BRACKS GOVERNMENT SAVES $12M WALLABY GENOME PROJECT

The Bracks Government has stepped in to save a $12 million study of the tammar wallaby genome that could lead to better treatments for cancer and spinal cord injury.

Innovation Minister, John Brumby, today announced the Bracks Government would provide an extra $3 million for the world first research project.

The project was facing collapse after the Commonwealth and Queensland governments refused to match Victoria’s original $1.5 million contribution.

“Once again a lack of vision at the Federal level has seen the Bracks Government having to take a leadership role in ensuring Australia remains at the forefront of international genomic research,” Mr Brumby said.

He said the Australian Genome Research Facility (AGRF) in partnership with the world-renowned and USA-based National Institutes of Health (NIH) would undertake the study.

“Marsupials have unique attributes that make them of special value in mammalian studies centred on reproduction, fertility, seasonal breeding, pregnancy, lactation, and sex determination and differentiation,” Mr Brumby said.

“Unlocking the secrets of these novel genomes could lead to better milk production in cows, novel antibiotics, and treatments for such diseases as cancer and spinal cord damage in humans, and mad cow disease in cattle.

“Not only will the information be invaluable to health and agricultural research, the project is also a fantastic opportunity for Australian scientists to build relationships with the NIH – one of the largest and most influential medical research agencies in the world.”

Funding partners for the project are: NIH $6 million; Victorian Government $4.5 million; AGRF $1 million; and a $500,000 in-kind support from sequencing machine manufacturer, Applied Biosystems.

The NIH planned to embark on a similar study of North America’s only marsupial, the opossum, but was alerted to the tammar wallaby study and offered to collaborate if Australia would contribute $6 million by the end of March 2004.

Late last year, the Bracks Government announced it would contribute $1.5 million and Premier Steve Bracks wrote to the Prime Minister John Howard and Queensland Premier Beattie asking them to match the contribution.

With no funds forthcoming from other Government sources the Victoria increased its contribution so the AGRF could meet the USA deadline.

“Australia is currently at the forefront of marsupial genomic research having amassed valuable information about the genetic sequences that control lactation, milk composition and nutrition,” Mr Brumby said.

“We have decided to commit the additional $3 million because this research is an opportunity too valuable to miss.”

He said the opportunity for Australia to have a role in the study arose following the International Congress of Genetics held in Melbourne last July, which was attended by NIH director Dr Francis Collins.

FACT SHEET

Feature

Implications

The genome is easily related to that of ancestral marsupials

The tammar wallaby genome represents a rich and untapped unique resource for comparative genomics, offering the power to identify genes and regulatory sequences. These genes and regulatory sequences may offer answers to questions about how and why the mammalian genome evolved.

Different teats in the pouch can deliver different types of milk, which is appropriate for either pouch young or a joey at the heel.

Understanding milk composition and control is important for our understanding of human nutrition. It’s also important for our ability to manipulate and improve milk production in domestic animals (such as cows).

The tammar wallaby breeds seasonally and in the wild all animals deliver young on or about 22 January (one gestation period after the longest day in the Southern hemisphere.)

Understanding the causes and determinants of seasonal breeding has implications for domestic farming practices.

Fill the evolutionary knowledge gap

Sequencing the marsupial could also fill the evolutionary gaps in knowledge between birds/reptiles and placental mammals (includes humans).

Media contact: Tom Laurie 9651 5799 www.vic.gov.au

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