As Australian Cancer Technology heads into Phase II clinical trials for its Pentrix anti-cancer vaccine, the company says it is evaluating a couple of new opportunities to expand its oncology drug development pipeline from the US and UK. [ + ]

They've been using it for years to check for physical faults in semiconductor manufacturing, but researchers at computer chip maker Intel are excited about the potential new uses for a spectroscopic technique they hope could revolutionise the testing of samples for contaminants and disease. [ + ]

An international team of scientists working in the UK, Australia, Italy and the USA has made an astronomical discovery that has major implications for testing Einstein's general theory of relativity.

Gradipore (ASX:GDP) has agreed to acquire a plasma therapeutics business in the US for AUD$6.42 million, providing it with a source of plasma for the development of a therapeutic product using its separations technology to purify plasma components. [ + ]

A project to store every issue of The Lancet medical journal in a searchable database has been completed, making the digital archive a major resource for medical researchers and historians.

Recently floated diagnostics company Rockeby Biomed (ASX:RBY) has signed up Asia-Pacific healthcare and pharmaceutical distributor JDH Healthcare as its exclusive distributor for its Candia5 Rapid Test kit in Hong Kong and Macau. [ + ]

New Zealand biocontrol company Encoate will launch the latest wrinkle in pest control next month: shrink-wrapped bacteria to control pasture and lawn grubs. [ + ]

Adelaide company Ellex Medical Lasers (ASX:ELX) has been awarded a AUD$3.3 million R&D Start grant from the federal government to develop a new ophthalmic laser device. [ + ]

Perth-based nanotechnology company pSivida (ASX: PSD) has selected cancer diagnostics as the first target area for its in vivo immunodiagnostic system. [ + ]

Perth company Clinical Cell Culture (C3) has received approval for its CellSpray and CellSpray XP products in Germany and Austria, paving the way for entry into the European market. [ + ]

CSIRO Plant Industry researchers have cloned the gene that probably laid the foundation for Australia's lucrative wheat industry more than a century ago. [ + ]

New Zealand's Crop and Food Research Institute has received approval from the country's Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) to conduct a contained field trial of genetically modified onions. [ + ]

Brisbane biomedical company Adipogen has received a new injection of venture capital to pursue a novel therapy for obesity that would involve blocking the proliferation of fat-storage cells, or adipocytes. [ + ]

One of the four patients to have been implanted with Ventracor's artificial heart device to date has died from an unrelated medical condition, the company (ASX: VCR) reported yesterday. [ + ]

The prospect of Australia's cotton industry returning to the continent's well-watered tropics has enticed a new player to test its transgenic wares against the insect monsters that ate the Ord. [ + ]