IBM and the Swiss research institute Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) have announced a joint research initiative dubbed the Blue Brain Project to create a 3D model of the brain.

Where does the instrument end and the data begin? That question was in the air at this year's Pittcon meeting in Orlando, Florida. Equipment vendors are trying to accommodate customers who want the most direct path possible between a sample and the analysis of a sample -- even if that path leads through someone else's instrument, software or consultant.

Scientists at IBM's TJ Watson Research Centre, along with a colleague from Wabash College, have published the first research results based on molecular dynamics simulations run on Blue Gene/L hardware.

In the nick of time -- in terms of human history, anyway -- the National Geographic Society and IBM have announced a five year project that will use DNA markers to retrace the epic colonisation of Earth by modern human beings.

Simon Easteal and Pythia Demonsthenes step back from 2050 to brief us on a century of healthcare.

There are tremendous opportunities in personalised or information-based medicine, according to Carol Kovac, IBM's general manager for life sciences and healthcare. Kovac has come to Australia as a visiting international fellow for the InnovationXchange Network.

The InnovationXchange's BRIDGE program is set to expand, as it moves toward the end of its one year pilot program. It plans new clusters in health, nanotechnology and medical devices, and has welcomed Resmed to its fold.

Canberra-based nonprofit institute CAMBIA last week launched a biotechnology toolkit which it will share with researchers under an open source model similar to that used in the information technology industry.

For the 12th straight year, IBM has topped the list of companies receiving US patents, according to an annual report published Tuesday by a unit of the Dutch information services company WoltersKluwer.

Proteome Systems (ASX:PXL), once the great hope of the Australian biotech sector, has set a new course towards drug discovery and diagnostics, and away from its traditional identity as an instrument manufacturer -- and is considering selling sections of its business, as well as buying into a drug discovery play, as it changes focus.

Open innovation -- the concept that ideas and technology have to flow both into and out of companies in order to maximise the development and commercialisation of innovative new products and services -- needs to be embraced by Australian companies both in the biotech sector and other industries, according to visiting academic Prof Hank Chesbrough.