In brief: Qld scale-up facility, OGTR risk framework, new auditory lab

Premier Peter Beattie has announced Queensland will commit $7 million towards a scale-up manufacturing facility to make drugs for pre-clinical and clinical trials. He said the funding would be used to encourage international and national investment.

The Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) has released a revised Risk Analysis Framework to define and explain how risks that may arise from gene technology are identified, assessed and managed. The document was developed by the OGTR in consultation national and international expert authorities and agencies and the public. It was released at the National Institutional Biosafety Committee Forum -- a meeting of key players in gene technology regulation -- by the parliamentary health secretary.

MARCS Auditory Laboratories, a University of Western Sydney research centre based at the Bankstown Campus, has opened new testing laboratories for research in auditory perception, action and communication. The centre includes an analysis lab for Peak Motus and OPTOTRAK motion capture equipment, a flight/transport simulator, an anechoic chamber for recording sounds free from echo and room reverberations, and a 'Faraday Cage' for specialised EEG neuroscanning equipment.