Operations

How viruses can overwhelm the liver’s defences

And how the liver’s troops might be revived

Tuesday 17 June 2014

The liver is the only organ in the body that can modify our immune response. This, paradoxically, leaves it open to violent immune attack.

Researchers at Sydney’s Centenary Institute and the University of Sydney have now discovered the means by which this happens. In the process they may have opened a pathway towards improving treatment of chronic hepatitis.

The key is in the way the immune system’s T cells operate in the liver.

The researchers found that when the liver T cells encounter a small number of cells making a foreign protein, they function in the normal way—stimulating the production of cells to kill off the source of the protein.

But when they encounter large amounts of foreign protein beyond a certain threshold, the T cells are overwhelmed and fail. This weakening of the defence system is the Achilles heel of the liver, making it more susceptible to invasion by viruses that replicate rapidly and produce large amounts of protein.

The EMBL model – 40 years young and still supporting early career researchers and students

Posted on behalf of Nadia Rosenthal, Scientific Head, EMBL Australia

This month I’m visiting Heidelberg for the 40th anniversary celebrations for EMBL. It’s a time for celebration and excitement about things to come, but it’s also a time for reflecting on the values that have made EMBL a success, and the importance of those values for Australian science.

EMBL (the European Molecular Biology Laboratory) was created in 1974 to internationalise molecular biology. At its core was a vision to nurture and develop the talents of the best and brightest minds in Europe – students and young researchers, who remain the lifeblood of all the EMBL campuses today.

At EMBL Australia, we offer students the chance to connect back with EMBL through our travel grants program, which sends off Aussie researchers to spend time at EMBL labs, attend courses and conferences, or even undertake their PhD at EMBL. We’ve just awarded another round of travel grants, and applications are now open for Australian students to attend the EMBL PhD Symposium in Germany. [Read more…] about The EMBL model – 40 years young and still supporting early career researchers and students

Welcome to the Imaging Centre of Excellence

Posted on behalf of James Whisstock, Director Imaging CoE

Welcome to my first bulletin as director of the Imaging CoE—the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Advanced Molecular Imaging.

The Centre was announced by the ARC in December last year and we’re moving towards launch later this year.

Our chief investigators – at Monash, Melbourne, La Trobe, UNSW, UQ and our partner organisations are pulling their research plans together. We’ve got a chief operating officer and a website ready to roll, and we’ll be advertising for new students and post docs shortly.

The ARC has provided us with our core budget of $28 million over seven years, and the contributing organisations and partners have pledged more than $10 million.

The Centre is all about understanding how our immune systems function at the molecular level by developing and using new microscopy and imaging techniques. Our work will underpin the development of new drugs and therapies to control our immune response and treat infection and disease.

We’ve already got some results on the board with important papers on gut immunity and on the molecular trigger of coeliac disease. Much more on the way. [Read more…] about Welcome to the Imaging Centre of Excellence

Future fuels will come in orange flavour

But researchers have to teach yeast to make it

Thursday 5 June 2014

Queensland researchers are persuading baker’s yeast to produce orange-flavoured renewable jet fuel from sugar.

Mr Timothy Brennan and his colleagues at the University of Queensland’s Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology have helped genetically-engineered yeast to evolve to make an oil called limonene, which is found naturally in lemons and oranges, and also happens to be an efficient jet fuel.

They’ve worked out how to get the yeast to make more oil without killing itself in the process.

It’s an important step in scaling up biofuel production so that it can become a serious alternative to traditional fossil fuels. [Read more…] about Future fuels will come in orange flavour

The first Metcalf prizes; who’s who of Australian stem cell science; peer-review in action

National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia June newsletter

Welcome to the Foundation’s bulletin on stem cell science, news and our work in supporting stem cell research in Australia.

Australia is home to some remarkable stem cell researchers. Two of them were recognised today by our inaugural Metcalf Prizes.

Kaylene Young believes she can persuade certain lazy stem cells to repair brain injury. Jose Polo is unveiling the details of how stem cells can be produced from adult cells through a process of identity theft and reprogramming.

We’ve been able to award these prizes thanks to the generous support of our donors. We’re calling for more donations now to ensure we can offer future prizes and conduct other initiatives supporting stem cell research and community education.

One such initiative is the Foundation’s new Snapshot of Australian Stem Cell Science: May 2014, illustrating the depth and diversity of local stem cell research. Read on to find out more about the snapshot. [Read more…] about The first Metcalf prizes; who’s who of Australian stem cell science; peer-review in action

A ‘tango’ between light and mirrors could help find signs of life on Mars, and identify minerals and water deposits here on Earth

Tuesday 3 June 2014

Scientist available for interview in Perth on Tuesday 3 June

Dr Francis Torres, a physicist at the University of Western Australia, has developed the mirror device at the heart of a new amplifier technology, which uses an interaction between a high-powered laser and mirror motion to magnify subtle metal, temperature and biological vibrations so they are more easily detected.

