Biotechnology and Biomedical Science

The battle between plant immunity and fungal infections: A microscopic arms race.

By Georgia Barrington-Smith & Dr Rebecca Duncan The agricultural industry is constantly under threat from fungal pathogens that infect important plant crops like tomatoes, bananas, and cotton. In response, plants have developed new defence mechanisms, fuelling an ongoing arms race against these invaders as they, in turn, develop new ways to circumvent these defences. How […]

The battle between plant immunity and fungal infections: A microscopic arms race. Read More »

Fight against the fungus: Understanding the relationship between fungal pathogens and plant infection.

By Georgia Barrington-Smith & Dr Rebecca Duncan Ensuring our ongoing food availability in the face of a rising global population is a critical challenge. Infectious plant diseases pose a significant threat to our agricultural food production, costing the global economy around $220 billion USD each year. One particularly destructive disease is ‘blast disease’, which targets

Fight against the fungus: Understanding the relationship between fungal pathogens and plant infection. Read More »

Tiny solutions to a big problem: Targeted delivery of anti-cancer drugs using pH-responsive nanoparticles

By Georgia Barrington-Smith & Dr Rebecca Duncan Cancer continues to be one of the leading causes of death worldwide, claiming the lives of millions of people each year. One of the first-line treatments of cancer is chemotherapy: powerful drugs that attack cancer cells and prevent their spread. Historically, the main drawback of chemotherapy drugs has

Tiny solutions to a big problem: Targeted delivery of anti-cancer drugs using pH-responsive nanoparticles Read More »

Student Research Spotlight: Mitchell Klenner

Rhenium is the key to new radiotracers for disease imaging Former AINSE Postgraduate Research Award (PGRA) Scholar Dr. Mitch Klenner, alongside a team of international collaborators including researchers from ANSTO, Curtin University and Monash University, has found a new way to synthesise large quantities of nuclear medicine to assist in the diagnosis of cancer and

Student Research Spotlight: Mitchell Klenner Read More »

Student Research Spotlight: Calina Betlazar

How do low doses of radiation affect the brain? In medicine, ionizing radiation is used both diagnostically and therapeutically – that is, to both detect and treat diseases, such as cancer, in the brain. Calina Betlazar collaborated with ANSTO Human Health and Biosciences to understand the effects of both high and low doses of radiation

Student Research Spotlight: Calina Betlazar Read More »