Evolution and function of mammalian sex chromosomes. Research on iconic Australian mammals has profoundly reshaped our understanding of reproductive biology and sex chromosome evolution. In this project we combine unique expertise, international collaboration and novel genetic information about Australia's unique egg-laying mammals (echidna and platypus) to investigate major aspects of reproduction. This work will address fundamental aspects of sex chromosome biology and advance our understandin ....Evolution and function of mammalian sex chromosomes. Research on iconic Australian mammals has profoundly reshaped our understanding of reproductive biology and sex chromosome evolution. In this project we combine unique expertise, international collaboration and novel genetic information about Australia's unique egg-laying mammals (echidna and platypus) to investigate major aspects of reproduction. This work will address fundamental aspects of sex chromosome biology and advance our understanding of mammalian reproduction. The knowledge gained will have application in captive breeding and conservation of these extraordinary Australian mammals. The project also provides opportunity to train research students in cutting edge molecular biology and informatics.Read moreRead less
Spatio-temporal activation of genes in cells and mice. This project aims to develop novel genetic methods and instrumentation for the local, rapid and reversible activation of genes in cells and mice. This project expects to generate highly innovative light- and sound-based technologies that will permit to study living systems on the gene-level with unprecedented precision. Expected outcomes include new research and technology capacity to broadly address fundamental biological questions and to c ....Spatio-temporal activation of genes in cells and mice. This project aims to develop novel genetic methods and instrumentation for the local, rapid and reversible activation of genes in cells and mice. This project expects to generate highly innovative light- and sound-based technologies that will permit to study living systems on the gene-level with unprecedented precision. Expected outcomes include new research and technology capacity to broadly address fundamental biological questions and to create new applied processes. This project intends to provide significant benefits, such as enhanced knowledge generation, multidisciplinary training opportunities and patentable technologies.Read moreRead less
Targeting the genome and epigenome of the exercising skeletal muscle. This project aims is to discover epigenetic and genetic biomarkers that predict fitness changes, following exercise intervention. Individuals are remarkably variable in their responses to exercise interventions, and a large portion of these responses is attributed to genetics, and epigenetics (the effect of the environment on the expression of genes). Using controlled exercise training as a model, this project expects to disco ....Targeting the genome and epigenome of the exercising skeletal muscle. This project aims is to discover epigenetic and genetic biomarkers that predict fitness changes, following exercise intervention. Individuals are remarkably variable in their responses to exercise interventions, and a large portion of these responses is attributed to genetics, and epigenetics (the effect of the environment on the expression of genes). Using controlled exercise training as a model, this project expects to discover epigenetic and genomic markers in skeletal muscle predictive of exercise adaptations. This will contribute to the development and future delivery of targeted and personalised exercise programs for the general population. This has important implications for improving health in the Australian population.Read moreRead less
Can exercise slow down the epigenetic ageing clock? The aged population accounts for a significant amount of Australia’s health budget. This project aims to uncover novel molecular biomarkers that slow the ageing process and maintain good health for longer. This project aims to use innovative epigenetic analysis to study the molecular ‘clocks’ of young and old populations and to test whether exercise can slow the ageing process. This is expected to lead to a better understanding of how humans re ....Can exercise slow down the epigenetic ageing clock? The aged population accounts for a significant amount of Australia’s health budget. This project aims to uncover novel molecular biomarkers that slow the ageing process and maintain good health for longer. This project aims to use innovative epigenetic analysis to study the molecular ‘clocks’ of young and old populations and to test whether exercise can slow the ageing process. This is expected to lead to a better understanding of how humans respond to changing environments during their lifetime, and will underpin the development of evidence-based personalised health interventions to keep Australians healthier for longer.