“Our idea is to connect the sensors in existing space exploration tools to our amplifier so they can look deeper underground and find smaller and hard-to-find targets such as hidden mineral deposits, water or other bacterial life,” says Francis, who developed the resonator mirror as part of his PhD.

According to Francis, the amplifier technology could also enhance the detection sensitivity of Earth exploration tools and medical sensors.

New national stem cell prizes for Tasmanian and Melbourne researchers

Could we wake up our brain’s stem cells to repair injury and disease – Kaylene Young, Hobart

How adult cells change identity as they’re turned into stem cells – Jose Polo, Melbourne

Kaylene’s full profile and photos

Jose’s full profile and photos

Scientists available at 10am for photo call and interviews in their labs

Dr Kaylene Young of the Menzies Research Institute Tasmania and Dr Jose Polo of Monash University have both received inaugural $50,000 Metcalf Prizes from the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia in recognition of their leadership in stem cell research.

Kaylene Young believes she can persuade lazy stem cells in our brain to repair brain injuries and even treat diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s.

Kaylene and her colleagues have found neural stem cells and related progenitor cells—which feed, protect and assist nerve cells—in the outer part of the brain most prone to damage, known as the cortex.

By understanding the behaviour and function of these cells, they one day hope to use them for treating nervous and brain disorders or damage. [Read more…] about New national stem cell prizes for Tasmanian and Melbourne researchers

Closer to repairing the brain with its own stem cells

Hobart researcher Kaylene Young believes she can persuade lazy stem cells in our brain to repair brain injuries and even treat diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s.

Dr Kaylene Young of the Menzies Research Institute Tasmania has received an inaugural $50,000 Metcalf Prize from the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia in recognition of her leadership in stem cell research.

She and her colleagues have found neural stem cells and oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs)—which feed, protect and assist nerve cells—in the outer part of the brain most prone to damage, known as the cortex.

By understanding the behaviour and function of these cells, they one day hope to use them for treating nervous and brain disorders or damage.

“Our ultimate goal is to harness the regenerative capacity of these cells for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, mental health disorders, and traumatic brain injury,” says Kaylene.

To assist in her work, the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia has awarded Dr Kaylene Young—National Health and Medical Research Council RD Wright Biomedical Research Fellow and Research Group Leader at the University of Tasmania—one of two inaugural Donald Metcalf prizes each worth $50,000. [Read more…] about Closer to repairing the brain with its own stem cells

New stem cells via identity theft and reprogramming

Jose Polo is unravelling the details of how stem cells can be produced from adult cells through a mix of identity theft and reprogramming. It is work that needs to be done before such stem cells can be used safely in medicine.

In recognition of his leadership in stem cell research, Associate Professor Polo of Monash University has received an inaugural $50,000 Metcalf Prize from the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia.

The award is named for Australia’s pioneering stem cell researcher, Professor Donald Metcalf, AC, of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, who is an internationally renowned expert on haematopoiesis or blood cell formation.

Jose’s work is unveiling the development of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells —stem cells generated from skin, liver, blood or any other body cells. It is an important step along a path which could lead to treating degenerative diseases and understanding some cancers.

“When talking about my work, I often use the analogy of a library, where the genes in the cells are the books,” says Jose. “Every cell is a library which contains the same set of books, but they differ in terms of which ones are open and which are closed—in blood vessel cells the books on blood vessels will be open, and in pancreatic cells the books on the pancreas. I want to find the mechanism that opens and closes those books.”

Jose has already made two major strides forward. [Read more…] about New stem cells via identity theft and reprogramming

Worm spit heals then kills; sends Cairns scientist to the UK in search of fame

5am AEST, 28 May 2014

Vision: laboratories, close-up photos of the worms, footage of Michael’s talk

Cairns researchers have discovered a wound-healing and cancer-causing hormone in the spit of a liver worm that lives in over nine million people and infects adventurous Australian tourists. The Southeast Asian liver fluke munches through the liver repairing the damage as it goes. But after many years of infection it can cause liver cancer and kills 20,000 people each year in Thailand alone.

Now James Cook University researcher Dr Michael Smout has found that a protein in the spit also sends wound-healing messages.

In 2010 James Cook University researchers discovered that the worm spit was promoting cell growth and wound repair. Then in 2012 Dr Michael Smout discovered a growth hormone in the spit, showed it was responsible both for the repair and in part for the cancer, and that it promotes wound-healing. He hopes that the work will lead both to new wound-healing compounds, and to a vaccine against the worm.

The discovery received no public attention at the time. But now its discoverer, Dr Michael Smout, is presenting the work publically for the first time thanks to FameLab Australia. He won the Australian final two weeks ago in Perth using a teddy bear to assist in his talk. He flies to the International FameLab final in the UK on Friday to represent Australia. [Read more…] about Worm spit heals then kills; sends Cairns scientist to the UK in search of fame

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But researchers have to teach yeast to make it

How adult cells change identity as they’re turned into stem cells – Jose Polo, Melbourne

Scientists available at 10am for photo call and interviews in their labs

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And how the liver’s troops might be revived