Podcasts about bio21 institute

It's estimated that there are 5.5 million insect species on Earth, says Phil Batterham, Professor Emeritus at the School of BioSciences and the Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne. “Those that are pests may number in hundreds, so it's a minority of insects that cause damage in agriculture. “In fact, many insects are beneficial and really vital to us and to ecosystems.” Professor Batterham's research looks at the interaction of chemical insecticides with pest insects and beneficial ones, like bees. “If you spray a fly with insecticide it dies quite rapidly because it binds to a target protein in the brain. So, many insecticides aren't really pest-specific at all because they also bind to proteins in the brains of non-pest insects.” Professor Batterham's work aims to understand these insecticide interactions so as to underpin the development of more effective and sustainable control strategies that have a reduced environmental impact. “A former PhD student Felipe Martelli examined low-dose impacts of insecticides on a model insect organism called Drosophila (fruit fly). He worked on two classes of insecticides, one called imidacloprid, which has been banned in agricultural settings in Europe because of demonstrated impacts on the honeybee. The other was an organic insecticide called spinosad. “Felipe showed these insecticides were damaging mitochondria, which are the energy centres in cells. There was a precipitous drop in energy levels in short term exposures. In longer chronic exposures in adults, he saw neurodegeneration and blindness. “And although spinosad is labelled as organic, it creates more damage at much lower doses than imidacloprid does. “It's really important for us to study other insecticides and verify that they are causing such damage or clear them of it. At the moment we need to use insecticides in agriculture and as a bare minimum, we need to be using the safest ones. “Insecticides are important for food production, but they may be having impacts on pollinators which are also essential for food production.” Episode recorded: June 15, 2021. Interviewer: Dr Andi Horvath. Producer, audio engineer and editor: Chris Hatzis. Co-producers: Silvi Vann-Wall and Dr Andi Horvath. Banner: Getty Images.

It's estimated that there are 5.5 million insect species on Earth, says Phil Batterham, Professor Emeritus at the School of BioSciences and the Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne. “Those that are pests may number in hundreds, so it's a minority of insects that cause damage in agriculture. “In fact, many insects are beneficial and really vital to us and to ecosystems.” Professor Batterham's research looks at the interaction of chemical insecticides with pest insects and beneficial ones, like bees. “If you spray a fly with insecticide it dies quite rapidly because it binds to a target protein in the brain. So, many insecticides aren't really pest-specific at all because they also bind to proteins in the brains of non-pest insects.” Professor Batterham's work aims to understand these insecticide interactions so as to underpin the development of more effective and sustainable control strategies that have a reduced environmental impact. “A former PhD student Felipe Martelli examined low-dose impacts of insecticides on a model insect organism called Drosophila (fruit fly). He worked on two classes of insecticides, one called imidacloprid, which has been banned in agricultural settings in Europe because of demonstrated impacts on the honeybee. The other was an organic insecticide called spinosad. “Felipe showed these insecticides were damaging mitochondria, which are the energy centres in cells. There was a precipitous drop in energy levels in short term exposures. In longer chronic exposures in adults, he saw neurodegeneration and blindness. “And although spinosad is labelled as organic, it creates more damage at much lower doses than imidacloprid does. “It's really important for us to study other insecticides and verify that they are causing such damage or clear them of it. At the moment we need to use insecticides in agriculture and as a bare minimum, we need to be using the safest ones. “Insecticides are important for food production, but they may be having impacts on pollinators which are also essential for food production.” Episode recorded: June 15, 2021. Interviewer: Dr Andi Horvath. Producer, audio engineer and editor: Chris Hatzis. Co-producers: Silvi Vann-Wall and Dr Andi Horvath. Banner: Getty Images.

"As humans we tend to think in pictures, so using that approach you could think of peptides as segments of protein," says Dr Troy Attard, from the Melbourne Protein Characterisation platform at the Bio21 Institute at the University of Melbourne. “You can think of protein like a ball of twine, a long linear string that is all scrunched up into a ball or various shapes. If you took a pair of scissors and snipped little bits of a segment of that string, that would be your peptide,” Dr Attard says. “They’re basically short proteins, which are chains of amino acids that are joined head to tail, a little bit like links in a chain.” Dr Attard explains that insulin is an example of a peptide, it’s two peptide chains that are joined by a couple of bridges. “There are a lot of small proteins that you would consider peptides and they have all manner of functions in the body including metabolism and communication.” Dr Attard synthesises, or makes, specific peptides for research. “You can manipulate peptides for whatever purpose you’d like. If you want to investigate specific parts of a protein, you can make a whole range of peptides that represent that area, and you can test which ones are important for binding in the cell.” Just by doing this basic research, you can build up a profile, and you get more knowledge about the interactions that are going on in the cell, Dr Attard says. “When you come across a problem such as the classic one is cancer of course, the more you know about that mechanism, the better a position you’ll be in to develop a therapeutic, for example.” Episode recorded: September 29, 2020. Interviewer: Dr Andi Horvath. Producer, audio engineer and editor: Chris Hatzis. Co-producers: Silvi Vann-Wall and Dr Andi Horvath. Banner image: Shutterstock.

