline in 1H14 net profit. [ + ]

The US FDA has granted marketing approval for Admedus's (ASX:AHZ) CardioCel for use in cardiac repair surgeries in adults and children. [ + ]

An Italian phase II trial of Clinuvel's (ASX:CUV) Scenesse in rare skin condition Hailey-Hailey Disease has commenced, with recruitment due to be complete by March. [ + ]

After one of the most intensive investigations in veterinary history for a single animal, what caused the death of Berlin Zoological Garden's polar bear, Knut, has been revealed. [ + ]

The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) has released the results of its survey on the most important chemically engineered inventions and solutions of the modern era. The top 10 list, comprising the inventions considered to have made the biggest impact on society, was voted for by IChemE's MediaEnvoys. [ + ]

Novel synthetic molecules that represent potential combination therapies for late-stage basal breast cancer are moving towards being trialled in animals. [ + ]

Researchers from Harvard University have created a piece of open-source software which enables users to analyse and rearrange ranking systems based on the attributes they find the most important. [ + ]

Calzada's (ASX:CZD) PolyNovo announced that three RAH surgeons have been authorised to prescribe its NovoSorb BTM dermal scaffold in free flap donor site repair surgery. [ + ]

With both discrete and continuous segmented flow analysers being widely available, choosing the better technique is one of the common decisions facing laboratory managers. [ + ]