News
Scotland has the science but it needs to join the dots
As Scotland’s life sciences community prepares to gather in Glasgow for Bio Now: Bio Insight 2026 Conference, there is much to celebrate. Scotland has world-class research, exceptional universities, a strong pipeline of scientific talent and a growing community of innovative businesses.
Source: The Scotsman
Tackling cost-of-living pressures a ‘principle issue’ for John Swinney
First Minister, John Swinney, spoke about his Programme for Government plans during a visit to Ingenza, in Midlothian Science Zone.
He described the business as being "a highly sophisticated research organisation that is able to work with our universities in taking forward some of the research ideas that emerge from our universities and putting them out for commercial application".
Mr Swinney added: "That is how we generate economic opportunity and economic growth within Scotland and that whole issue and ambition will be central to the government's programme, because the more we grow our economy the more we can eradicate child poverty, the more we can strengthen our public services."
Source: The Independent
Career support is now closer to Scotland’s communities
Career journeys are rarely straightforward, and people do not all need the same thing at the same time.
That is why Skills Development Scotland’s (SDS) all-age careers service meets people where they are, helping them build the confidence and skills to make informed decisions throughout life.
Source: The Herald
New app could help farmers worm fewer lambs
A new farm trial is testing whether sheep farmers can worm fewer lambs without compromising growth, welfare or flock performance.
The two-season project is evaluating SmartWorm, a decision-support app that combines EID data, lamb growth rates, weather, grazing conditions and farmer observations to identify which individual animals actually need treatment.
The trial includes regular veterinary oversight, routine worm egg counts and laboratory support from the Moredun Research Institute, which is carrying out parasite monitoring and resistance testing.
Source: FarmingUK
Funding gap widens as investors become more selective
Scotland's early-stage investment market remains active, but raising capital is becoming more difficult for ambitious growth companies.
While investors continue to back innovative businesses with strong growth prospects, fundraising rounds are taking longer to complete, investors are carrying out more detailed due diligence and capital is becoming increasingly selective.
Source: The Scotsman
Beta Bugs secures £800,000 to accelerate commercial growth under new leadership
Beta Bugs Ltd, a leader in Black Soldier Fly (BSF) genetics, has secured a further £800,000 of investment led by TRICAPITAL Angels and supported by Scottish Enterprise. The funding marks the beginning of the company’s next phase of commercial growth under new CEO Dr Alan Tinch.
Beta Bugs and FreezeM partner to bring high-performance Black Soldier Fly genetics to the European market
Beta Bugs Ltd., a leader in Black Soldier Fly (BSF) genetics, and FreezeM Cryogenetics Ltd, developer of the patented PauseM® suspended neonate technology, are pleased to announce a new strategic partnership. The combination of Beta Bugs’ superior genetics with FreezeM’s innovative production technology will deliver enhanced performance for commercial BSF producers.
Life Sciences Accommodation Programme
Scottish Enterprise has launched a £35.3 million Life Sciences Accommodation Programme (LSAP) which aims to address this – supporting with new and refurbished spaces, where market conditions make development difficult.
The Life Sciences Accommodation Programme (LSAP) has been designed to help address short to medium-term gaps and support commercially viable developments - including the construction and fit-out of new life sciences laboratory and manufacturing spaces in Scotland.
Edinburgh spinout secures £1.2 million to advance treatment of hormone-related conditions
Kāhu SiliconBio (operating as Kahu Bio) has secured £1.2million from the German Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation (SPRIN-D) to support the development of the company’s next prototype as it adapts its technology for women’s health applications.
The Midlothian Science Zone-based biotech integrates living bioengineered bacteria directly into silicon chips to create a biohybrid sensor that translates real-time chemical and biological responses in liquids into immediate electronic data.
Source: The Scotsman
Circulating long RNA for functional profiling of cancer patients
Wobble Genomics has just demonstrated that their circulating long RNA diagnostic platform has achieved a limit of detection which surpasses the current industry leader, Personalis, by more than an order of magnitude.
Wobble Genomics has developed a platform that detects circulating long RNA (clRNA), full-length RNA molecules recovered from a single blood draw, to profile how a patient's tumour is behaving at the resolution of drug-binding sites.