Neville Stevens, AO has been appointed chair of the Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Committee, commencing 18 July 2010.

Brisbane-based molecular diagnostics company, Athlomics, has provided the first of its SeptiCyte Lab kits for the diagnosis of sepsis to Brisbane’s Mater Pathology. [ + ]

Iron ore magnate Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forest is poised to make his foray into the Australian biotech industry with his medical devices company Allied Medical announcing it was undertaking a rights issue to buy a controlling interest in Brisbane vaccine specialists Coridon. [ + ]

Music training may bring about biological changes in the brain that could enhance music processing and even transfer to other domains. [ + ]

Hartland and her team at the University of Melbourne study highly specialised systems used by many pathogenic bacteria to boost their own virulence. One such bacterial system is the Type III secretion system (T3SS), which was identified in the early 1990s in Yersinia, a genus of bacteria infamous for causing plague. [ + ]

The Australian share market closed slightly down today after a lacklustre session in which investors kept to the sidelines following weak economic data out of the U.S overnight, while anticipation of a federal election being called in the next few days contributed to the subdued mood. [ + ]

Russia’s approval this week of Merck Serono’s Movectro (oral cladribine) marks a major shift towards new oral treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS), according to industry analysts Datamonitor. [ + ]

The Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication, part of the Australian National Fabrication Facility, may position Australia at the forefront of nanotechnology research.

Australian and French researchers will be working together to fight neurodegenerative diseases, like Parkinson’s disease, thanks to funding through the 2010 French-Australian Science and Technology (FAST) Program.

CSL announced today that it will invest $235 million over the next five years to develop a large scale biotechnology facility at its manufacturing site in Broadmeadows focussed on the late-stage development of new therapies for cancer, bleeding disorders, inflammation and infection. [ + ]

Melbourne biotech Clinuvel has reported positive results from a Phase III trial of its UV protection drug Scenesse in treating sufferers of the rare genetic disorder erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP). [ + ]

PricewaterhouseCoopers has released its BioForum report for the fourth quarter FY10 showing a fall of 9.5 percent for the local Life Sciences Index, which performed slightly better than the broader market. [ + ]

Cancer specialists ChemGenex today announced that its recent Type A Meeting with the FDA has resulted in discussions outlining a regulatory path for the approval of its Omapro (omacetaxine mepesuccinate) treatment for patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML). [ + ]

Australian regenerative medicine company Mesoblast has formally begun perusing FDA approval for Phase III clinical trials of its bone marrow transplant allogeneic following positive results from a trial at the University of Texas Md Anderson Cancer Centre. [ + ]

Malaria is not only devastating to the individuals who suffer from it, but it also prevents many of the poorest countries around the world from emerging from poverty. A 2001 report by the Center for International Development found that countries with widespread malaria infection had income levels only one third that of similar countries without malaria - and that's adjusting for all other variables. So malaria is not just a health issue, it's a massive socio-political problem, the solving of which could benefit untold millions. [ + ]