A polymer made by one company is warming the places other materials cannot reach. UK company Inditherm has developed a material of the same name that looks like a clothing textile but which conducts low-voltage electricity to provide an evenly heated surface for virtually any purpose - from sports physiotherapy to warming up steering wheels to heated football pitches.

Genzyme aims to file for marketing approval this year for a therapy to reduce the side-effects of thyroid cancer treatment. [ + ]

The development of open industry standards that can be applied to life science and healthcare data across the board are a necessity, according to IBM's general manager for life sciences, Carol Kovac. [ + ]

Twenty-five scientists will receive a $235,000 salary each year for the next five years, plus several hundred thousand dollars each in on-costs support, under the federation fellowships announced today by the federal government. [ + ]

The day after Peptech (ASX: PTD) celebrated the knighting of its investee company Domantis’ co-founder Dr Gregory Winter, its joint venture partner Biosceptre International was tapped for a $2.1 million START grant to develop a skin cancer therapeutic. [ + ]

By 2025, as many as 157 million overweight Chinese are likely to be suffering from non-insulin dependent (Type 2) diabetes, more than the total for the entire world today. [ + ]

Researchers have completed the sequencing of human chromosome 13 - with some surprising results. Among the genes identified using the sequence of chromosome 13 are those that can dispose to breast cancer (BRCA2) as well as regions associated with schizophrenia and one containing a gene implicated in asthma.

Perth-based opthamology specialist Regenera (ASX:RGA) experienced a lacklustre debut on ASX today. After opening at $0.47 and trading as high as $0.50, it fell below its issue price and at time of writing was trading at $0.49. [ + ]

The Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne has been announced as one of two international sites for a phase II clinical trial of phenoxodiol, the promising chemotherapy-boosting compound phenoxodiol, developed by Marshall Edwards (LSE AIM: MSH, NASDAQ:MSHL), a US subsidiary of Sydney pharmaceutical company Novogen (ASX: NRT, NASDAQ: NVGN). [ + ]

Four industry visionaries provided a glimpse of the biotechnology industry's future at the final plenary session of BIO 2004, which wrapped up in San Francisco last week. [ + ]

Two patients in Singapore General Hospital suffering from inoperable liver tumours have become the first cancer patients in the world to be treated with an experimental in situ radiation therapy developed by Perth nano-biotech company Psivida (ASX:PSD). [ + ]

As Biogen Idec and Elan await approval from the FDA and the European Medicines Agency for their multiple sclerosis therapeutic, Antegren, Melbourne-based Antisense Therapeutics (ASX:ANP) will also be watching with bated breath. [ + ]

Australian CRO Novotech is setting up operations in the US to take advantage of the clinical trials opportunities offered there. [ + ]

CSIRO statisticians have developed a new molecular classifier tool which is being tested on clinical bone marrow samples from children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) -- the most common cancer in children under 12 -- as a potential diagnostic tool for identifying the disease and its subtypes. [ + ]

The CSIRO -- formerly the largest shareholder in Adelaide-based biopharma GroPep (ASX:GRO) -- last week halved its shareholding in the company, selling 5 million shares valued at just under $3.5 million. [ + ]