Public support for the use of stem cells and gene therapies has increased in Australia, and support for cloning humans remains low, according to a survey conducted by commonwealth agency Biotechnology Australia.

Polartechnics has announced an increase in unaudited revenue results for the financial year ending June 2005 by 280 per cent to AUD$6 million, compared to $2.1 million for the previous financial year.

CSIRO, the Australian Institute for Marine Science, and other publicly funded research agencies (PRFAs) may be in for a funding shake-up, following the release of the Research Collaboration Review by Federal Minister for Education, Science and Training Brendan Nelson last week.

On a wall at CSIRO Plant Industry's Merbein laboratories, is an old photo-micrograph of a grapevine floral bud. Dr Nigel Steele Scott, head of Plant Industry's horticultural research laboratories in Glen Osmond, South Australia, says it's his favourite image -- a portent of a revolution in viticulture that is still having an enormous impact on the Australian wine industry today.