"As humans we tend to think in pictures, so using that approach you could think of peptides as segments of protein," says Dr Troy Attard, from the Melbourne Protein Characterisation platform at the Bio21 Institute at the University of Melbourne. “You can think of protein like a ball of twine, a long linear string that is all scrunched up into a ball or various shapes. If you took a pair of scissors and snipped little bits of a segment of that string, that would be your peptide,” Dr Attard says. “They're basically short proteins, which are chains of amino acids that are joined head to tail, a little bit like links in a chain.” Dr Attard explains that insulin is an example of a peptide, it's two peptide chains that are joined by a couple of bridges. “There are a lot of small proteins that you would consider peptides and they have all manner of functions in the body including metabolism and communication.” Dr Attard synthesises, or makes, specific peptides for research. “You can manipulate peptides for whatever purpose you'd like. If you want to investigate specific parts of a protein, you can make a whole range of peptides that represent that area, and you can test which ones are important for binding in the cell.” Just by doing this basic research, you can build up a profile, and you get more knowledge about the interactions that are going on in the cell, Dr Attard says. “When you come across a problem such as the classic one is cancer of course, the more you know about that mechanism, the better a position you'll be in to develop a therapeutic, for example.” Episode recorded: September 29, 2020. Interviewer: Dr Andi Horvath. Producer, audio engineer and editor: Chris Hatzis. Co-producers: Silvi Vann-Wall and Dr Andi Horvath. Banner image: Shutterstock.

Almost every minute, one child in Africa dies from malaria. Around the world, the mosquito-borne parasite kills about 450,000 people each year, most of them children and pregnant women, while another 200 million people suffer illness as a result of malaria infections. Based in Bio21 Institute at the University of Melbourne, the Tilley lab led by Professor Leann Tilley is working as part of a global effort to understand and control malaria. Her lab investigates the basic biology of the parasite and action of and resistance to antimalarial drugs, with a view to designing better drugs. In our podcast, Leann explains how cross-disciplinary collaboration is a key to the success of her lab. She is assisted by collaborations with experts from other disciplines, ranging from molecular parasitologists to organic chemists to biomechanical engineers and optical physicists. As a Georgina Sweet Fellow, Leann is committed to supporting women through the Awards for Women in Quantitative Biomedical Science. You can listen to her thoughts about what the ARC could do to increase the number of women Laureates and Centre Directors. Leann reflects on the attributes of an effective and successful academic in the video.

Professor Frances Separovic has amassed many ‘firsts' in her career as a scientist, including being the first female chemist to become a member of the Australian Academy of Science and the first female Head of the School of Chemistry at the University of Melbourne. Our reporter Dr Andi Horvath sits down for a chat with Frances, where she discusses the road she travelled to reach the peak of her profession, from school in Broken Hill to Deputy Director of the Bio21 Institute. Episode recorded: 30 April 2018 Interviewer: Dr Andi Horvath Producers: Dr Andi Horvath, Chris Hatzis and Silvi Vann-Wall Audio engineer and editor: Chris Hatzis Banner image: Professor Separovic (centre, right), with her research team at the Bio21 Institute. Picture: Peter Casamento/Bio21

Professor Frances Separovic has amassed many ‘firsts’ in her career as a scientist, including being the first female chemist to become a member of the Australian Academy of Science and the first female Head of the School of Chemistry at the University of Melbourne. Our reporter Dr Andi Horvath sits down for a chat with Frances, where she discusses the road she travelled to reach the peak of her profession, from school in Broken Hill to Deputy Director of the Bio21 Institute.Episode recorded: 30 April 2018Interviewer: Dr Andi HorvathProducers: Dr Andi Horvath, Chris Hatzis and Silvi Vann-WallAudio engineer and editor: Chris HatzisBanner image: Professor Separovic (centre, right), with her research team at the Bio21 Institute. Picture: Peter Casamento/Bio21

US film director Jennifer Brea spoke to Amy about her Oscar-shortlisted documentary Unrest, which chronicles her experience and the experiences of others who have gone "missing" – the sufferers of the significantly debilitating illness Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), aka "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome". Activist and ME sufferer Anna Kerr, Emerge CEO Dr Heidi Nicholls and Bio21 Institute researcher Dr Chris Armstrong then joined Amy to talk about the situation for Australians with ME, and the research being conducted to uncover the biological mechanisms behind it. Broadcast on 13 March 2018.

US film director Jennifer Brea spoke to Amy about her Oscar-shortlisted documentary Unrest, which chronicles her experience and the experiences of others who have gone "missing" the sufferers of the significantly debilitating illness Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), aka "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome". Activist and ME sufferer Anna Kerr, Emerge CEO Dr Heidi Nicholls and Bio21 Institute researcher Dr Chris Armstrong then joined Amy to talk about an upcoming screening of Unrest at RMIT, the situation for Australians with ME, and the research being conducted to uncover the biological mechanisms behind it. New York Times journalist and author Jim Robbins came in to the studio to talk about his latest book, The Wonder of Birds and his upcoming talk at the Wheeler Centre. And Ben Eltham chatted about the latest in federal politics.

With its debiliating symptoms - fatigue, "brain fog," pain, gastrointestinal disorders - and its elusive causes, chronic fatigue syndrome has been one of the great unsolved medical mysteries. Now, a growing number of research teams around the world are tackling the challenge of diagnosing and treating the illness using new medical research techniques. By looking at patients' genetics and the changing pattern of their metabolites - the molecules produced by their individual metabolisms - these researchers have made enormous progress in uncovering patterns exclusive to the condition and countering once-popular psychological explanations. Among the research centres working on CFS (also known as myalgic encephalomyoletis) is the Bio21 Institute at the University of Melbourne. Earlier this month, amid the centrifuges, mass spectrometers and NMR cylinders used to identify shifts in biological material, Peter Clarke spoke to Bio21 researcher Chris Armstrong. Interview originally appeared on the Inside Story website, 24 November 2016.