Intel searches for cancer's fingerprints
14 January, 2004 by David BraueThey'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.
LORNE PROTEIN: The lingua franca of bacteria
14 January, 2004 by Graeme O'NeillThe Lorne series of conferences -- Protein, Cancer and Genome -- begin in early February. Over the coming days, we'll preview the events with profiles of some of their key speakers and issues.
Our first genome: Leptospira genome completed
08 December, 2003 by Graeme O'NeillAustralian researchers have their first bug in the bank: a full genome map and complete DNA sequence of the 3900-odd genes that make up the spirochete bacterium Leptospira.
Cluster power ending Australia's research computing drought
05 December, 2003 by David BraueIf computing power were water, Australia's drought would be rapidly coming to a close. Thanks to lowering costs and steadily improving technology, Australian life scientists and other researchers are rapidly gaining access to unprecedented amounts of computing power to support their work.
PROTEOMICS FEATURE: The promise (and problem) of proteomics
02 December, 2003 by Susan WilliamsonProteomics. It's often touted as being the next revolution in biotechnology, the key to understanding biological pathways and disease states, a force that is driving research forward with an explosion of new technologies. But is identifying and describing the proteins of the human body providing the answers scientists and drug companies are after?
Proteomics: The human proteome projects
02 December, 2003 by Susan WilliamsonRichard Simpson came home from the second annual meeting of the Human Proteome Organisation in Montreal last month as the organisation's vice-president. But Simpson, of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Melbourne, has too much on his mind to be too carried away by the esteem of the role.
Proteomics: Fluorotechnics gets it right first time
02 December, 2003 by Iain ScottSydney start-up Fluorotechnics has signed a deal under which multinational Amersham Biosciences will exclusively supply and distribute its Deep Purple protein stain worldwide.
Proteomics: We have the technology
02 December, 2003 by Iain ScottDoing proteomics is expensive, relying on a suite of new and traditional technology with hefty price tags -- sample prep, mass specs, gel spot cutters, electrophoresis, and substantial IT hardware.
AGRF talks up genome project spin-off benefits
01 December, 2003 by Melissa TrudingerAs the Australian Genome Research Facility continues its drive to get AUD$6 million funding for the sequencing of the wallaby genome, the benefits of participating in a 'big science' project like this are becoming apparent.
Spina bifida gene identified in Melbourne study
11 November, 2003 by Melissa TrudingerA breakthrough in the understanding of congenital neural tube defect spina bifida has been made at Royal Melbourne Hospital with the discovery of the responsible gene in the curly-tail mouse model of the disease.
The $6 million wallaby: push continues for homegrown genome project
06 November, 2003 by Melissa TrudingerIn what Francis Collins has termed "an unprecedented offer," the US NIH's National Human Genome Research Institute has offered to share the cost of generating the sequence of the tammar wallaby genome despite going ahead with an American opossum species as the chosen marsupial for comparative genomics.
Getting value from grid computing
05 November, 2003 by David BraueGrowing interest in grid computing technologies will drive its rapid advancement as the technology grows from research darling to commercial reality, IBM's senior grid computing strategist, Rob Vrablik, predicted during a recent visit to Sydney.
NZ's Protemix takes the road less travelled
05 November, 2003 by Graeme O'NeillProf Garth Cooper, CEO of Auckland biopharmaceutical company Protemix, aims to make his company the first New Zealand biotech to take a discovered compound all the way to market.
VPAC goes commercial to target start-ups' IT needs
04 November, 2003 by David BraueSmall companies within Australia's growing life sciences industry are starting to compute like the big boys, thanks to a growing investment in the sector by companies keen to feed its hunger for high-performance computing (HPC) systems.
INTERVIEW: Getting up to Speed
17 October, 2003 by Melissa TrudingerThe thing about bioinformatics, according to Prof Terry Speed, is that it tends to attract people from a variety of disciplines, such as physicists with programming skills not interested in a career in defence, or mathematicians with a practical bent.
