CryoFeed is a web-based information resource for researchers who cryopreserve biological specimens. The microsite, developed by Wheaton, is a place where scientists can find the latest biobank related news and technical tips for topics like sample containment, management (tracking, batching and storing) and processing. Visitors can sign up for free updates, post comments and suggest topics for articles. [ + ]

Dr Tony Papenfuss has shifted his energies from astrophysics to bioinformatics, and is about to tackle the itchy problem of sequencing the scabies genome. [ + ]

Dr Fatima Valdés-Mora has added yet another epigenetic mechanism to the growing list that allow cancers to run amok. [ + ]

Professor Suresh Mahalingam and his team have made some intriguing discoveries that could lead to treatments of some nasty mosquito-borne diseases. [ + ]

Drug development company QRxPharma (ASX:QRX) has agreed to form a partnership with Actavis covering commercialisation of its lead product, MoxDuo, in the US market. [ + ]

Scientists have reacted with consternation to news that key details will be removed from a paper outlining a new mutant and potentially deadly H5N1 virus. [ + ]

Cash levels boosted to over $8 million to help fund phase II melanoma trial. [ + ]

Reproduction doesn’t just involve a negotiation process between partners, but it involves a complex interaction at the immune level. [ + ]

Clinuvel’s photoprotective drug Scenesse has shown it has a significant benefit for sufferers of erythropoietic protoporphyria, bringing the company closer to filing in Europe for marketing authorisation. [ + ]

In the year that AusBiotech celebrated 25 years since it began as the Australian Biotechnology Association, 2011 has been the most action-packed for many years. Dr Anna Lavelle, CEO of AusBiotech, takes a look at the year that was and what 2012 might hold for the biotechnology sector. [ + ]

Diagnostics product developer HealthLinx (ASX:HTX) will finalise recruitment for a large trial of its OvPlex ovarian cancer biomarker, on the strength of the early results. [ + ]

The board and largest shareholders of Hunter Immunology have agreed to endorse a reverse takeover by Probiomics (ASX:PCC) to create a company with a $37.2m market cap. [ + ]

Professor Ian Frazer, who was named Australian of the Year in 2006 for his development of the human papillomavirus (HPV) cervical cancer vaccines, has become one of the most recent members of the Australian Academy of Science, alongside a Nobel Laureate, a Eureka prize winner and a pioneer in mathematics.

The world’s first system for studying the cell biology of living microorganisms at super-resolution has been installed at the University of Technology, Sydney, promising new insights into the behaviour of infectious diseases.

Vaccine company BioDiem (ASX:BDM) has added antigen development technology to its portfolio with the purchase of Savine Therapeutics. [ + ]