Deciphering the regulatory principles of metazoan development. This proposal aims to elucidate how regulatory elements in the genome, known as enhancers, determine the identity and function of animal tissues. Currently, it is believed that enhancers cannot be traced across evolutionarily distant animals. The project uses novel concepts, computational and molecular approaches to identify deeply conserved enhancers. It further dissects the mechanism of function by proteomics and high-throughput ge ....Deciphering the regulatory principles of metazoan development. This proposal aims to elucidate how regulatory elements in the genome, known as enhancers, determine the identity and function of animal tissues. Currently, it is believed that enhancers cannot be traced across evolutionarily distant animals. The project uses novel concepts, computational and molecular approaches to identify deeply conserved enhancers. It further dissects the mechanism of function by proteomics and high-throughput genomics. The expected outcomes will overturn our current view on enhancer evolution and reposition our understanding of how enhancers are functionally encoded in the genome. The work is an important contribution to understanding cellular complexity and species evolution with wide-ranging impact in genetics.Read moreRead less
Inflammation as an early form of maternal-fetal signalling in pregnancy. The project aims to understand the role of inflammatory signalling in marsupial pregnancy. This project is expected to explain why inflammation, a processes normally confined to injury and infection, is a part of reproduction in live-bearing mammals. Outcomes of this project include robust measures of the capacity for, impact of, and evolution of, inflammatory signalling in marsupial pregnancy. The project will provide new ....Inflammation as an early form of maternal-fetal signalling in pregnancy. The project aims to understand the role of inflammatory signalling in marsupial pregnancy. This project is expected to explain why inflammation, a processes normally confined to injury and infection, is a part of reproduction in live-bearing mammals. Outcomes of this project include robust measures of the capacity for, impact of, and evolution of, inflammatory signalling in marsupial pregnancy. The project will provide new knowledge about the unique biology of Australia's marsupial fauna.This project will provide significant benefits, including enhanced capacity for reproduction research in Australia, new international collaborations between Melbourne and Yale, and a new explanation for the puzzling role of inflammation in pregnancy.Read moreRead less
Placental nutrient transport shows how complex traits evolve. This project aims to use amino acid transport in the vertebrate placenta as a model to demonstrate how genes are recruited and modified to produce a major organ. Using an innovative combination of a new technology, selected reaction monitoring, and transcriptomic and molecular approaches, plus carefully selected Australian species pairs, this project will study the evolution of a complex trait (placental amino acid transport). The pr ....Placental nutrient transport shows how complex traits evolve. This project aims to use amino acid transport in the vertebrate placenta as a model to demonstrate how genes are recruited and modified to produce a major organ. Using an innovative combination of a new technology, selected reaction monitoring, and transcriptomic and molecular approaches, plus carefully selected Australian species pairs, this project will study the evolution of a complex trait (placental amino acid transport). The project will provide fundamental advances in our knowledge of the nutrient transport during pregnancy that is required to produce a healthy baby.Read moreRead less
The Epigenetics of Sex in the Dragon. Genetic codes do not directly translate to phenotypes -- environment acts through epigenetics to modify development. We use advanced molecular techniques to examine how epigenetics responds to temperature to reverse sex in our novel animal model, the dragon lizard. How does the cell sense temperature? Once the extrinsic signal is captured, how does it influence chromatin modification to release or suppress key genes in the sex differentiation pathway? Which ....The Epigenetics of Sex in the Dragon. Genetic codes do not directly translate to phenotypes -- environment acts through epigenetics to modify development. We use advanced molecular techniques to examine how epigenetics responds to temperature to reverse sex in our novel animal model, the dragon lizard. How does the cell sense temperature? Once the extrinsic signal is captured, how does it influence chromatin modification to release or suppress key genes in the sex differentiation pathway? Which sex genes are targets? Epigenetic enzymes are astonishingly conserved, providing exciting opportunities to draw from human systems to unravel novel signatures of temperature-induced sex switching in reptiles. This project will advance knowledge of developmental programming generally.Read moreRead less
Using venoms to map critical and evolutionary conserved vulnerabilities. We have developed and applied new functional genomic approaches to study venom evolution. Using CRISPR screening, we find that unrelated venoms act on cells by exploiting the same vulnerabilities. By functionally mapping these vulnerabilities for all venom classes, we can begin to develop universal venom antidotes. Conversely, much of what we know about venom mechanisms comes from a small percentage of the biodiversity with ....Using venoms to map critical and evolutionary conserved vulnerabilities. We have developed and applied new functional genomic approaches to study venom evolution. Using CRISPR screening, we find that unrelated venoms act on cells by exploiting the same vulnerabilities. By functionally mapping these vulnerabilities for all venom classes, we can begin to develop universal venom antidotes. Conversely, much of what we know about venom mechanisms comes from a small percentage of the biodiversity within a venom, and we have developed genomic tools to study the venom “dark matter”. This work will lead to the full molecular characterisation of venom biodiversity, and new venom components will be useful for research or as novel medicines.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Research Hubs - Grant ID: IH230100013
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$5,000,000.00
Summary
