NSW is running its annual BioFirst commercialisation awards again, offering cash and advice for local biotechs. [ + ]

Pharma giant Roche announces plans to restructure R&D activities and increase staff and spending. [ + ]

A Canadian team has developed a new method using the Cre/loxP recombination system to delete chromosome regions in embryonic stem cells. [ + ]

Researchers from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati (UC) Academic Health Center at the Computational Medicine Center have established a gene information resource designed to aid biomedical researchers in more effectively identifying small alterations in the human genome that are associated with individuals' susceptibility to disease.

Michael Hartmann has commenced his role as chief executive officer of the Cooperative Research Centres Association (CRCA).

Scientists and physicians with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) have outlined a method used to develop a cruelty-free ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay) for human insulin that uses monoclonal antibodies produced by cells cultured in an animal-serum-free medium.

Four years ago Matthew Freeman discovered the first of a new family of membrane-active protease enzymes, rhomboids. They disturbed the sleep of biophysicists, but are now inspiring drug researchers to dream. [ + ]

The need for high-throughput methods for rapid, larger scale purification and production of recombinant proteins is a major challenge for biomedical research. A team from Monash University is taking that challenge. [ + ]

The publication of the molecular structure of the insulin receptor last September, led by Australia's Colin Ward, was a milestone in the life sciences. Fiona Wylie profiles the man behind the receptor. [ + ]

Successful toxicology trials means Apollo Life Science can move towards human clinical trials for its insulin in tablet form. [ + ]

The Children's Medical Research Institute in Sydney has set up a new unit to look at the p53 tumour suppressor gene, and one of its young scientists has received further funding for his research into Rett Syndrome. [ + ]

Australian biotech Living Cell Technologies (LCT) has been given the green light to start a xenotransplantation trial in diabetic patients in Russia. [ + ]

West Australian biotech Phylogica has appointed former Pharmaxis scientist Dr Doug Francis to head its drug development team. [ + ]

Scientists of the Biophysical Engineering Group of the University of Twente in The Netherlands have developed an ultrasensitive sensor that can be used in a handheld device to, within minutes, detect various viruses and measure their concentration.

Canadian researchers have completed the first draft of the human metabolome. [ + ]