A leading dermatologist has joined the board of the Australian company behind a new tanning drug. [ + ]

Shimadzu Biotech, the bio-IT arm of Japan's Shimadzu Corp, and Boston-based start-up GenoMems have signed a deal under which the two companies plan to develop and commercialise a fast DNA sequencer. [ + ]

Federal Labor MPs have voted to give themselves a conscience vote on the issue of stem cell research.

New South Wales anglican bishops have joined catholic bishops in supporting stem cell research, as long as it does not destroy human embryos.

A gene with links to both epilepsy and intellectual disability has been identified for the first time by researchers at the Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide.

A new standing committe on science and technology has been announced by the Federal government. [ + ]

Closer ties between a Texas biomedical research powerhouse and Queensland biotech institutes have been foreshadowed by Queensland Premier Peter Beattie. [ + ]

Karen Lower has won Adelaide's Women's and Children's Hospital's annual Young Investigator of the Year Award for her work identifying the genetic cause of Borjeson-Forssman-Lehmann Syndrome (BFLS), a severe form of intellectual disability. [ + ]

Biomedicine companies emerged the big winners among 22 biotech hopefuls who will share $4.74 million in the latest round of Biotechnology Innovation Fund grants. [ + ]

Australian scientists are claiming a world-first technique for using DNA 'fingerprints' of bacteria as an early warning system against disease epidemics. [ + ]

Optical technologies group Iatia has closed its initial public offering two days early after successfully raising $5 million to assist its commercialisation program. [ + ]

The Queensland Institute of Medical Research has received a $3.43 million grant from Atlantic Philanthropies to further its work in developing a treatment for cancer without harmful side effects.

Stem Cell Sciences has been granted the international patent for a form of cell nucleus replacement cloning, the technique used by Scottish scientists to clone Dolly the sheep in 1997.

A cervical screening product that its developer claims is more accurate than the conventional pap smear in detecting earlier grades of pre-cancer will be on the European market within the next few months, and in Australia by the end of the year. [ + ]

Sydney company Proteome Systems has teamed up with US group Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics to find drug targets to combat the disease. [ + ]