ARC Research Hub for Future Digital Manufacturing. This Hub aims to grow and accelerate Australian digital manufacturing (DM) transformation by devising novel DM technology and commercialisation/adoption pathways. The Hub expects to transform industry by developing novel AI and IoT-powered DM technology that provides for dramatic improvement in manufacturing productivity, resilience and competitiveness. Expected outcomes include novel DM technology for digitally representing, predicting, and imp ....ARC Research Hub for Future Digital Manufacturing. This Hub aims to grow and accelerate Australian digital manufacturing (DM) transformation by devising novel DM technology and commercialisation/adoption pathways. The Hub expects to transform industry by developing novel AI and IoT-powered DM technology that provides for dramatic improvement in manufacturing productivity, resilience and competitiveness. Expected outcomes include novel DM technology for digitally representing, predicting, and improving production and its outcomes via an open platform that supports reusing industry co-created DM solutions. Through supporting advanced manufacturing priorities and Industry 4.0, the Hub should provide significant benefits by increasing Australian manufacturing productivity and resilience by 30%.Read moreRead less
High-throughput single-molecule directed evolution. DNA polymerases are essential enzymes in many biotechnological tools, including DNA sequencing and PCR tests. However, existing DNA polymerases have limitations, resulting in inaccuracies and inefficiencies. Existing methods to improve polymerases lack sensitivity to screen for subtle, yet pivotal traits. This project aims to overcome this limitation by developing a new single-molecule directed-evolution system to evolve better polymerases. Wit ....High-throughput single-molecule directed evolution. DNA polymerases are essential enzymes in many biotechnological tools, including DNA sequencing and PCR tests. However, existing DNA polymerases have limitations, resulting in inaccuracies and inefficiencies. Existing methods to improve polymerases lack sensitivity to screen for subtle, yet pivotal traits. This project aims to overcome this limitation by developing a new single-molecule directed-evolution system to evolve better polymerases. With this new technology we aim to identify DNA polymerases with improved performance that benefit biotechnological applications. Additionally, these single-molecule directed-evolution methods will benefit the wider scientific community and lay the foundation for further advances in directed evolution.Read moreRead less
Exemplary early childhood educators at work: A multi-level investigation. Exemplary early childhood educators at work: A multi-level investigation. This project aims to inform strategies to better attract, prepare, recognise, support and retain a high quality workforce, by investigating the complexity of early childhood educators’ work. Seemingly entrenched workforce shortages threaten the objectives that governments and families seek through investment in early childhood education. Popular imag ....Exemplary early childhood educators at work: A multi-level investigation. Exemplary early childhood educators at work: A multi-level investigation. This project aims to inform strategies to better attract, prepare, recognise, support and retain a high quality workforce, by investigating the complexity of early childhood educators’ work. Seemingly entrenched workforce shortages threaten the objectives that governments and families seek through investment in early childhood education. Popular images of work with young children as easy and instinctual, or of teaching as only school based, mislead potential workforce entrants and erode the status of educators, leading to attrition. This project’s audit and description of exemplary educators’ work, across each level of mandated qualification, will inform strategies to sustain a high quality early childhood workforce into the future.Read moreRead less
Pseudo grains and adaptiveness in the Eastern Himalayas. Providing enough food for a growing planet and changing is one of the key challenges humanity must face in coming decades. Our research aims to contribute solutions to this problem by researching the domestication history and spread of two crops that are important to the eastern Himalayas: buckwheat and job's tears. We will use ethnolinguistic methodologies to document the current uses of these crops, and then incorporate archaeological, a ....Pseudo grains and adaptiveness in the Eastern Himalayas. Providing enough food for a growing planet and changing is one of the key challenges humanity must face in coming decades. Our research aims to contribute solutions to this problem by researching the domestication history and spread of two crops that are important to the eastern Himalayas: buckwheat and job's tears. We will use ethnolinguistic methodologies to document the current uses of these crops, and then incorporate archaeological, and genetic methodologies to determine whether or not the eastern Himalayas have been centres of domestication for these crops. The outcomes will include ethnolinguistic documentation, timing of domestication, and training in the relevant indigenous communities.Read moreRead less
The commercial provision of schooling and its implications for Australia. This project aims to identify modes of commercial provision of schooling around the globe and the policy networks and changing forms and practices of the state that help this provision. The integration of public schooling and corporate investment has become relatively commonplace around the world, yet there is no academic research on how this phenomenon could affect Australia. The project expects to show how commercial pro ....The commercial provision of schooling and its implications for Australia. This project aims to identify modes of commercial provision of schooling around the globe and the policy networks and changing forms and practices of the state that help this provision. The integration of public schooling and corporate investment has become relatively commonplace around the world, yet there is no academic research on how this phenomenon could affect Australia. The project expects to show how commercial provision of schooling creates relationships between governments and private companies and the implications of this commercial provision for equitable and democratic schooling in Australia.Read moreRead less