Amid the raft of federal government consultations and reviews in recent months - a record number of which impact biotechnology - the Strategic Review of Health and Medical Research in Australia has released its final report, echoing industry’s calls for commercialisation, clinical trials and IP support. [ + ]

The South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) is building an innovative 25,000 m² facility, designed to foster researchers’ creativity and productivity. Together with Schneider Electric Life Sciences solution experts, SAHMRI will realise its vision of a highly intelligent and responsive facility. [ + ]

A leading opponent of transgenic crops in Britain recants. But Australian scientists developing GM crops to help feed the world aren’t waiting for local anti-GM campaigners to see the scientific light. [ + ]

Phosphagenics (ASX:POH) has received ethics approval for a clinical trial of the redesigned version of pain patch TPM-oxycodone. [ + ]

Click chemistry is not a specific reaction but rather chemistry tailored to generate substances quickly and reliably by joining small units together. It is meant to mimic nature which also generates substances by joining small modular units (eg, amino acids into proteins). But precisely how it works had been unclear since its invention at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) more than a decade ago. [ + ]

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories are developing a medical instrument that will be able to quickly detect a suite of biothreat agents, including anthrax, ricin, botulinum, shiga and SEB toxin. The device - once developed, approved by the Food and Drug Administration and commercialised - would most likely be used in emergency rooms in the event of a bioterrorism incident. [ + ]

Novogen (ASX:NRT) shares surged on Wednesday after the company revealed lab results showing that its CS-6 candidate was highly cytotoxic to nigh-invulnerable ovarian cancer stem cell lines. [ + ]

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), the most powerful and sensitive particle physics spectrometer ever deployed in space, has had its first results published. [ + ]

Professor Ian Chubb has used his considerable reach as Australia’s Chief Scientist to speak up for the importance of science on our future prosperity and wellbeing. [ + ]

For middle-aged patients with presbyopia, wearing OK contact lenses overnight can restore up-close vision in one eye, according to the study by Paul Gifford, PhD, FAAO, and Helen A Swarbrick, PhD, FAAO, of University of New South Wales. [ + ]

Bioniche (ASX:BNC) will receive up to C$500,000 in funding from Canada’s NRC to support the development of a new generation of its E. coli O157 cattle vaccine. [ + ]

Osmosis - the flow of a solvent across a semi-permeable membrane from a region of lower to higher solute concentration - is a well-developed concept in physics and biophysics. The problem is that, even though the concept is important to plant and human physiology, osmosis is understood in biology and chemistry in a much simpler - and often incorrect - way. [ + ]

The University of Wollongong (UOW) has licensed the commercialisation rights to a novel drug formulation for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) to a local biotech company - FivePhusion. [ + ]

AusBiotech welcomes the federal government’s Plan for Australian Jobs, which will aid innovative companies and help support the biotechnology sector. [ + ]

pSivida (ASX:PVA) has said partner Alimera plans to resubmit Iluvien for US approval in March and that it will receive a $23.9 million milestone payment if the NDA is accepted. [ + ]