Australasian Biotechnology (backfiles) AusBiotech ISSN: 1036-7128 Vol. 11, Num. 2, 2001, pp. 3

Australasian Biotechnology, Vol. 11 No. 2, 2001, pp. 3

FROM THE EDITOR

Martin Playne, Senior Editor

Code Number: au01015

This issue marks the start of a new life for the Association. Government support , both at the Federal and State level to extend and strengthen the activities of the ABA, has just been announced. This level of financial support will enable the ABA to act as a professional body and truly represent its constituents. However, such endorsement also brings an increased level of expectation by government. It is now up to the members, both Corporate and Ordinary, to take up the challenge, and not leave it to the elected Directors and Office-Bearers and paid employees of the ABA. I think we all look forward to the times ahead. Communications are an important part of what the ABA is all about, and the journal and the website are integral parts of a communications strategy. As readers will note, the journal has undergone considerable change in the last 18 months, and is still evolving. As Editor, I will always warmly welcome new ideas and constructive criticism.

This issue also marks the start to a new approach to Special Features. The April, June and August issues will all carry the theme of bioprocessing. Our definition of bioprocessing encompasses a great deal as you will read on page 25.

Three successive issues on the same topic allows the editorial team as well as readers and advertisers to build the story around a topic area. In this issue you will find papers on biotransformations for the pharmaceutical industry (Ahmad et al), and bio-extraction of whey to isolate added-value proteins (Hossain and Saleh). Business minded readers will be pleased to learn that we also carry in this issue articles on GM food regulation (Middleton) and the increasing costs of compliance of field trials (Neilson).

In our next issue, we relate the political story behind the inclusion of the precautionary principle into the Gene Technology Act (Bristow) and a comprehensive survey of legume farmers attitudes to GMO’s in Western Australia (McDougall et al).

In the October and December issues coming, we plan to include special articles on the wine industry, and the grain industry.

Paid advertisements are the only way in which we will be able to include more full-colour pages and increase the size of the journal above 36 pages. Please help us do these things by taking out advertisements through our publishers, Hallmark Editions. As the ABA is now becoming far more influential, and as its membership ( now close to a record 700 members) expands, it is time for your organisation to reconsider using the journal as a prime means of promotion. A wonderful opportunity exists for equipment suppliers in the bioprocessing area (fermentors, bioreactors, pumps, centrifuges, filtration equipment and so on) to advertise in the June and October issues.

I hope you enjoy the next three issues in particular, as we explore many aspects of bioprocessing.

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