Category: Business/Technology

MADISON – Gov. Jim Doyle is expected to soon announce a strategy to keep Wisconsin at the forefront of stem cell research, despite a California vote to spend billions in public money on the effort.

The new mantra among the nation’s rising medical researchers may sound like this: Go west, young scientist. Or, more to the point: Follow the money.

MADISON ââ?¬â?? Faculty, staff and students at UW-Madison who want to start their own companies will soon have more help, thanks to a new program being unveiled today

Although a number of national policies are set to go under the Bush administration�s microscope during his second term, one initiative is likely to remain untouched for the next four years: regulations and limitations over the federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research.

Madison, Wis. � The University of Wisconsin-Madison was one of seven U.S. research universities to receive a grant from the Intel Advanced Computing Center on Monday at the SC2004 high-power computing conference in Philadelphia.

Inspire Pharmaceuticals Inc., a publicly traded firm based in Durham, N.C., has reached an agreement to exclusively license several patents from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation for use in developing new therapeutics for treating glaucoma.

Let the scramble for the cash begin.

By approving a proposition Tuesday that will make $3 billion in state funds available over the next decade for stem cell research, California voters made the state the likely world center for science that may one day lead to treatments for some of the world’s most devastating diseases.

Madison, Wis. ââ?¬â? What does it mean to the biotech community to have a major research facility in your backyard? That question should be thoroughly addressed at the Wisconsin Life Sciences and Venture Conference program named ââ?¬Å?Inside the Labs: Where Science Spawns Novel Therapies.ââ?¬Â The conference will be held November 16 and 17.

With the passage of a $3-billion stem cell bond measure, California moves into uncharted territory, becoming the first state to create a massive program to fund a single field of scientific research.

Californians have approved putting their state into further debt to fund stem-cell research. In election-day polling, 59 percent of California voters approved Proposition 71, which will provide $3 billion in research grants over the next decade.

Just months after signing a deal with an industry leader, Madison-based genetic technology company NimbleGen Systems announced that it has raised another $12.75 million in venture funding.

UW-Madison plays a pivotal and unique role in the economy of Madison by attracting people who can command relatively high salaries, said Kevin Reilly, University of Wisconsin System president.

If we’re all driving around in hydrogen-powered cars some day, a Madison company could be primarily responsible for producing the fuel. Virent Energy Systems, a fledgling UW-Madison spin-off, has received about $1.4 million in federal grant money for further development over the next three years of its system that derives hydrogen from biomass such as corn stalks.

Madison, Wis. � Virent, a University of Wisconsin-Madison spinoff working on hydrogen energy sources, has received a $2 million grant from the Department of Energy for continued research.

Put your car on a high-carb diet. That’s almost literally what technology developed by Virent Energy Systems, 3591 Anderson St., would do. With oil prices above $50 a barrel, a U.S. Department of Energy official Thursday announced a $1.94 million federal research grant for Virent and several partners to produce hydrogen that could power vehicles from water and sugar that could be produced from corn.

Virent Energy Systems of Madison on Thursday received a federal grant of nearly $2 million to continue pursuing research aimed at making cars run on hydrogen instead of gasoline. The company was created to bring to market technology patented by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers.