The 2012 AusMedtech national conference to be held in less than three weeks will feature inspirational speaker Li Cunxin, well known to many as Mao’s Last Dancer, amidst the program of over 40 speakers and panel sessions. [ + ]

Three Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science have been elected to the Royal Society of London, the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence. Professor Brian Schmidt, Professor Hugh O’Neill and Dr Trevor McDougall are among 44 scientists elected to the Royal Society in 2012. [ + ]

Computing and medicine are among the many fields which could be revolutionised by a new form of ultra-small laser. [ + ]

A merger between Biota and US-based Nabi Pharmaceuticals will see Biota delist from the ASX and list on the Nasdaq with the aim of improving investment and commercialisation opportunities. [ + ]

Fifty Australian biotechnology companies plan to spend at least $610 million on research and development in 2012 and 82% expect their business to grow this year according to AusBioTech’s annual Biotechnology Industry Position Survey. [ + ]

University of Granada researchers, in collaboration with the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), are working on the development of an extremely precise communications and synchronisation system that has an accuracy of one nanosecond. Researchers plan to integrate this system into CERN's accelerators; more specifically, into the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. [ + ]

Pharmaxis (ASX:PXS) has secured marketing approval from the EU for its flagship cystic fibrosis drug, Bronchitol. [ + ]

AARNet and Southern Cross Cable Networks (SCCN) have announced the extension of their SXTransPORT partnership to provide huge upgrades to research and education data connectivity between Australia and the rest of the world. The partnership will see SCCN deliver dual 40 Gbps circuits in 2012 and upgrades to dual 100 Gbps by 2016. [ + ]

The inaugural AusBiotech AEI (Agricultural Environment and Industrial biotechnology) & AusFoodtech event attracted 70 attendees from around Australia, representing the food, agricultural, industrial and environmental sectors of biotechnology. [ + ]

Prospects for a herpes cure are closer with Coridon signing a deal covering technology used in its experimental herpes vaccine, which is set to enter human trials this year. [ + ]

Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) has enrolled half the patients for a US trial of off the shelf stem cells to restore degenerated intervertebral discs. [ + ]

Parkinson's expert Dr Barry Snow has agreed to become the lead investigator for a NZ trial of Living Cell Technologies' (ASX:LCT) NTCELL treatment candidate. [ + ]

US-based medical device company Osprey Medical (ASX:OSP) has completed its $20m IPO on the ASX. [ + ]

The AusBiotech Biotechnology Industry Position Survey has found Australian biotechs are optimistic about growth despite concerns over the economic and political environment. [ + ]

Uncovering new fats, or lipids, with links to diseases in the human eye (lens) is as easy as taking a lunch break, according to chemists from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology at the University of Wollongong. [ + ]