Media

Australian dental health set to improve with $31.6m funding boost - Media Release, Friday 7 August 2009. Australians will benefit from improved dental health due to the $31.6m Federal funding for a new Oral Health Cooperative Research Centre announced today. The new CRC is set to discover and develop new preventive products and treatments for oral diseases (e.g. dental decay, periodontitis or gum disease) which currently cost Australians some $6 billion a year. It will further the work of the existing CRC for Oral Health Science located at Bio21 Institute and the School of Dental Science, University of Melbourne which has developed Anti-decay technology being used in food and drink and oral care products around the world.

A combined tooth-venom arsenal revealed as key to Komodo Dragon's hunting strategy - Media Release, 19 May 2009. An international team led by Dr Bryan Grieg Fry from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne have published a study showing that the effectiveness of the Komodo Dragon bite is a combination of highly specialized serrated teeth and venom. The authors also dismiss the widely accepted theory that prey die from septicemia caused by toxic bacteria living in the dragon's mouth.

Tentacles of venom: new study reveals all octopuses are venomous - Media Release, Wednesday 15 April 2009. Dr Bryan Grieg Fry and team from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne and scientists from University of Brussels and Museum Victoria have published a study in the Journal of Molecular Evolution that shows that all octopuses and cuttlefish, and some squid are venomous. The work indicates that they all share a common, ancient venomous ancestor and highlights new avenues for drug discovery.

From disease to aeronautics: Centre earns extra 9.8 million for free radical research - Media Release, Wednesday 25 February 2009. The Australian Research Council (ARC) has approved an extension to grants funding for the Free Radical Chemistry Centre, based at Bio21 Institute, that will allow its research to continue to 2013 and beyond. 

Hoarding rainwater could "dramatically" expand range of dengue-fever mosquito - Media Release, Tuesday 27 January 2009. Dr Michael Kearney of the Department of Zoology, University of Melbourne and Professor Ary Hoffmann from CESAR, Bio21 Institute and the University of Melbourne have developed a new model to predict the impact of climate change on the dengue fever-carrying mosquito Aedes aegypti in Australia - information that could help limit its spread.

Fifty-two Young Science Ambassadors who flew over South Magnetic Pole, Antarctica end their science education week at University of Melbourne - Media Release, Wednesday 21 January 2009. As part of their week at the University of Melbourne, Bio21 Institute hosted 52 year 12 science students as part of the Royal Society of Victoria's Young Science Ambassadors' program. The visit included a short tour of the Institute, the NMR Facility and a presentation by Sally Gras, giving them an insight into her career, the breadth of her research and its application in today's society.

Radical discovery solves an 80 year old mystery - Media Release, 21 October 2008.  For 80 years the Grignard reaction has been used to make important chemicals including anti-cancer drugs, without scientists knowing exactly how the reaction worked.