A few out-of-the-ordinary news items to brighten up your Friday. Today’s Biotech Roundup features mice floating in thin air, Botox used therapeutically, and stem cells you can snort up your nose.

ONLY 1 DOSE OF H1N1 VACCINE NEEDED – Researchers in Australia and the US have finished studies on a vaccine to be deployed against the H1N1 flu virus, reports the New York Times. The Australian tests, the results of which were published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine, have delivered the good news that one shot of the vaccine will be enough to confer immunity against the potentially deadly flu.

“Experts had predicted for months that, because the H1N1 swine flu has never been seen before by human immune systems, it would take two doses, administered weeks apart, to get a “take” — antibody levels as high as those produced by regular flu shots.

The authors of the Australian study said the robust response implied that there was some previously unsuspected crossover protection from having had previous strains of H1N1 seasonal flus or from the H1N1 components of seasonal flu shots.”

Using only a single shot should allow vaccine stocks to cover all 159 million Americans considered high-risk by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SNORTABLE STEM CELLS…SERIOUSLY – Researchers at the University Hospital of Tübingen, Germany have developed a new delivery mechanism that could one day enable stem cell treatments for brain conditions, according to a report in The New Scientist. They have found a way to insert stem cells into the brain through the thin plate of bone that separates the nasal passages from the skull cavity. This procedure avoids invasive surgery and is far more effective than injecting the cells into the bloodstream.

“If the results of this study can be repeated in humans, snorting stem cells might be a way of getting large numbers of cells into the brain without surgery. Repeated doses could also be given in the form of nasal drops.

John Sinden, chief scientific officer at ReNeuron in Guildford, UK, says the results are interesting and that less invasive ways of delivering cells to the brain are needed. “A problem may arise if cells migrate to inappropriate locations that could then become a tumour risk,” he cautions. “One needs to discover exactly where the cells are going in both brain and the [rest of the body] in order to understand whether this poses a problem or not.”

HEADACHE? THIS SHOT COULD FIX IT – Phase III trials examining the use of Botox injections for the treatment of migraine headaches have found patients injected with the drug experience headaches 8-9 fewer days per month. Allergan Inc, the makers of Botox, are seeking FDA approval to market the drug to migraine sufferers. They will present the full results of the studies at the annual meeting of the International Headache Society in Philadelphia this weekend.

There is already an estimated $50 million market for Botox as a migraine treatment, since doctors can use approved drugs for other purposes. But Allergan – which received a Department of Justice subpoena related to Botox sales and marketing early last year – can’t market Botox for headaches without FDA approval…

As a migraine treatment, Botox is aimed at people who suffer with the debilitating headaches at least 15 days a month and may not get relief from other treatments. The drug doesn’t stop headaches altogether, but if it keeps them from occurring as often, it may be a useful tool.

CORN AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE – The USDA September crop report is out today, and it brings good news for the biofuels industry. The agency raised its predictions for both corn and soybean harvests. Soybean harvests will be the largest on record, and the corn crop is projected to fall just short of the record set in 2007. The USDA pegs this year’s expected corn harvest at 13 billion bushels.

LEVATATING MICE – Ok, it’s not biotech, but we couldn’t resist this story. A levitation device developed by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab has succeeded in suspending mice in mid-air for hours on end according to a report in LiveScience. Plans are to use the device, which makes use of a superconducting electromagnetic coil, to study both liquid dynamics and animal physiology in simulated zero gravity.

“The researchers first levitated a young mouse, just three-week-old and weighing 10 grams. It appeared agitated and disoriented, seemingly trying to hold on to something.

“It actually kicked around and started to spin, and without friction, it could spin faster and faster, and we think that made it even more disoriented,” said researcher Yuanming Liu, a physicist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. They decided to mildly sedate the next mouse they levitated, which seemed content with floating.”

…On that note, have a great weekend!