Coral chemicals protect against warming oceans, and Prime Minister Abbott’s first science prizes

Bulletins, Media bulletins

Nature paper reveals coral animals produce the ‘smell of the ocean’ – influencing cloud formation and protecting themselves against rising seawater temperatures.

In a paper published in Nature overnight Australian marine scientists have found the first evidence that coral itself may play an important role in regulating local climate.

They have discovered that the coral animal – not just its algal symbiont – makes an important sulphur-based molecule with properties to assist it in many ways, ranging from cellular protection in times of heat stress to local climate cooling by encouraging clouds to form.

The lead researchers are from AIMS and JCU in Townsville with colleagues from UWA, Murdoch and ANU.

Read more about ‘the smell of the ocean’ below.

$440,000 NHMRC grant for L’Oréal Fellow to track how bacteria spread in hospitals and how they contribute to asthma

Congratulations to Kat Holt who received an NHMRC grant yesterday. She’s using maths and statistics to track disease.

DNA sequencing allows us to see into the microbial world in fine detail. This enables us to investigate how bugs like bacteria cause infections and other diseases.

Kat’s work uses DNA sequencing and analysis to investigate how bacterial infections are transmitted in hospitals and cities, how bacteria become resistant to the antibiotic drugs we use to treat infected people, and how the bacteria that live in our nose and throat contribute to development of asthma in young children.

More about her work: www.scienceinpublic.com.au/loreal/2013-fellows/kathryn-holt

And next week in Canberra…

  • The Prime Minister will award five scientists and teachers the 2013 Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science in Canberra on Wednesday 30 October
  • And an unsung hero of biomedical science will be awarded the 2013 CSL Florey Medal, in recognition of a career dedicated to improving human health.

We can brief you on embargo – contact me on niall@scienceinpublic.com.au for more details of both of those prizes.

Coral chemicals protect against warming oceans

EMBARGO: 4am AEDT, Thursday 24 October 2013 

Nature paper reveals coral animals produce the ‘smell of the ocean’ – influencing cloud formation and protecting themselves against rising seawater temperatures.

Australian marine scientists have found the first evidence that coral itself may play an important role in regulating local climate.

They have discovered that the coral animal – not just its algal symbiont – makes an important sulphur-based molecule with properties to assist it in many ways, ranging from cellular protection in times of heat stress to local climate cooling by encouraging clouds to form.

These findings have been published in the prestigious weekly science journalNature.

The researchers have shown that the coral animal makes dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP). “The characteristic ‘smell of the ocean’ is actually derived from this compound, indicating how abundant the molecule is in the marine environment. In fact we could smell it in a single baby coral,” says AIMS chemist Cherie Motti, and co-author on the paper.

“This is the first time that an animal has been identified as a DMSP producer. Previously it was assumed that the large concentrations of DMSP emitted from coral reefs came solely from their symbiotic algae,” says lead author Jean-Baptiste Raina, of AIMS@JCU and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University (CoECRS).

The researchers are from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University (CoECRS), the University of Western Australia (UWA), Murdoch University (MU) and the Australian National University (ANU).

Read the full release at: www.scienceinpublic.com.au/marine/coralclimate

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Celebrating Australia’s best at the Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science

Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science: Wednesday 30 October, Canberra

Next Wednesday, the Prime Minister will announce the winners of the 2013 Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science at a formal dinner in the Great Hall of Parliament House, Canberra.

In confidence I can tell you the winners are from Perth, Townsville, Sydney and Melbourne. We can organise access for filming and photos before the winners fly to Canberra.

Drop me a line for details.

There are five prizes for researchers and science teachers:

  • The $300,000 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science, for an exceptional specific achievement in any area of science advancing human welfare or benefiting society
  • Two $50,000 prizes for outstanding achievement in life science and physical science, awarded to early or mid-career researchers
  • Two $50,000 prizes for excellence in science teaching, at primary and secondary school level.

Past winners of the Prizes include Nobel Laureate Brian Schmidt, Ian Frazer and inventor of Australia’s bionic ear Graeme Clark. Last year’s winner of the $300,000 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science Ken Freeman revealed that there’s not enough matter to hold spiral galaxies together.

To find out more about the prizes and past recipients, go to: www.industry.gov.au/scienceprizes

Advancing human health: the 2013 CSL Florey Medal

An unsung hero of biomedical science: Monday 28 October, Canberra

Sir Howard Florey took penicillin from an idea to a drug that has saved literally hundreds of millions of lives.

The CSL Florey Medal honours the Australian researchers who have followed in his footsteps.

Every two years, CSL and the Australian Institute of Policy and Science recognise an Australian researcher who has made significant achievements in biomedical science and/or in advancing human health.

This year’s winner will be announced at the Australian Association of Medical Research Institute’s annual dinner in Canberra on 28 October 2013 – but again, if you need details sooner, we’re happy to brief journalists on embargo.

Since 1998, the prize has been awarded to eight researchers, including:

  • Nobel Laureates Barry Marshall and Robin Warren, for discovering that bacteria cause stomach ulcers
  • Jacques Miller, who unravelled the role of the thymus in the immune system
  • Colin Masters, for his pivotal work on Alzheimer’s disease
  • Peter Coleman, who unveiled the structure of the flu virus, leading to the anti-flu drug Relenza
  • Ian Frazer, for the development of the vaccine against cervical cancer
  • Graeme Clark, the inventor of Australia’s bionic ear