Seal Analytical - a global supplier of automated colorimetric analyser instrumentation - has acquired Thomas Cain. Seal Analytical says the acquisition will enhance its capabilities in the water and soil analysis markets. [ + ]

Researchers at the University of Adelaide have developed a process for turning plastic bags into high-tech and expensive nanomaterials called carbon nanotube membranes. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are tiny cylinders of carbon atoms, one nanometre in diameter, and are the strongest and stiffest materials ever discovered. [ + ]

Online voting for the 2013 AusBiotech board election ballot is now open. The board has two positions available for election. [ + ]

Illusions increase understanding of how the brain generates our body representation. [ + ]

Genetic Technologies (ASX:GTG) said the US patent office has, for a third time, upheld the validity of claims in one of its non-coding DNA patents. [ + ]

Australian scientists and researchers from the Research Alliance have put out a call to policymakers asking for a strategic and stable plan for science and research that will stop the country falling behind the rest of the world. [ + ]

Bioniche (ASX:BNC) has reported its FY13 results and completed a Canadian equity offering and private placement to raise C$9.8m. [ + ]

The Medical Technology Association of Australia Limited has appointed Susanne Tegen as its new chief executive officer. [ + ]

Researchers at Otago and Heidelberg Universities have discovered how the brain circuitry vital to normal fertility in humans and other mammals operates. Their findings have been published in the international journal Nature Communications. [ + ]

The concept team behind Massey University's multifunction teaching laboratories were awarded the Best Practice Award for Innovation at the Association for Tertiary Education Management conference, recently held in Australia. [ + ]

After raising $1m last year, ImmunAid has launched a second funding round to support development of its personalised treatment technology and IP. [ + ]

The Victorian Government has awarded Technology Development vouchers worth up to $50K for 10 high-tech projects, including research into potential treatments for Crohn's disease. [ + ]

An explanation for how a subset of ovarian cancers block the body's early anti-tumour immune response may expand treatment options for patients. [ + ]

An African medicinal plant - Nauclea latifolia (also known as the pin cushion tree) - has been found to produce large quantities of molecules with analgesic properties. Even more surprising, analysis shows that the molecule is identical to the heretofor wholly synthetic painkiller Tramadol. [ + ]

Biotechnology industry experts are joining forces to support a 'patent box' tax incentive, like that recently introduced on the UK, to keep home-grown IP in Australia and keep the local medical manufacturing industry globally competitive. [ + ]