Take a fresh look at Aussie biotech with Nature's help

• Grain farmers turn to drugs
• Barrier reef toxins offer new pain killers
• Algal extracts could help fight tooth decay
• Australia contributes to the fight against global killers

These are some of the prospects explored by the eminent science journal Nature in a special supplement on Australian biotechnology. The supplement will be launched in San Francisco at the international biotechnology conference BIO2004 by Australian industry minister, Ian Macfarlane. It will be seen by Nature's subscribers around the world.

"Nature's interest is an indication that Australia is starting to be noticed in international biotechnology circles," says Carina Dennis, Nature's Australasian Correspondent.

"The Nature team feel it is timely to take a closer look at Australia's biotechnology development. There is a tremendous amount of potential, arising from traditional research strengths and recent commercialization incentives. It will be interesting to see if Australia can put some runs on the biotech scoreboard," says Carina Dennis.

"Australia's biotechnology companies are miniscule by comparison with the US industry. However, size isn't everything," says supplement editor, Niall Byrne. "We found that Australia's core strengths - in agriculture, biodiversity and medical research - are leading to biotechnology opportunities." Three examples highlight the opportunities.

Australia's grain growers have committed to a 25 year plan to turn to biopharming. If this plan is realized, a field of wheat in Australia won't be simply one staple crop. Instead it will be a vast assembly of tens of thousands of leafy biological factories producing the molecular ingredients for foods, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and even natural chemical compounds for processing into biofuels, plastics and other functional products.

The creatures of the Great Barrier Reef make some of the world's most potent toxins. Cone shell toxin is being developed as a potential painkiller by a local company. And the US National Cancer Institute receives regular shipments of Australian marine samples for screening for anti-cancer compounds.

Australia's traditional strengths in immunology are being applied to remarkable new vaccines such as a pair of vaccines that have the potential to practically wipe out cervical cancer.

But it's not all good news for biotech. The supplement reports on the lessons from the struggles of the flu drug Relenza, and on the impact of the GM crop moratoriums on industry confidence.