Enhancing sunscreen DNA and photo-ageing protection. Skin damage from UV exposure is costly for individuals and the community, particularly in Australia, where the population has predominantly fair skin. While public campaigns to persuade the population to use sun protection and avoidance have been useful, this project will be the first to extend this approach to deliver a way to reduce sun damage from any UV exposure that does nevertheless occur, by incorporating the active agents into topical ....Enhancing sunscreen DNA and photo-ageing protection. Skin damage from UV exposure is costly for individuals and the community, particularly in Australia, where the population has predominantly fair skin. While public campaigns to persuade the population to use sun protection and avoidance have been useful, this project will be the first to extend this approach to deliver a way to reduce sun damage from any UV exposure that does nevertheless occur, by incorporating the active agents into topical sunscreens or creams for after-sun use. The project will also build infrastructure for translational research on photo-damage, combining world-class facilities for this research with advanced formulation and manufacturing operations.Read moreRead less
Accelerating pulse breeding using machine learning. Advances in genomics and high throughput phenotyping are generating vast quantities of data that can be applied for crop improvement, however the lack of computational analysis tools and approaches limits the full exploitation of this data. Pulse legumes are currently under utilised in Australian agriculture due to poor adaptation, however they offer significant benefits both for soil improvement and the production of high protein crops. This p ....Accelerating pulse breeding using machine learning. Advances in genomics and high throughput phenotyping are generating vast quantities of data that can be applied for crop improvement, however the lack of computational analysis tools and approaches limits the full exploitation of this data. Pulse legumes are currently under utilised in Australian agriculture due to poor adaptation, however they offer significant benefits both for soil improvement and the production of high protein crops. This project will develop machine learning (ML) tools for the analysis of pulse legume crop traits and their association with genomic variation to accelerate the breeding of high performance pulse legumes for Australian growers.Read moreRead less
Immobilized biocatalysts on selected filter media to control odour emissions from wastewater treatment and composting facilities. Odour is one of the common problems faced by wastewater and solid waste industries as a result of public complaints about poor local air quality. Although odour removal technologies exist, they encounter a number of problems. The lack of harsh chemicals required for the proposed technology means there is no wastewater stream to treat. This will have an impact on the r ....Immobilized biocatalysts on selected filter media to control odour emissions from wastewater treatment and composting facilities. Odour is one of the common problems faced by wastewater and solid waste industries as a result of public complaints about poor local air quality. Although odour removal technologies exist, they encounter a number of problems. The lack of harsh chemicals required for the proposed technology means there is no wastewater stream to treat. This will have an impact on the reduction of chemicals disposed to the environment, preventing unnecessary contamination of land and water resources. The lower space requirement of the technology will free up land, formerly required for large biofilters, for other uses including civic amenities.Read moreRead less
Characterisation of snake venom components and screening venom for bioactive compounds. Animal venoms are a rich source of bioactive compounds. This project will separate and characterise the protein-containing components of the North Queensland taipan. It will also involve constructing a cDNA library from mRNA isolated from the venom glands of the same snake and individual clones will be isolated and sequenced. Individual snake venom components, purified either from whole snake venom or synthes ....Characterisation of snake venom components and screening venom for bioactive compounds. Animal venoms are a rich source of bioactive compounds. This project will separate and characterise the protein-containing components of the North Queensland taipan. It will also involve constructing a cDNA library from mRNA isolated from the venom glands of the same snake and individual clones will be isolated and sequenced. Individual snake venom components, purified either from whole snake venom or synthesised via in vivo expression, will be tested in a variety of rapid throughput screening assays to identify specific bioactivities. This project will train a post graduate scientist in methods involved in the discovery of novel bioactive compounds.Read moreRead less
Improving the analysis of trace DNA samples in forensic science and human identification. The introduction of DNA technology into forensic science has revolutionised this profession, by generating a very high level of individual discrimination through genetic profiling. However, there are still many crime scenes from which it is proving difficult to obtain sufficient DNA sample for such powerful profiling. This project will develop modifications to current techniques and procedures, as well as ....Improving the analysis of trace DNA samples in forensic science and human identification. The introduction of DNA technology into forensic science has revolutionised this profession, by generating a very high level of individual discrimination through genetic profiling. However, there are still many crime scenes from which it is proving difficult to obtain sufficient DNA sample for such powerful profiling. This project will develop modifications to current techniques and procedures, as well as new novel approaches, to improve the targeting, collection, extraction and typing of trace amounts of biological samples. These results will significantly improve our ability to fight crime, especially high volume crime, act as a deterrent, and assist in disaster victim identification.Read moreRead less
