Scientists have pinpointed the ‘stay green’ DNA in barley in new research that may help farmers to grow better crops in areas of drought, heat and salinity. [ + ]

RMIT University’s Games and Experimental Entertainment Laboratory has opened a European centre in the German city of Karlsruhe. Professor Daine Alcorn, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation and Vice-President, travelled to Karlsruhe to sign an agreement with Mayor Margret Mergen in a ceremony attended by Austrade. [ + ]

Less than three months after Starpharma (ASX:SPL) started recruiting patients for trials of VivaGel as a bacterial vaginosis treatment, enrolment levels have reached 60%. [ + ]

Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu and Minister for Health David Davis have announced that Dr Stefan Gehrig has been awarded the prestigious Premier’s Award for Health and Medical Research for 2012. [ + ]

The Australian Academy of Science today announced a new Australia-India Fellowship program to enable Australian scientists to work with leading Indian research institutions. [ + ]

Bionomics (ASX:BNO) will use this week's ASCO meeting to present results of trials showing that the phase II dose level of BNC105 is safe and well-tolerated. [ + ]

Nearly 15 years after their discovery of siRNA-mediated gene silencing, CSIRO Plant Industry’s Ming-Bo Wang and Peter Waterhouse propose a mechanism that may explain how gene-silencing spreads from cell to cell. [ + ]

Scientex has recently acquired five new agencies to further bolster the range of products it offers to the scientific community. It has secured exclusive distribution rights for Australia and New Zealand for leading technologies used by scientists across life sciences, industry and research. [ + ]

AusBiotech is about to host the ‘Australian Life Science Investment Showcase: New York 2012’ prior to the BIO 2012 convention (Boston). [ + ]

Immuron's (ASX:IMC) top leadership has acknowledged the company's flagging share price, but believe it does not reflect progress made developing two new products. [ + ]

Terry White Chemists has become first pharmacy chain to agree to stock the Evolis hair growth product developed by Cellmid subsidiary Advangen. [ + ]

Perth-based Phylogica (ASX:PYC) will soon receive the second milestone payment in its peptide drug discovery collaboration with Pfizer. [ + ]

AusBiotech’s newest board member, Dr Mark Harvey, aims to help drive investment into Australia’s life science sector. [ + ]

Pharmaceutical companies might be scrambling, but the patent cliff is a boon for generics manufacturers around the world, says GlobalData’s Dr Jerry Isaacson [ + ]

Researchers have shown how a mutation found in half of all prostate cancers may lead to disease development and other cancers. [ + ]