Over the next few days, we'll continue to preview the 2004 Lorne conferences: Protein, Cancer and Genome. [ + ]

The Lorne series of conferences -- Protein, Cancer and Genome -- begin in early February. Over the coming days, we'll preview the events with profiles of some of their key speakers and issues. [ + ]

The slump in the Australian biotechnology industry in the first half of 2003 was reflected in the recruitment market, according to leading recruitment consultants. [ + ]

2D gel electrophoresis (2DE) is a scientific technique that is a cornerstone of proteomics research. 2DE has evolved dramatically both in terms of the number of scientists utilising the technique and how it is applied within their research

The fifth round of Biotechnology Innovation Fund (BIF) grants, announced late last month by Federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane, is the final funding round for the $40 million program. Over its lifetime, the BIF scheme has supported 164 projects in 153 companies, ranging from tiny start-ups to listed giants such as Orica. [ + ]

It sounds almost paradoxical. Why would anyone try to cool something at the same time they were trying to heat it? In the case of microwave-accelerated synthesis, the answer is enhanced yields

The fingerprint recognition method may be over a century old but it is not likely to be replaced soon. But a recent development is now updating the processes used for capturing, storing and making arrests from fingerprint evidence

Clinical trial activity in Australia is booming, reports Melissa Trudinger -- but can the system cope? [ + ]

Spearheading clinical trials in Victoria is Cancer Trials Australia, a consortium involving four hospitals -- including Austin Health, the Royal Melbourne Hospital, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Western Hospital -- as well as the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. [ + ]

Proteomics. It's often touted as being the next revolution in biotechnology, the key to understanding biological pathways and disease states, a force that is driving research forward with an explosion of new technologies. But is identifying and describing the proteins of the human body providing the answers scientists and drug companies are after? [ + ]

Richard Simpson came home from the second annual meeting of the Human Proteome Organisation in Montreal last month as the organisation's vice-president. But Simpson, of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Melbourne, has too much on his mind to be too carried away by the esteem of the role. [ + ]

Sydney start-up Fluorotechnics has signed a deal under which multinational Amersham Biosciences will exclusively supply and distribute its Deep Purple protein stain worldwide. [ + ]

Doing proteomics is expensive, relying on a suite of new and traditional technology with hefty price tags -- sample prep, mass specs, gel spot cutters, electrophoresis, and substantial IT hardware. [ + ]

In applications as diverse as dairy, brewing and molecular microbiology, drinking water analysis and pharmaceutical research, clinical waste disposal and sewage treatment, sterility is the key word in good laboratory practice

Due to the presence of residual acidic silanol groups in most commercial packings, secondary chromatographic effects are common and are usually troublesome. As a result, efficiency and peak shape for some analytes are usually unacceptable at neutral pH