Dr David Botstein, of the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics at Princeton University, was yesterday awarded the prestigious 2003 Peter Gruber Genetics prize. [ + ]

Across large areas of the southern United States, the most social primate on Planet Earth has come into painful conflict with one of the world's most unlovable social insects - the South American fire ant, Solenopsis victor. [ + ]

The risks of developing cancer as a side-effect of gene therapy were outweighed by the potential benefit to the patients, one of the scientists involved in gene therapy clinical trials said yesterday at the XIX International Congress of Genetics. [ + ]

Genomics expert Prof David Botstein says it's a fact that biologists would rather share a toothbrush than a gene's name -- the yeast gene that he knows as ABC1 is apparently known to fruit fly geneticists as 'bride of frizzled disco'. [ + ]

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) shows promise as a gene-targeting vector for repair of mutations, particularly in cell populations that can be treated ex vivo and reinfused back into the host, according to David Russell, a professor at the University of Washington. [ + ]

Bribane diagnostic biotech Panbio has become the first company ever to rate US FDA approval for a West Nile virus (WNV) immunoassay diagnostic kit. [ + ]

NSW’s BioFirst awards have attracted two top overseas researchers to the state, in the first of this year’s appointments for overseas experts. [ + ]

WA biotech EQiTX has been granted a US patent on its Gingerol pain and inflammation compound. [ + ]

Amgen, the world's No. 1 biotechnology company, said it has asked US regulators to approve the sale of its rheumatoid arthritis drug, Enbrel, to treat the skin disorder psoriasis. [ + ]

Complementary medicine giant Mayne Health has been caught out in the warehouse department, with some 650 bottles of TGA-banned and recalled products being accidentally delivered to retailers across Australia. [ + ]

A University of Melbourne research team has overturned 30 years of dogma on how a cell transports calcium, revealing potential insights into cancer and neuro-degenerative diseases.

Evolution doesn't care what happens to the body after reproduction, says Prof Miroslav Radman, so we humans should consider taking out little extra cellular life insurance to ward off cancer in our twilight years. [ + ]

CSIRO Livestock Industries is leafing through vast amounts of historical cattle data to identify if genetics have had any impact on parasite infestation levels over the years. [ + ]

IBM said it has no plans to take its bioIT products direct to the consumer, despite the potential for increased sales numbers. [ + ]

A schizophrenic mouse model has led the way to identification of a gene potentially predisposing humans to the devastating human mental illness. [ + ]