Can muscles tune foot stiffness to enhance efficiency of human locomotion? This project aims to understand the key role that muscles might play in supporting the arch of the foot and determine if this improves the efficiency of human walking and running. The human foot is known to act like a spring to store and return energy during walking and running. The project hypothesises that this function is enhanced by muscular contributions within the foot that act to tune the stiffness of the foot and ....Can muscles tune foot stiffness to enhance efficiency of human locomotion? This project aims to understand the key role that muscles might play in supporting the arch of the foot and determine if this improves the efficiency of human walking and running. The human foot is known to act like a spring to store and return energy during walking and running. The project hypothesises that this function is enhanced by muscular contributions within the foot that act to tune the stiffness of the foot and maximise efficiency of force production. Exploration of how foot stiffness is controlled during human movement is expected to improve our understanding of the evolution of human walking and running and contribute to improving the design of modern footwear.Read moreRead less
Testing metabolic theories in ecology. There are striking similarities in the way plants and animals take up and use energy (metabolism), despite enormous variation in size and life-style. This project will make the first experimental comparison of the predictions of the two major theories for these broad patterns. The results will significantly progress this controversial and exciting field.
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
Lively reproduction: do common molecules underlie all vertebrate live birth? Most animals lay eggs, but some (most mammals, including humans and some reptiles) give birth to live young. This project will reveal the molecules underlying the evolution of live birth and fundamental processes of early pregnancy, which potentially will lead to future developments in reproductive science.
The origins of electroreception and nocturnality in the earliest known jawed vertebrates and their bearing on vertebrate diversification. This project aims to discover primary new data to pinpoint the timing, anatomical origins and phylogenetic significance when two key sensory systems first appeared in modern vertebrates: electroreception and specialised nocturnal vision. Such abilities today allow high diversity of vertebrates to co-exist within the same geographical range, for example on trop ....The origins of electroreception and nocturnality in the earliest known jawed vertebrates and their bearing on vertebrate diversification. This project aims to discover primary new data to pinpoint the timing, anatomical origins and phylogenetic significance when two key sensory systems first appeared in modern vertebrates: electroreception and specialised nocturnal vision. Such abilities today allow high diversity of vertebrates to co-exist within the same geographical range, for example on tropical reefs or rainforest communities, through careful temporal niche partitioning where reliance on other sensory systems takes over from vision and olfaction as the principal method of prey detection. This project aims to elucidate how the modern fish diversity was shaped by such significant early evolutionary events.Read moreRead less
Combining biomechanics and movement ecology of kangaroos and relatives. Kangaroos and their relatives are unique in their body form, hopping gait and by the fact that increased speed does not come at an increased energetic cost. This project aims to build 3D musculoskeletal models to understand how muscles and tendons interact, enabling greater distances to be travelled using less energy. Further, it will use animal tracking devices and machine-learning tools to quantify movements in the wild. T ....Combining biomechanics and movement ecology of kangaroos and relatives. Kangaroos and their relatives are unique in their body form, hopping gait and by the fact that increased speed does not come at an increased energetic cost. This project aims to build 3D musculoskeletal models to understand how muscles and tendons interact, enabling greater distances to be travelled using less energy. Further, it will use animal tracking devices and machine-learning tools to quantify movements in the wild. This framework will provide novel insights into how energetics, morphology, and habitat have shaped the evolution of this unique group. This may open doors to a range of future ecological, physiological, and conservation studies and provide biological inspiration for energetically efficient robotic and assistive devices.Read moreRead less
A Universal Power Law for Growth and Diversity of Dinosaur and Bird Beaks. Universal rules that govern how animals grow have tremendous power to explain the highly complex processes of growth and development. The project investigators have recently discovered a new rule of growth that controls how teeth, horns, claws and beaks are generated in animals. This project aims to use this new rule to examine the evolution and diversity of beaks in birds and dinosaurs. By combining 3D modelling, biomech ....A Universal Power Law for Growth and Diversity of Dinosaur and Bird Beaks. Universal rules that govern how animals grow have tremendous power to explain the highly complex processes of growth and development. The project investigators have recently discovered a new rule of growth that controls how teeth, horns, claws and beaks are generated in animals. This project aims to use this new rule to examine the evolution and diversity of beaks in birds and dinosaurs. By combining 3D modelling, biomechanics and genetic analysis of bird beak development with the study of dinosaur fossils, this project expects to reveal the underlying processes controlling the growth and evolution of beaks. The anticipated goal of this project is to show the power of new theoretical models to explain the diversity of life.Read moreRead less
Using performance to predict the survival of threatened mammals. This project aims to use a new mechanistic approach to quantify how the performance of cats and dingoes interacts with habitat complexity to drive population loss of prey species—namely, how the density of obstacles and refuges contributes to prey escape. Expected outcomes include discovering how rocky and savanna habitat structure affect the survival of threatened mammals hunted by cats and dingoes. It will provide a globally cust ....Using performance to predict the survival of threatened mammals. This project aims to use a new mechanistic approach to quantify how the performance of cats and dingoes interacts with habitat complexity to drive population loss of prey species—namely, how the density of obstacles and refuges contributes to prey escape. Expected outcomes include discovering how rocky and savanna habitat structure affect the survival of threatened mammals hunted by cats and dingoes. It will provide a globally customisable model, and inform management of an important Indigenous Protected Area.Read moreRead less
Structural domains of beta-tubulin and their role in microtubule dynamics and transport. This study aims to obtain a fundamental understanding of how the structural domains of the cytoskeletal protein beta-tubulin are involved in microtubule structures during cell division and vesicular transport. Using gene-editing technology and coupling this with cell biological approaches and high-resolution cell imaging will enable detailed analysis of the role of beta-tubulin domains in these important cel ....Structural domains of beta-tubulin and their role in microtubule dynamics and transport. This study aims to obtain a fundamental understanding of how the structural domains of the cytoskeletal protein beta-tubulin are involved in microtubule structures during cell division and vesicular transport. Using gene-editing technology and coupling this with cell biological approaches and high-resolution cell imaging will enable detailed analysis of the role of beta-tubulin domains in these important cellular processes. The outcomes will include fundamental new knowledge in cell biology and lead to the development of unique biological models that can be used to understand disease.Read moreRead less
Co-ordinated Action of ATM and DNA-PK in DNA damage recognition. The aim of this project is to investigate the mechanism of repair of double straind breaks in DNA sustained after radiation damage. Specifically we will focus on two proteins ATM (mutated in the genetic disorder ataxia-telangiectasia) and DNA-PK mutated in scid mice. There two proteins recognize double straind breaks in DNA and signal this damage to the DNA repair machinery of the cell and to cell cycle checkpoints. The emphasis ....Co-ordinated Action of ATM and DNA-PK in DNA damage recognition. The aim of this project is to investigate the mechanism of repair of double straind breaks in DNA sustained after radiation damage. Specifically we will focus on two proteins ATM (mutated in the genetic disorder ataxia-telangiectasia) and DNA-PK mutated in scid mice. There two proteins recognize double straind breaks in DNA and signal this damage to the DNA repair machinery of the cell and to cell cycle checkpoints. The emphasis here will be in the relationship between the two proteins in co-ordinating the repair of breaks in DNA. This information will be important in understanding mechanisms for maintaining the integrity of the genome.Read moreRead less