Nanotechnology has the power to transform healthcare. But Europe will lose out to the United States unless it can mount a coherent approach to developing nanomedicine, says a new report.

Scientists at the University of Manchester have invented an electronic nose that can monitor odours and methane at waste landfill and water treatment plants remotely.

Scientists at the John Innes plant research centre in Norwich, UK have uncovered a gene that could form the basis of new crop varieties able to cope with changes in world climate brought about by global warming.

Researchers at the University of Bonn in Germany have succeeded in finding a potentially low-cost source of a potent antiviral compound known to prevent replication of the HIV virus in vitro.

Last month the world's leading pharmaceutical company received simultaneous FDA approval for two new therapies. Yet neither drug was invented by the company. Both were originally developed by small biotechs.

There is much more work to do to convince public opinion that bioscience is a force for good, says UK BioIndustry Association chairman Simon Best.

On 26 January, in London, Science|Business organised a roundtable of executives in the biotech industry to discuss the state of the market. The consensus: investor appetite for biotech companies is on the rise.