Two innovative universities – Arizona State University and Dublin City University (DCU), Dublin, Ireland – are joining forces to create a new International School of Biomedical Diagnostics, which will offer the first degree program of its kind. The initiative is at the cutting edge of establishing diagnostics as an independent discipline.

For centuries, researchers in fields as disparate as astrophysics and political science have faced the same hurdle before they could win acceptance for their theories—their peers must replicate and verify their results.

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) and Nanyang Technological University today announced they are collaborating on the development of new solutions for the biological treatment of wastewater. In this collaboration, the Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute (NEWRI), which leads NTU's efforts in water research, will use Agilent's bio-analytical instruments to study the impact of microorganisms, or microbes, in wastewater treatment.

The finding represents a scientific feat as well as progress toward an HIV vaccine.