A truly blue rose
After 15 years spent chasing the florists鈥� holy grail, Melbourne-based biotech company Florigene has created the first blue rose. The variety was produced by transferring genes for the blue pigment delphinidin from pansies, torenias and irises. The flower is now being tried out on the public in the US and Japan.
The cows come home
This year鈥檚 Nobel prize for medicine was good news for Perth company Agri-BIOTECH. The prizewinners won their Nobel for showing that the bacterium Helicobacter pylori causes gastric ulcers, and the company鈥檚 first planned product is designed to combat it. POPI-Milk contains antibodies against the bacterium, which cows produce in their milk after an immunisation process. The company has already been made an offer to sell its product in Asia.
Lights, camera鈥NA
An animator at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) in Melbourne has won one of American TV鈥檚 Emmy awards. Drew Berry鈥檚 job at WEHI involves bringing the activities of molecules and cells to life on screen. He created animations of DNA for the Emmy-winning episode 鈥淭he Human Race鈥� from the series DNA, by London鈥檚 Windfall Films for the US broadcaster PBS and the UK鈥檚 Channel 4.
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Smoother sailing
Sydney researchers have shown that bacteria from seaweed could help reduce a ship鈥檚 fuel consumption. A team at the Environmental Biotechnology Cooperative Research Centre found that bacteria from the leaves of a common sea lettuce can prevent the fouling caused by marine organisms on a ship鈥檚 hull, which increases drag and so slows the ship down. A polymer film containing the bacteria would be painted onto hulls, where they could survive for up to 250 days in seawater.