All News

Sworn enemies within the technology and pharmaceutical industries are joining forces in a lobbying drive to persuade European Union lawmakers to change a draft law they say will stifle innovation in Europe by criminalising patent infringements, along with all forms of intellectual property infringements.

Lab-supply companies are normally in the business of selling things to scientists, rather than buying. But the new CEO of Sigma-Aldrich, one of the world's largest lab-supply firms, is shopping for new ideas, new partners - and new companies to invest in.

The countries of Scandinavia and the Baltic have got together to maximise the value of intellectual property, the feedstock of the knowledge economy.

Scientists at Edinburgh University have developed a new method for cleaning surgical instruments that entirely removes protein contamination, including the near-indestructible prions - the agents that cause mad cow disease

The first investor-ready company has rolled off the production line in a scheme set up by the development agency Yorkshire Forward to commercialise research from the UK county's universities.

Just as most public research bodies embrace commercialisation as their raison d'etre, the UK Medical Research Council is reversing the trend and taking a company it span out earlier back within its fold.

Charges of scientific fraud in Korea aren't likely to faze Britain's ambitious stem-cell efforts, as evidenced by plans for a £40 million lab run by the 'father' of Dolly the sheep.

"I didn't think they would be at this stage for decades, let alone within a year." Gerald Schatten, colleague of Korea's stem-cell celebrity, before scandal broke

Diamonds are the hardest natural substance known to man, and hard to find too. But Russian scientists say they have found a way to make prospecting for the precious mineral much easier.

At any given time over 1.4 million people worldwide are suffering from infections they got from their health-provider, according to the World Health Organization. Pelias AG, a newly created affiliate of Austrian biotech company Intercell AG, is hoping to raise €15 million to €20 million to make a dent in those numbers.

Forget stem cells, pharmacogenomics and the next big cure - Michael Kenward gazes into his prophecy book to see what the physical sciences have in store for us this year. Or maybe not.