Neuroscience in the future
05 April, 2005 by Susan WilliamsonMax Bennett spoke with Susan Williamson about what's in store for neuroscience in coming years.
The hard cell
04 April, 2005 by Melissa TrudingerAdvocates and opponents of stem cell research across Australia are gearing up for the reignition of the debate that polarised Australia's state and federal governments in 2002.
Mosquito-borne virus helps in vaccine vector quest
04 April, 2005 by Graeme O'NeillA new Brisbane biotech, RepliKun, has been spun out from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR), the University of Queensland and the state's health department to commercialise a novel vaccine vector, based on the Kunjin virus replicon -- the self-replicating genetic core of the mosquito-borne virus of Australia's tropics.
PM backs down on stem cell research 'roadblock'
29 March, 2005 by Melissa TrudingerThe Australian prime minister, John Howard, has dropped plans for a 12-month extension to the current restriction on creating new embryonic stem cell lines, which is due to expire on April 5, after being rebuffed by state premiers.
Contagious success
22 March, 2005 by Michael GoodAustralians lead the way in vaccine research for malaria and other infectious diseases, writes Michael Good.
Griffith team grows adult stem cells
21 March, 2005 by Staff WritersA research team led by Prof Alan Mackay-Sim of Griffith University has successfully grown nerve, heart, liver, kidney and muscle cells from adult stem cells harvested from the olfactory mucosa.
States reject Howard's request for longer stem cell ban
21 March, 2005 by Graeme O'NeillState premiers have apparent rebuffed Prime Minister John Howard's request for a 12-month extension to the current restriction on creating new embryonic stem cell lines, which is due to expire on April 5.
Prana starts second generation trials
15 March, 2005 by Graeme O'NeillMelbourne's Prana Biotechnology (ASX:PBT) has begun a Phase I clinical trial of its synthetic, second-generation molecule PBT2 in healthy volunteers.
Mesoblast to use NHMRC grant for pilot studies
15 March, 2005 by Graeme O'NeillMelbourne stem cell therapy developer Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) announced today that founder and chief scientific adviser Prof Silviu Itescu has signed a memorandum of understanding to activate a AUD$1.5 million NHMRC research grant awarded to him last year.
Do-it-yourself blood vessels
28 February, 2005 by Graeme O'NeillPrivate Brisbane biotech VasCam has begun animal trials of a technology that would allow heart-bypass patients, or patients with blocked leg arteries, to grow their own replacement blood vessels.
Stem cell research back on senate agenda
18 February, 2005 by Renate KrelleA senior Biotechnology Australia bureaucrat has been grilled in a senate estimates committee by conservative Tasmanian independent senator Brian Harradine about the federal agency's attitude towards human embryonic stem cells.
Researchers unravel cell death regulation
17 February, 2005 by Melissa TrudingerResearchers at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) have unravelled some of the interactions between pro-survival and pro-apoptotic proteins, providing clues to the regulatory mechanisms that govern apoptosis.
Adjuvants: The problem with peptides and the DCtag advantage
17 February, 2005 by Graeme O'NeillVaxine's Nikolai Petrovsky says peptide vaccines work well in highly inbred laboratory mice, but have consistently failed in clinical trials over the past two decades because humans are an outbred species.
FDA OK for Life Therapeutics' tetanus serum
15 February, 2005 by Melissa TrudingerLife Therapeutics' (formerly Gradipore, ASX: LFE) US subsidiary Life Sera has received FDA approval to begin collecting tetanus hyperimmune serum for use as a prophylactic treatment following potential exposure to the tetanus toxin.
Dendritic cells reveal double identity
14 February, 2005 by Graeme O'NeillFor nearly three decades, immunologists have believed that specialised sentries in the surface layer of the skin, called Langerhans cells, alert hunter-killer T-cells to seek out and destroy virus-infected cells.
