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Media Bulletin - 1 August 2006 - Bones from wool; plastics from willow; fuel-efficient cows and more: the future of biotechnology in agriculture – New Zealand biotechnologists will be present en-masse at the ABIC conference in Melbourne next week. - People’s Choice scientist – States compete. Will the crocodile man win? - Geelong man to lead the Bionic Ear Institute - Melbourne biotech matures but opportunities lost in agricultural biotech: Governor hands over BioMelbourne Network to John Raff - How can nuclear fusion become a solution to our energy needs? Barry Green of the $40 billion ITER project visits Australia with lectures around the country. - Shedding light on quantum optics: an explanation of this year’s Nobel Prize for physics - Diamonds, pollution, colour confusion and possum love: sixteen young scientists from across Australia will be talking about their latest research as part of Fresh Science over the next 3 weeks. Meet them at the Redback pub in Melbourne this Monday - Feeding a hungry world with biotech – the ABIC 2006 conference ________________________
Australia and New Zealand are at the crest of a wave – turning our agricultural successes into biotechnology dollars, according to Andrew Kelly, a venture capitalist, and participant in a large New Zealand delegation attending the Agricultural Biotechnology International Conference (ABIC) in Melbourne from 6 to 9 August.
“There are a phenomenal range of young companies developing new foods and medicines, and improving farming,” says Kelly who manages BioPacific Ventures, a $100 million venture capital fund specialising in agricultural biotechnology.
The New Zealanders will be talking about a host of applications. Highlights include:
- From cricket bats to biofuels and plastics – BioJoule is developing willow trees as a source of ethanol and feedstuffs for manufacturing. They say the fast-growing trees can be grown on marginal land. - Cellsense - a unique milk quality monitor developed by Sensortec Ltd, that checks each cow’s milk while it’s being milked. - Wool proteins to repair bones: Wellington-based Keratec is working with an Australian company, Australian Biotechnologies, to commercialise its patented bone graft technology using Functionalised Keratin, a structural protein extracted from wool. Among the applications for the technology are bone graft and fixation devices, wound dressings, adhesives, bioplastics and fibres. - Grasses ain’t grasses – New Zealanders know how to grow grass. Now they and their Australian colleagues are growing a wide range of custom grasses – some are easier to digest and result in less farts (and therefore less methane) from sheep and cattle; some are engineered to reduce allergies, some taste so bad that they could scare birds away from airports. - Omega 3 from kiwifruit: Vital Foods is producing an Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acid dietary supplement from kiwifruit seeds. The company also sells a digestion remedy based on an enzyme complex extracted from kiwifruit pulp. - Fuel-efficient cows: a $1 million trans-Tasman investment in research for more milk and less methane is helping the Livestock Improvement Corporation create genetic tests to identify cows able to produce more milk with less (grass) fuel. Further information call me or visit www.scienceinpublic.com _______________________
Eureka People’s Choice kicks off national vote for a science star
More than 100 finalists will compete for 20 Eureka prizes worth more than $200,000 in total, with winners to be named on 22 August. Of the finalists, five scientists will compete for the 2006 Eureka People’s Choice Award – to be decided by Australians voting in an online poll. “We invite all Australians to get behind our great minds by voting for their favourite scientist – and in the process have the chance to win significant prizes.” said Australian Museum Director, Frank Howarth. Voting opens online on Friday 28 July at www.amonline.net.au/eureka and runs till midnight on 20 August. The major prize for People’s Choice voters is the chance to have part of their DNA sequenced by scientists at the Australian Museum. Other prizes include book vouchers, software and magazine subscriptions. The 2006 People’s Choice finalists are: - Brisbane parasitologist Alex Loukas who, in discovering how human hookworms digest blood, has uncovered an Achilles heel that could be used to create a vaccine against the worms. Hookworms affect a billion people in the world’s poorest countries. - Sydney chemists Martina Stenzel and Christopher Barner-Kowollik who have developed a “Fedex” for drugs – small carrier molecules that will deliver drugs to the site of infection rather than just allowing the drug to spread randomly throughout the body. - Greg Keighery, Stuart Halse and Norm McKenzie from Perth, who have catalogued a unique species hotspot in Western Australia’s wheatbelt. They found 750 new spider species and six new plants in an area that has more plant species than the whole of the United Kingdom. - Grahame Webb from Darwin, who has changed our attitude to the saltwater crocodile. In the 1970s, the croc was endangered. Grahame campaigned for a new approach to conservation, showing that sustainable harvesting could be good for crocodiles and for the Northern Territory. - Mark Shackleton and Francois Vaillant from Melbourne, who have discovered the stem cells that are the basis of breasts. Their work opens the way for new drugs and treatments for breast cancer, as well as the possibility of growing complex organs from stem cells. The Australian Museum Eureka Prizes reward outstanding achievements in Australian science. The prizes are awarded in four categories: Research, Leadership and Innovation, Education and Science Communication. The prizes (except the People‘s Choice Award) are judged by scientific experts and most carry a cash reward of $10,000. Begun in 1990, the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes have become Australia’s premier science awards and the country’s largest single national award scheme for research into critical environmental and sustainability issues facing Australia.
