New $9.5 million ‘Metabolomics Australia’ Research Centre to be based at the University of Melbourne
Media Release, Wednesday 28 February 2007
Metabolomics Australia is a new $9.5 million National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) Centre which will be headquartered at the University of Melbourne.
Metabolomics is the detection, identification and quantification of large numbers of metabolites (the products of chemical reactions involved in metabolism) in a high-throughput manner, and is the newest in a suite of techniques to enable analysis of an individual cell to an entire organism. The centre will provide a state-of the-art metabolomics service to Australian researchers in academia and industry.
The Australia Government has committed $50 million through NCRIS for facilities to support the establishment of infrastructure in evolving bio-molecular platforms and informatics. Managed through a new coordinating body – BioPlatforms Australia - this investment will deliver services in the specialist areas of genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and bioinformatics through networks of collaborating organisation.
Since the sequencing of the human genome using ‘genomics’ techniques, other methods have emerged which allow detailed analysis of biological samples. In addition to genomics (the study of genes in an organism) and proteomics (the study of all proteins in an organism), metabolomics has emerged as the newest member of this family to analyse metabolites, the end-products of gene expression.
‘Metabolomics’ analyses the pool of metabolites produced under specific conditions, thereby giving a ‘snapshot’ of the cell’s metabolic state. Metabolic reactions include the production of energy, and the manufacture and breakdown of molecules in cells. Metabolites can be examined from an individual cell, tissues, fluids, organs and the entire organism.
The unique nature of cellular metabolism means the metabolite profiles can be used as indicators or ‘biomarkers’ of the cell’s condition. They can indicate disease abnormalities such as cancer and determine responses to drugs or environmental effects. The biomarkers can also be used to monitor food quality and to discover new biomolecules (bioprospecting) from plants and animals for products like medicinal compounds, novel crops and biofuels.
Work at the new centre will focus on medical, agricultural and environmental applications of the technology. The major emphasis is expected to be in three areas: (1) the discovery of biomarkers in diverse areas including biomarkers of disease, drug-responsiveness, health and fitness, agriculturally important crop plant characteristics and environmental stress responses (such as responses to climatic change and salinity), (2) the chemical profiling of patients and test organisms in response to disease, genetic variation or therapeutic treatments and of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) as a tool in risk assessment, and (3) the bioprospecting for novel compounds produced by native plants and animals that have potential as commercially valuable medicinal or other bioactive compounds.
Support for the emerging field of metabolomics will be provided through a $9.5 million commitment to Metabolomics Australia (MA). Investments will be made at network nodes in Victoria (University of Melbourne), Queensland (University of Queensland), South Australia (Australian Wine Research Institute) and Western Australia (University of Western Australia and Murdoch University).
The University of Melbourne node, which involves the School of Botany (Prof Tony Bacic; Victorian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics and the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics) and Bio21 Institute (Prof Richard Wettenhall) will receive $5.3 million of NCRIS funds to form the Hub of MA. An additional $2 million will support the bioinformatics capability of MA to manage the vast amounts of data being generated. The University of Melbourne is also contributing $1.65 million to the venture. It is anticipated that the Victorian Government will also be a co-investor in this exciting new initiative. The interim CEO is Prof Tony Bacic.
For information on Metabolomics Australia contact:
Professor Tony Bacic
Botany, University of Melbourne
(03) 8344 5041
abacic@unimelb.edu.au
Professor Richard Wettenhall
Bio21
(03) 83442250
rehw@unimelb.edu.au
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