Dissecting natural variation in sexually dimorphic gene expression. This project aims to understand the origins of sex differences by dissecting heritable variation in sexually dimorphic gene expression. Sexual dimorphism constitutes a large fraction of phenotypic diversity and arises mainly from sex differences in gene expression that permit males and females of a species to escape sexual conflict caused by a shared genome. The project uses multi-population quantitative genetics and allele-spec ....Dissecting natural variation in sexually dimorphic gene expression. This project aims to understand the origins of sex differences by dissecting heritable variation in sexually dimorphic gene expression. Sexual dimorphism constitutes a large fraction of phenotypic diversity and arises mainly from sex differences in gene expression that permit males and females of a species to escape sexual conflict caused by a shared genome. The project uses multi-population quantitative genetics and allele-specific expression assays to merge the studies of sex-specific local adaptation and sexually dimorphic regulatory variation. The project will help to understand how cis- and trans- regulatory factors can affect natural variation differently in males and females, shaping their phenotypic similarities and differences.Read moreRead less
From shape to function: how structured RNA defines insect flaviviruses. The goal of this project is to obtain an understanding of how insect-specific flaviviruses (ISFs) utilise viral noncoding RNAs to enable their replication in mosquitoes. These viruses only replicate in mosquitoes, and not in humans or animals. They can be employed as the biocontrol agents for mosquito-borne diseases as they make mosquitoes incapable of disease transmission. However, it is currently unknown how exactly insect ....From shape to function: how structured RNA defines insect flaviviruses. The goal of this project is to obtain an understanding of how insect-specific flaviviruses (ISFs) utilise viral noncoding RNAs to enable their replication in mosquitoes. These viruses only replicate in mosquitoes, and not in humans or animals. They can be employed as the biocontrol agents for mosquito-borne diseases as they make mosquitoes incapable of disease transmission. However, it is currently unknown how exactly insect-specific flaviviruses affect mosquitoes and this information is vital for informed design of ISF-based interventions. The project will generate new knowledge on functions of noncoding RNAs in ISFs that are hypothesised to have immunomodulatory role in mosquitoes. It will also train students and ECRs.Read moreRead less
Genetic architecture and evolution of complex traits across populations. Most human traits have a genetic component and display substantial diversity within and among populations. How natural selection changes and maintains genetic variation in human traits is a long-standing question in evolution that the proposed project aims to answer. Using innovative statistical methods and largest genomic “big” datasets ever across populations of different ancestral backgrounds, this project expects to gen ....Genetic architecture and evolution of complex traits across populations. Most human traits have a genetic component and display substantial diversity within and among populations. How natural selection changes and maintains genetic variation in human traits is a long-standing question in evolution that the proposed project aims to answer. Using innovative statistical methods and largest genomic “big” datasets ever across populations of different ancestral backgrounds, this project expects to generate new knowledge on the roles of natural selection in shaping the genetic variation in traits and identify key factors that drive the differentiation of human populations. These outcomes will significantly improve our understanding on the evolution of human traits and adaptation of populations to changing environments.Read moreRead less
Characterising inheritance patterns of whole genome DNA methylation. This project aims to characterise epigenetic diversity and inheritance patterns in whole genome sequencing data from a unique human population. The project will employ the well-characterised Norfolk Island genetic isolate, cost-effective whole genome bisulphite sequencing technologies and advanced bioinformatics pipelines and statistical models. It will involve cross-discipline collaboration between human geneticists, epigeneti ....Characterising inheritance patterns of whole genome DNA methylation. This project aims to characterise epigenetic diversity and inheritance patterns in whole genome sequencing data from a unique human population. The project will employ the well-characterised Norfolk Island genetic isolate, cost-effective whole genome bisulphite sequencing technologies and advanced bioinformatics pipelines and statistical models. It will involve cross-discipline collaboration between human geneticists, epigeneticists, statistical geneticists and bioinformaticians. This project will advance our understanding of the interaction of genetics and epigenetics and their relationship to diversity and inheritance in humans.Read moreRead less
The nature of standing genetic variation. This project aims to expand understanding of the genetic variation underlying phenotypic differences among individuals. The nature of genetic variation has broad consequences across biology, from the detection of causal genetic variants to the adaptation of natural populations. This project will take a novel experimental approach to test several long-standing assumptions about the effects of new mutations on individual traits and their joint pleiotropic ....The nature of standing genetic variation. This project aims to expand understanding of the genetic variation underlying phenotypic differences among individuals. The nature of genetic variation has broad consequences across biology, from the detection of causal genetic variants to the adaptation of natural populations. This project will take a novel experimental approach to test several long-standing assumptions about the effects of new mutations on individual traits and their joint pleiotropic effect on fitness. By expanding our understanding of how mutation, selection and drift interact, this project could provide significant improvements in our understanding of the genetic basis of phenotypes, and our ability to predict phenotypic evolution.Read moreRead less