Details about all the finalists are available online at www.amonline.net.au/eureka ________________________ Geelong man receives Bionic Ear mantle
Professor Rob Shepherd has been appointed as Director to Australia’s Bionic Ear Institute, following in the footsteps of Professor Graeme Clark, the inventor of the bionic ear.
His appointment follows a global search for the right person. Portland-born, Geelong-education—the local man shone through. More than 75,000 people around the world have gained the ability to understand spoken language with the help of Australia’s bionic ear. And the device has captured 70% of the global market for cochlear implants.
The full release is at www.scienceinpublic.com. ________________________ Victoria’s Governor welcomes a new chairman and a new era for the BioMelbourne Network
Tonight Governor Professor David de Kretser AO will hand over his chairmanship of the BioMelbourne Network to Dr John Raff, former CEO of Starpharma, one of the performers of Melbourne biotechnology.
“I see big opportunities in harnessing Victoria’s leadership in agriculture,” says Raff. “We can create great wealth from new crops and new value-added foods. But three things are standing in the way - we need a rational regulatory environment, - we need Victoria’s agricultural researchers to engage with industry—as their medical colleagues already do. They need to collaborate with industry, not compete. - and we need to bring Australian retailers along with us—giving new Australian food products the shelf space they need to get started.” “The BioMelbourne Network has brought medical researchers and industry closer together to solve similar issues. My first major challenge is to do the same with agricultural biotechnology, and build on Victoria’s dual strengths in agriculture and science,” says John Raff. The full release is online at www.scienceinpublic.com. ________________________ Nuclear fusion: a 50 year, $40 billion project, and an opportunity for Australia? How can nuclear fusion become a solution to our energy needs? Barry Green of the Directorate of Energy, European Commission is in Australia is giving public lectures around the country this week and next Energy is vital to our lives and societies, but it’s becoming scarcer and more expensive. Fusion is an energy source as yet untapped by man. It is the process which powers the sun and the stars and is a zero-greenhouse-gas-emitting technology. On 24 May 2006 representatives of countries representing over half the world’s population initialled an international agreement for the next step in fusion research and development. This is to construct and operate a large experimental device, ITER - Latin for “the way”. ITER’s intent is to “demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy for peaceful purposes.” Barry Green of the Directorate of Energy, European Commission will discuss the issue of energy, the fusion process and plans for a fusion power-producing reactor. ________________________ Quantum optics – this year’s Nobel Prize in physics explained We've all heard of the Nobel Prize for Physics, but how many of us actually know what it is awarded for? The 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Roy Glauber, John Hall and Theodor Hansch for breakthroughs in the field of "quantum optics" – the quantum nature of light itself. This research allows us to understand interfering laser beams, and to design quantum clocks accurate enough to measure effects of Einstein's theory or relativity at walking speed. Stephen Bartlett from the University of Sydney's School of Physics and the Australian Institute of Physics is giving a public talk explaining the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics. Stephen is keen to do the same for the media. ________________________ Diamonds, pollution, colour confusion and possum love Each year Fresh Science selects 16 young scientists from across Australia with interesting work to talk about. This year we have: a map to find diamonds, cleaning pollution with ultrasound, detecting fakes, possum love, colour confusion, surviving a stroke, bionic eyes and clean cooling. Some of the stories include: - How do we know someone else sees the same colour as us? - Set your watch: taking supplements can help us be stronger and lose weight, but only at the right time - Why making your uterus attractive can treat infertility - Understanding whipped cream and salad dressing - A new treatment that improves the survival of stroke patients - Taking the bull out of the china shop - New solar cells that harvest light with nano-trees and soccer balls - A new possibility for fighting arthritis - Australia’s East and West stitched together under the surface |
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