Application of direct protein transduction of Stem Cell Factors to reprogram mouse and human somatic cells into pluripotent stem cells. This project aims to generate embryonic stem cell-like cells from human somatic cells, using direct protein transduction of defined factors, rather than through retroviral delivery. This will bring stem cell application closer to a therapeutic setting. The cells produced will be free from genetic modification and will yield products for patient-specific cell-ba ....Application of direct protein transduction of Stem Cell Factors to reprogram mouse and human somatic cells into pluripotent stem cells. This project aims to generate embryonic stem cell-like cells from human somatic cells, using direct protein transduction of defined factors, rather than through retroviral delivery. This will bring stem cell application closer to a therapeutic setting. The cells produced will be free from genetic modification and will yield products for patient-specific cell-based therapies that will be accepted by recipients without the need for immunosuppressant therapy. This development is expected to revolutionize the current approach to treating disease and injury, and is likely to result in the generation of highly marketable potent cell reprogramming therapeutics.Read moreRead less
Expression of value added product in wheat. Wheat is an important food crop due to nutritional value of its seeds. Advances in development of reliable methods for plant genetic transformation now make it possible to apply genetic engineering to the improvement of this important crop. In this linkage application, we aim to introduce a gene for a value added nutraceutical product in elite cultivars of wheat. The successful outcome of the proposed project will lead to the development of value ad ....Expression of value added product in wheat. Wheat is an important food crop due to nutritional value of its seeds. Advances in development of reliable methods for plant genetic transformation now make it possible to apply genetic engineering to the improvement of this important crop. In this linkage application, we aim to introduce a gene for a value added nutraceutical product in elite cultivars of wheat. The successful outcome of the proposed project will lead to the development of value added wheat varieties that cannot be achieved through conventional breeding and will provide Australian industry competitive advantage in rapidly growing world wide market for new health promoting foods.Read moreRead less
Renewable energy from carbon dioxide: Process engineering to obtain bio-oil from algae. The Stern Report (2007)[1] has called for a CO2 REDUCTION BY MORE THAN 80% in 10-20 years to prevent profound changes in the climate over coming centuries. The proposed project will capture CO2 using algae then off-set the capital investment and on-going expenses of the CO2 capture technology by creating high value products from algae (i.e. bio-diesel, livestock feed and purified water). This process aims to ....Renewable energy from carbon dioxide: Process engineering to obtain bio-oil from algae. The Stern Report (2007)[1] has called for a CO2 REDUCTION BY MORE THAN 80% in 10-20 years to prevent profound changes in the climate over coming centuries. The proposed project will capture CO2 using algae then off-set the capital investment and on-going expenses of the CO2 capture technology by creating high value products from algae (i.e. bio-diesel, livestock feed and purified water). This process aims to be independently profitable regarless of future carbon taxes or carbon trading systems. This project also investigates water purification methods and new livestock feed additives which can help reduce the effects of drought on food producers in rural and regional areas. Read moreRead less
A “Goldilocks” live attenuated poultry vaccine for Infectious Coryza. This project aims to develop a safe and effective vaccine for Infectious Coryza using a live-attenuated vaccine approach. Infectious coryza is an acute respiratory disease of chickens and is caused by the bacterial pathogen, Avibacterium paragallinarum. Infectious Coryza can be controlled by appropriate biosecurity practises and this has been successful in the Australian context to date. However, in the USA, Europe and other e ....A “Goldilocks” live attenuated poultry vaccine for Infectious Coryza. This project aims to develop a safe and effective vaccine for Infectious Coryza using a live-attenuated vaccine approach. Infectious coryza is an acute respiratory disease of chickens and is caused by the bacterial pathogen, Avibacterium paragallinarum. Infectious Coryza can be controlled by appropriate biosecurity practises and this has been successful in the Australian context to date. However, in the USA, Europe and other equatorial regions, infectious Coryza remains an unsolved problem. The expected outcome of this project is a cross-serovar protective vaccine to prevent infectious coryza for use in endemic countries and to act as a biosecurity measure to protect Australia's poultry industry against an incursion of this disease.Read moreRead less
Development of improved technologies for high throughput screening of potential disease susceptibility genes. This research is aimed at developing more efficient strategies to identify genes involved in common, human disorders. We aim to develop cost-effective, high throughput approaches for DNA extraction and preparation, accurately determining DNA concentration and quality and for undertaking extensive polymorphism genotyping and analysis. The suitability of equipment, analysis packages and so ....Development of improved technologies for high throughput screening of potential disease susceptibility genes. This research is aimed at developing more efficient strategies to identify genes involved in common, human disorders. We aim to develop cost-effective, high throughput approaches for DNA extraction and preparation, accurately determining DNA concentration and quality and for undertaking extensive polymorphism genotyping and analysis. The suitability of equipment, analysis packages and software, will be assessed and better technologies and packages developed. The study involves collaboration between a research centre with considerable expertise in molecular genetics and Corbett Research, a leader in the field of molecular equipment production. The development of better gene screening technologies has both molecular and commercial significance.Read moreRead less