Why does the genetic nearly-null subspace exist? This project aims to determine why nearly-null genetic subspaces exist by simultaneously measuring the input of new mutational variance in these nearly-null subspaces and the selection that acts on these new mutations to result in the observed low levels of standing genetic variance. The ability of organisms to evolve in response to human disturbance, translocation to new environments, or climate variation is governed by the availability of geneti ....Why does the genetic nearly-null subspace exist? This project aims to determine why nearly-null genetic subspaces exist by simultaneously measuring the input of new mutational variance in these nearly-null subspaces and the selection that acts on these new mutations to result in the observed low levels of standing genetic variance. The ability of organisms to evolve in response to human disturbance, translocation to new environments, or climate variation is governed by the availability of genetic variation. Recent advances in multivariate genetic analysis have demonstrated that a substantial proportion of a phenotype described by quantitative traits has very little genetic variance associated with it, and will therefore tend to be subjected to evolutionary limitsRead moreRead less
Aerosol glassy states promote global warming, airborne toxins and pathogens. This project will improve our understanding of the role played by airborne particles in global climate, pollution and the transmission of influenza, corona virus and the common cold. It will do so by revealing the wider importance of "glassy states" of matter recently revealed in atmospheric aerosols. Glassy states are highly unpredictable quasi solids that abruptly form, interrupting the transition of a liquid to a sol ....Aerosol glassy states promote global warming, airborne toxins and pathogens. This project will improve our understanding of the role played by airborne particles in global climate, pollution and the transmission of influenza, corona virus and the common cold. It will do so by revealing the wider importance of "glassy states" of matter recently revealed in atmospheric aerosols. Glassy states are highly unpredictable quasi solids that abruptly form, interrupting the transition of a liquid to a solid. This interruption invalidates equilibrium assumptions of models of droplets as cloud nuclei and infection vectors. We will develop and validate a numerical tool for predicting glassy state formation and its impact in broad classes of aerosol that include particles critical to cloud formation and infection transmission.Read moreRead less
Prediction of phenotype for multiple traits from multi-omic data. This project aims to develop better methods for predicting traits in an individual based on their genome sequence. This method will be tested in agricultural animals and plants and in humans. The prediction formula is derived from a training dataset that has information on the traits and genome sequence of a sample of individuals. The prediction formula can then be applied to predict the trait in individuals where the trait is un ....Prediction of phenotype for multiple traits from multi-omic data. This project aims to develop better methods for predicting traits in an individual based on their genome sequence. This method will be tested in agricultural animals and plants and in humans. The prediction formula is derived from a training dataset that has information on the traits and genome sequence of a sample of individuals. The prediction formula can then be applied to predict the trait in individuals where the trait is unknown. This is useful for selecting the best parents for breeding in agriculture and for predicting the future phenotype of animals, crops and people. The proposed method uses data on very many traits to identify sequence variants that have a function and to predict the traits affected by each variant.Read moreRead less
Revolutionising real-time genomic epidemiology in urban wastewater systems. This project aims to develop a real-time and high-resolution genomic tool to monitor and track pathogens in urban wastewater systems based on the portable third-generation sequencing platform. Pathogens sicken hundreds of millions of people, cost the global economy tens of billions of dollars annually, and are one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The current epidemiology approach, and data, are retrospective and ....Revolutionising real-time genomic epidemiology in urban wastewater systems. This project aims to develop a real-time and high-resolution genomic tool to monitor and track pathogens in urban wastewater systems based on the portable third-generation sequencing platform. Pathogens sicken hundreds of millions of people, cost the global economy tens of billions of dollars annually, and are one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The current epidemiology approach, and data, are retrospective and thus insufficient for timely intervention. Integrated with wastewater analysis for pharmaceuticals targeting pathogens, the sewer-based epidemiology approach of this project will greatly enhance public health by achieving early detection and informed control of infectious diseases.Read moreRead less