Life Sciences and Chemistry

A Queensland PhD student’s discovery speeds up tissue growth and repair and sparks off a new listed biotech company.

“The key to recovering from a burn or a wound is the ability for cells to move and grow. We have discovered a naturally occurring novel complex of growth factors that speeds this process up,” says Jennifer Kricker, finalist in the Fresh Innovators forum and co-discoverer of the complex, now called VitroGro. “Speeding up healing reduces the risk of infection and scar

Sporting technology has been used on lizards to watch them run.

The same camera that analysed the bowling action of Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan is being used to study how dragon lizards can escape a bigger, faster predator – the goanna. “It’s all in the running action,” says zoologist, Chris Clemente from the University of Western Australia.

His work has shown that lizards have adapted their locomotion to fit with their habitats. For example, the dragon liz

The new Centre for Applied Medicine Research (CIMA) will be officially opened at the University of Navarre (Universidad de Navarra).

More than 15,000 square metres on four floors will be given over to investigative work – both basic and clinical – by some 350 biologists, doctors, pharmacologists and technicians. Those responsible for the project wished to direct their efforts in four areas of research involving 90 per cent of deaths in the West. The CIMA scientists will work within t

Scientists are a step closer to understanding the health benefits of drinking red wine. Researchers funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and affiliated with the Salk Institute in San Diego, Calif., have succeeded in converting chalcone synthase, a biosynthetic protein enzyme found in all higher plants, into an efficient resveratrol synthase. Resveratrol, a beneficial component of red wine, is thought to contribute to the improved cardiovascular effects associated with moderate consumpt

Marine biologists want to find out more about the Giant Pacific Octopus, but this elusive creature doesn’t willingly reveal its secrets.

Divers can follow the octopus for short periods, but what’s really needed is an undersea robot that will wait patiently outside the creature’s den, ready to shadow its every move. UA engineering undergrads, in collaboration with students from two other universities, are building a mini-sub to answer this need. In July, they took a prototype to Ala

Improved production of polyunsaturated fats in oilseed crops will benefit human health and the environment

In research reported this month in The Plant Cell, scientists succeeded in producing genetically modified linseed plants that accumulate significant levels of very long chain poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in seed. This is the first report of the successful engineering of very long chain PUFA into an oilseed crop, and is an excellent example of how genetic engineering of ag