Friends and colleagues alike playfully grasped the wrong end of the stick when I told them I was off to see Genesis at the QEII centre yesterday.

I felt the need to justify myself on several occasions:

“No, I’m not off to see the earnest prog-rock band. Genesis is an annual biotech conference, organised by the London Biotechnology Network.”

And so it was. While debates about biotech investment raged in the main lecture hall, I headed up one floor to the UCL Biomedical Innovation Showcase, sponsored by UCL Business plc.

Fifteen researchers, some academic with licensing opportunities, some heading up UCL spinout companies, took to the stage to pitch their work to an audience of investors…and people like me who are just curious about local science.

Robert Brown from the Institute of Orthopaedics and Musculoskeletal Science showed us a machine for producing tissue-like material by compressing collagen. The technique is much faster than tissue engineering with live cells, and may find applications in dermal repair and cornea replacement.

David Selwood from the Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Sciences demonstrated small molecule carriers. These ‘SMoCs’ mimic the properties of naturally occurring peptides. When covalently attached to ‘cargo’, they can transport proteins, antibodies and other molecules into a cell.

Francesca Cordeiro from the Institute of Opthamology, Glaucoma & Retinal Neurodegeneration Research Group introduced a method of filming apoptotic cells at the back of the eye, as a diagnostic tool for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and glaucoma. Clinical trials begin next year.

Many other research nuggets were also paraded. The full list is available on the Genesis website.