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Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210101669
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$430,485.00
Summary
Polycomb Group Proteins - Shaping Chromatin Architecture to Silence Genes . This project aims to address the fundamental question of how genes are switched off by studying a group of molecular off-switches, the polycomb group proteins. The project is expected to generate new knowledge in the area of gene regulation and epigenetics by combining innovative methods of structural biology and cell biology in an interdisciplinary way. The expected outcomes include a more complete picture of the molecu ....Polycomb Group Proteins - Shaping Chromatin Architecture to Silence Genes . This project aims to address the fundamental question of how genes are switched off by studying a group of molecular off-switches, the polycomb group proteins. The project is expected to generate new knowledge in the area of gene regulation and epigenetics by combining innovative methods of structural biology and cell biology in an interdisciplinary way. The expected outcomes include a more complete picture of the molecular mechanisms that regulate gene expression and the development of novel methods to image the genome. This should provide significant benefits, such as facilitated development of gene editing tools and regulatory circuits for synthetic biology, as well as novel capabilities to image the genome at high resolution Read moreRead less
Improving the efficiency of CRISPR gene editing in cells. Human red blood cells are well-characterised and the globin gene locus is a model system for the study of gene regulation. Gene editing technologies and delivery tools are evolving rapidly and the globin gene locus is the perfect model for gene editing optimisation. This collaboration between UNSW Sydney and CSL aims to bring together our combined expertise and new technologies to develop an optimal platform for genetic modification in a ....Improving the efficiency of CRISPR gene editing in cells. Human red blood cells are well-characterised and the globin gene locus is a model system for the study of gene regulation. Gene editing technologies and delivery tools are evolving rapidly and the globin gene locus is the perfect model for gene editing optimisation. This collaboration between UNSW Sydney and CSL aims to bring together our combined expertise and new technologies to develop an optimal platform for genetic modification in a red blood cell line. Simultaneously, this project aims to generate fundamental insights into mechanisms of human gene regulation. The technological and biological outcomes of this project will be of benefit for future gene editing applications.Read moreRead less
Control of vascular form and fate by a novel pre-mRNA splicing mechanism . Vertebrate vasculature forms elaborate, branched networks essential for life. As developing vessels permeate tissues and organs, dynamic and spatiotemporally regulated cellular signalling determines the fate, patterning and distribution of new vascular networks. This project follows the recent discovery of a mechanism whereby RNA diversification through alternative splicing controls complex signalling patterns in forming ....Control of vascular form and fate by a novel pre-mRNA splicing mechanism . Vertebrate vasculature forms elaborate, branched networks essential for life. As developing vessels permeate tissues and organs, dynamic and spatiotemporally regulated cellular signalling determines the fate, patterning and distribution of new vascular networks. This project follows the recent discovery of a mechanism whereby RNA diversification through alternative splicing controls complex signalling patterns in forming vessels. This project investigates this molecular mechanism in embryo and tissue development. The project will produce fundamental knowledge in RNA diversification, vascular fate, growth and cell signalling. New knowledge generated may lead to new approaches in stem cell biology, tissue engineering and regenerative biology.Read moreRead less
Hippo signalling control of transcription in lymphatic vascular development. Lymphatic vasculature forms complex, branched networks present in almost all vertebrate tissues and organs. Signalling in lymphatic endothelial cells determines the fate, structure and function of these complex and essential networks. This project follows our recent discovery of a major role for the Hippo signalling pathway in lymphatic vascular development. It aims to investigate how Hippo signalling regulates essenti ....Hippo signalling control of transcription in lymphatic vascular development. Lymphatic vasculature forms complex, branched networks present in almost all vertebrate tissues and organs. Signalling in lymphatic endothelial cells determines the fate, structure and function of these complex and essential networks. This project follows our recent discovery of a major role for the Hippo signalling pathway in lymphatic vascular development. It aims to investigate how Hippo signalling regulates essential target genes that drive lymphatic development. The project expects to generate fundamental knowledge in vascular signalling, transcription and the control of vascular network growth and expansion. Outcomes may provide significant benefits in new approaches in stem cell biology, tissue engineering and regenerative biology. Read moreRead less
Unlocking the secrets of metabolic variation in a highly diverse bacterium. This project aims to explore metabolic diversity of Klebsiella pneumoniae, a bacterium relevant to the agricultural, veterinary, medical and biotechnology industries. It is expected to reveal significant insights into the biology of this diverse organism via an innovative combination of DNA sequence analyses and metabolic modelling. Expected outcomes include 4500 novel metabolic models and a novel population metabolic fr ....Unlocking the secrets of metabolic variation in a highly diverse bacterium. This project aims to explore metabolic diversity of Klebsiella pneumoniae, a bacterium relevant to the agricultural, veterinary, medical and biotechnology industries. It is expected to reveal significant insights into the biology of this diverse organism via an innovative combination of DNA sequence analyses and metabolic modelling. Expected outcomes include 4500 novel metabolic models and a novel population metabolic framework. This should provide major benefits for understanding bacterial ecology and evolution, and for future studies seeking to optimise industrial processes or prevent disease. It will also directly contribute to building Australia’s capacity in computational biology- a key driver of biotechnology innovation.Read moreRead less
Imaging mammalian organogenesis with adaptive optics. Optical and computational barriers to analysing cell movement have limited our understanding of mammalian organogenesis. We have built a super-resolution spinning disk confocal microscope with adaptive optics and developed machine learning-based image processing and cell segmentation workflows to overcome these long-standing barriers. We propose to combine these cutting-edge live imaging and analysis approaches to characterise the role of cel ....Imaging mammalian organogenesis with adaptive optics. Optical and computational barriers to analysing cell movement have limited our understanding of mammalian organogenesis. We have built a super-resolution spinning disk confocal microscope with adaptive optics and developed machine learning-based image processing and cell segmentation workflows to overcome these long-standing barriers. We propose to combine these cutting-edge live imaging and analysis approaches to characterise the role of cell movement in mammalian organ formation and develop advanced cell segmentation and tracking methods for use in the scientific community. We anticipate this project will generate fundamental insights into how cells interact to build complex organs.Read moreRead less