Reactive flow through porous media by micro-imaging. Australia is embarking on the development of major gas fields offshore Western Australia. These developments are very costly and techniques to manage the risk in development are well sought after. This project assists in risk management of tertiary recovery methods and CO2 storage. Further, it can contribute significantly to the accurate forward modelling of storage of hazardous materials and pollution remediation strategies. The project could ....Reactive flow through porous media by micro-imaging. Australia is embarking on the development of major gas fields offshore Western Australia. These developments are very costly and techniques to manage the risk in development are well sought after. This project assists in risk management of tertiary recovery methods and CO2 storage. Further, it can contribute significantly to the accurate forward modelling of storage of hazardous materials and pollution remediation strategies. The project could shape important decisions in the future and impact on environmental risk assessment.Read moreRead less
Discovery of novel microRNA biogenesis and functional components. Discovery of novel microRNA components will provide new strategies for confronting a diverse array of challenges Australia faces, such as the increasing rates of certain cancers in our population, to stresses on our crop plants faced with environmental changes. The biological mechanisms underlying these disparate problems are unified by microRNA involvement in many instances. By finding microRNA controlling factors common to all h ....Discovery of novel microRNA biogenesis and functional components. Discovery of novel microRNA components will provide new strategies for confronting a diverse array of challenges Australia faces, such as the increasing rates of certain cancers in our population, to stresses on our crop plants faced with environmental changes. The biological mechanisms underlying these disparate problems are unified by microRNA involvement in many instances. By finding microRNA controlling factors common to all higher organisms, we expect our community will benefit from the increased knowledge base that will help our researchers adopt new strategies in fighting diseases and improving our agricultural industry.Read moreRead less
Cellular signals controlling oocyte activation. This research will significantly advance our understanding of the basic biological processes that underpin the fertility rate of all mammals and are key to the immediate and future health and well-being of Australian landscape and society. Understanding the processes that maintain healthy quiescent oocytes over many years before activation and subsequent growth will enable development of methods of increasing productivity in domestic animals and en ....Cellular signals controlling oocyte activation. This research will significantly advance our understanding of the basic biological processes that underpin the fertility rate of all mammals and are key to the immediate and future health and well-being of Australian landscape and society. Understanding the processes that maintain healthy quiescent oocytes over many years before activation and subsequent growth will enable development of methods of increasing productivity in domestic animals and enhancing fertility in endangered species. Knowledge of these cellular mechanisms will underpin biotechnology platforms necessary for novel methods of feral animal population control thus contributing at multiple levels to an economically sustainable Australia.Read moreRead less
Built-in electric field, light co-driven materials for energy and sensing . This project aims to resolve critical, bottleneck issues in the development of photocatalysis and photoelectrochemistry - key technologies towards the realisation of a sustainable carbon-neutral society. This project expects to use an innovative strain-engineering approach establishing a built-in electric field within materials for highly efficient separation and transport of photoexcited carriers. Expected outcomes of t ....Built-in electric field, light co-driven materials for energy and sensing . This project aims to resolve critical, bottleneck issues in the development of photocatalysis and photoelectrochemistry - key technologies towards the realisation of a sustainable carbon-neutral society. This project expects to use an innovative strain-engineering approach establishing a built-in electric field within materials for highly efficient separation and transport of photoexcited carriers. Expected outcomes of this project are to create new, ground-breaking materials and/or nanosystems that overcome intrinsic weakness of conventional semiconductors and significantly improve their photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical performance, for the benefit of the utilisation of solar and light energy in energy, environment and health. Read moreRead less
A unified model of amino acid homeostasis. This project aims to develop a unified model of amino acid homeostasis in mammalian cells and apply it to brain cells. The model will be underpinned by a mathematical algorithm that allows predicting amino acid levels in the cytosol based on fundamental parameters such as transport and metabolism. This project should provide the significant benefit of enabling the prediction of essential functions such as cell growth and survival.
Production, processing and combustion of an innovative slurry fuel for high efficiency distributed power generation. This project will advance the science underpinning the development of an innovative technology for energy production (with carbon capture) and use in remote regions. The outcomes of this research will help meet the great challenges of climate change and contribute to the development of an environmentally sustainable Australia.
Remodelling encapsulin nanocages to help enhance plant carbon fixation. Nature has evolved mechanisms in microbial systems to improve photosynthetic efficiency by saturating the enzyme Rubisco with carbon dioxide. These carbon concentrating mechanisms are genetically complex, precluding successful introduction into crops. Our simpler approach is to use encapsulins, a new source of robust bacterial pore-containing nanocages made from a single gene. This project will optimise the development of sy ....Remodelling encapsulin nanocages to help enhance plant carbon fixation. Nature has evolved mechanisms in microbial systems to improve photosynthetic efficiency by saturating the enzyme Rubisco with carbon dioxide. These carbon concentrating mechanisms are genetically complex, precluding successful introduction into crops. Our simpler approach is to use encapsulins, a new source of robust bacterial pore-containing nanocages made from a single gene. This project will optimise the development of synthetic encapsulin-Rubisco carbon-fixing nanoreactors and transform them into leaf chloroplasts to test their impact on plant photosynthesis and growth. Our genetically simpler solution will aid ongoing global efforts to deliver overdue step change improvements in agricultural productivity.Read moreRead less
Molecular Interactions in the Eubacterial Replisome: A Paradigm for Study of Dynamic Macromolecular Machines. Many pathogenic bacteria have developed resistance to antibiotics in common use, and new drugs are urgently required to kill them. Copying of their chromosomes before they divide into two new cells is essential for bacteria to live, so DNA synthesis is a good process to target for development of new antibiotics. This project will use state-of-the-art equipment available in several labora ....Molecular Interactions in the Eubacterial Replisome: A Paradigm for Study of Dynamic Macromolecular Machines. Many pathogenic bacteria have developed resistance to antibiotics in common use, and new drugs are urgently required to kill them. Copying of their chromosomes before they divide into two new cells is essential for bacteria to live, so DNA synthesis is a good process to target for development of new antibiotics. This project will use state-of-the-art equipment available in several laboratories in Australia and overseas to develop new understanding of how the molecular machine that copies DNA works. This k nowledge could lead to new drugs, and will give us new information about how cellular machines function.Read moreRead less
Gamete-specific knockout of Fizzy-Related to examine its meiotic role in oocytes and sperm. Fizzy-Related is a gene that appears to be essential in making an ovulated egg, and it may also have an important role to play in making sperm. A mouse knockout will be generated to examine exactly how it functions; because it affects the egg number remaining in the ovary and egg quality Fizzy-Related may be eventually an important therapeutic target.
Detecting stress-induced changes to subcellular copper pools in brain cells. Copper (Cu) plays essential roles in the functioning of brain cells, but the regulation and activity of this metal is poorly understood. This project aims to map sub-cellular Cu pools in brain cells, with particular emphasis on the effects of cellular stresses on these pools. These studies are expected to contribute important new methods for the study of Cu biology, and could provide valuable information about how Cu ho ....Detecting stress-induced changes to subcellular copper pools in brain cells. Copper (Cu) plays essential roles in the functioning of brain cells, but the regulation and activity of this metal is poorly understood. This project aims to map sub-cellular Cu pools in brain cells, with particular emphasis on the effects of cellular stresses on these pools. These studies are expected to contribute important new methods for the study of Cu biology, and could provide valuable information about how Cu homeostasis is maintained or perturbed under various stresses. In the future, this work is expected to form the basis of studies of brain Cu pools in neurodegenerative diseases.Read moreRead less