Melbourne wins conference on future biology

Science in Public on 13 March, 2012


The cellular-wide impact of cancer; how pests interact with wheat plants; what characteristics of yeast give wine its taste.

These are the sorts of complicated questions scientists from around the world will come to Melbourne in 2014 to discuss at the 15th International Conference on Systems Biology (ICSB 2014). Systems biology uses all the tools of the biological and computer science revolutions to look at whole plants and animals. Over the next decade it is set to transform biology.
Read More about Melbourne wins conference on future biology

Australian solar lights reach Pakistan flood refugees

Science in Public on 11 March, 2012

Melbourne inventors create a $10 solar light that generates carbon credits and transforms lives

A Melbourne invention is brightening the lives of hundreds of thousands of flood refugees in Pakistan by bringing them sustainable solar light.

The governments of Britain, the USA, Japan and the EU have all bought the new lights and supplied them to refugees via the International Organisation for Migration.

Read More about Australian solar lights reach Pakistan flood refugees

One unlucky letter causes an infant epilepsy

Niall on 15 January, 2012

A 20 year old mystery was solved this week with the discovery that an epilepsy that affects infants is caused by the change of a single letter in one gene. Seizures in infancy are not rare, but this familial epilepsy occurs in probably 60 families acro…

Who’s the boss? Melbourne research shows cells influence their own destiny

Niall on 6 January, 2012


Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers, with the help of NICTA’s Victoria ICT Laboratory, are a step closer to being able to model the complexity of our immune system in a computer thanks to research published in Science today.  This will be a critical tool in developing new vaccines and better therapies for autoimmune diseases.

Read More about Who’s the boss? Melbourne research shows cells influence their own destiny

Global recognition for Melbourne epilepsy pioneer

Niall on 9 November, 2011

L’Oréal and UNESCO have just announced that Australian paediatric neurologist Professor Ingrid Scheffer is the Asia-Pacific L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Laureate for 2012. She is one of five international winners who will each receive US$1…

L’Oreal Australia: Five women moving science forward

Niall on 9 November, 2011

L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science grants Australian Scientist US$100,000 in one of the world’s most prestigious Science prizes: The 14th Annual L’ORÉAL-UNESCO For Women in Science Award   Issued by L’Oreal Australia. Honouring five…

Inaugural Centenary Institute Lawrence Creative Prize for Melbourne researcher to tackle lung cancer

Science in Public on 19 October, 2011

The winner of the Centenary Institute Lawrence Creative Prize is Marie-Liesse Asselin-Labat, from Melbourne’s Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI).

Having unravelled key information on how and why breast stem cells contribute to the progression of breast cancer, she is now turning to the challenge of lung cancer. Read More about Inaugural Centenary Institute Lawrence Creative Prize for Melbourne researcher to tackle lung cancer