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.
'Self-replicating' bogeyman strikes at nanotech researchers
07 February, 2005 by Graeme O'Neill'Nanotechnobabble' is already making life difficult for bio-nanotechnology researchers, with technophobes warning of the risk of uncontrollable, self-replicating nanobots overrunning the world, the Lorne Conference on Protein Structure and Function at Phillip Island, in Victoria, heard today.
Plasvacc buys US vet plasma company
07 February, 2005 by Melissa TrudingerQueensland veterinary blood plasma company PlasVacc has purchased US plasma company Veterinary Dynamics Inc (VDI).
Stem Cell Sciences receives DTI funding
01 February, 2005 by Melissa TrudingerA consortium led by Stem Cell Sciences' UK centre has been awarded £1.2 million by the UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to fund a program in drug discovery for regenerative medicine.
