His research focuses on the human pathogens Streptococcus pneumoniae and Shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli.

To view the full article please head University of Adelaide’s News & Events media release.

The University of Adelaide run the program in mid January each year (15-17 Jan 2013).  Students wishing to undertake the program should refer to the website below. The program is offered to students in years 9 & 10.

Registrations are still OPEN so students who are interested can still sign up for January’s session. Sponsorship for the program can be gain by inquiry with local Rotary clubs who strongly support this program.

http://www.scienceexperience.com.au/

The authors of this work, published this week in the prestigious journal Science, say this provides insight into the evolution of embryo growth regulation in mammals.

Associate Professor Briony Forbes and Associate Professor Frank Grützner, both from the University of Adelaide’s School of Molecular & Biomedical Science, are co-authors of this work, which has been led by researchers at the universities of Oxford and Bristol.

“This research is a great example of how Australia’s unique native animals can shed light on mammalian evolution,” Associate Professor Grützner says.

“Echidnas and platypuses are unique egg-laying mammals that evolved much earlier than humans, but interestingly they still feature a period of fetal maternal exchange during their short 2-3 week ‘pregnancy’. The unique Australian monotremes can therefore be regarded as ‘intermediates’ between egg-laying birds and intrauterine mammalian development and have been crucial for this discovery.”

The change from egg-laying to extended pregnancy sparked the evolution of what scientists describe as a “parental conflict” over the maternal resources provided to the fetus in mammals.

“On the molecular level, the growth factor IGF2 and its inhibitor, the IGF2 receptor, play a central role in this conflict between father and mother, which is thought to result in parent-of-origin dependent gene activity. This means that of the two igf2 gene copies, the one inherited from the father is active, thereby promoting growth and energy extraction from the mother, whereas the mother’s copy is inactive, to limit growth of the embryo and save her energy for future offspring,” Associate Professor Forbes says.

“For the growth-inhibiting IGF2 receptor, the switch settings are opposite: off from the paternal gene and on from the maternal gene.

“Until now it was unclear how IGF2 and its receptor became involved in this parental ‘tug-of-war’ found uniquely in mammals.

“This new paper in Science reports the detailed structure of the igf2 receptor in birds, monotremes, opposum and humans, and reveals how the structure of the igf2 receptor protein has changed in mammals in a way that has enabled IGF2 binding and inhibition of its action,” she says.

“It is amazing that egg-laying monotremes provide us with such a fascinating new insight into the molecular basis of embryo growth regulation during pregnancy.

“This is the first molecular evidence about how these two genes became the means of a parental conflict over embryo growth in mammals. It is a major stepping stone in understanding why some genes are regulated differently between fathers and mothers.”

Understanding Traditional Chinese Medicine

The Zhendong Australia China Centre for Molecular Traditional Chinese Medicine is a joint centre between the University of Adelaide, the Shanxi College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Zhendong Pharmaceutical Company.

According to Prof David Adelson (the new Chair for the Molecular Basis of Traditional Chinese Medicine), “This not only will provide us with an understanding of how Traditional Chinese Medicine acts – supporting its evidence-based integration into Western medicine – but will also increase our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying disease.”

For further information, please go to Adelaide Now’s article titled: Harnessing the secrets of Chinese medicine .

*How did life evolve on Earth?

FOR life to continue and evolve, organisms must successfully reproduce.
Did you know that not all organisms do this in the same way?

Single cell organisms, such as bacteria, mainly reproduce using asexual reproduction, where the cell duplicates its genome (DNA) and then divides into two so that each cell has one copy of the genome.

To find out more as to why it is important for sex results in variation between parents and offspring, as well as the environment to go to Aaron Casey’s article in the Advertiser < link >.  Aaron is a PhD student from the School of Molecular & Biomedical Sciences, and the Research Centre for Reproductive Health, Robinson Institute, University of Adelaide.

To find out more about the 10 Big Questions*, go to: <link>

For more detail on how people are infected by Hepatitis B and C, what the symptoms are and more specifically how these viruses attack our immune system, go to Thomas Tu’s Advertiser article ‘Research needed for Hep C cure‘.
Or for more information on the University of Adelaide‘s 10 Big Questions head to the following website: 10 big Questions

Tatiana P. Soares da Costa is a PhD student in the School of Molecular and Biomedical Science, University of Adelaide. For more about the 10 Big Questions, go to: http://ua.edu.au/sciences/10bq

HOW did life evolve? There are different factors that can determine whether a female or male creature develops.
In some species, sex is determined by the temperature in which their eggs grow. However, in mammals it is the sex chromosomes, and specific genes on these sex chromosomes, that control whether an embryo develops as a female or a male.

The search is now on to find exactly what does control male development in the platypus, as it seems the strange platypus chromosomes have a lot to offer. Through studying the platypus, we will unlock more secrets about how the evolution of sex determination occurred in mammals.

To find out more about Genetics The XX (or XY) factor read Megan Wright‘s newspaper article, PhD student from the School of Molecular and Biomedical Science. Alternatively head to the University of Adelaide‘s 10 Big Questions to access further questions about our future.

On the face of it, “What is life?” is such a simple question, but to provide a satisfactory answer is in fact very difficult. To read more about this, go to James Byrne’s Advertiser article ‘So…what’s life?‘. (James Byrne is a PhD student in the School of Molecular and Biomedical Science at the University of Adelaide).

For more about the 10 Big Questions, go to: http://ua.edu.au/sciences/10bq

Date: Thursday 21st of July
Time: 9.30am-5.00pm
Location: The Scott Theatre, North Terrace Campus, the University of Adelaide

Keynote Speakers: Prof. Richard Head, Dr. Paul Willis and Dr. Rob Fitzpatrick.
See attached Program (2011Programv3)

Lunch and refreshments provided. For catering purposes please RSVP to: megan.wright@adelaide.edu.au

All Welcome!