In a major scientific leap, University of Queensland researchers have created a quantum microscope that can reveal biological structures that would otherwise be impossible to see.

This paves the way for applications in biotechnology, and could extend far beyond this into areas ranging from navigation to medical imaging.

The microscope is powered by the science of quantum entanglement, an effect Einstein described as “spooky interactions at a distance”.

Professor Warwick Bowen, from UQ’s Quantum Optics Lab and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems (EQUS), said it was the first entanglement-based sensor with performance beyond the best possible existing technology.

“This breakthrough will spark all sorts of new technologies – from better navigation systems to better MRI machines, you name it,” Professor Bowen said.

“Entanglement is thought to lie at the heart of a quantum revolution.

“We’ve finally demonstrated that sensors that use it can supersede existing, non-quantum technology.

“This is exciting – it’s the first proof of the paradigm-changing potential of entanglement for sensing.

“And it’s thanks to the PhD research of Dr Catxere Casacio from our Queensland Quantum Optics Lab.”

Australia’s Quantum Technologies Roadmap sees quantum sensors spurring a new wave of technological innovation in healthcare, engineering, transport and resources.

A major success of the team’s quantum microscope was its ability to catapult over a ‘hard barrier’ in traditional light-based microscopy.

“The best light microscopes use bright lasers that are billions of times brighter than the sun,” Professor Bowen said.

“Fragile biological systems like a human cell can only survive a short time in them and this is a major roadblock.

“The quantum entanglement in our microscope provides 35 per cent improved clarity without destroying the cell, allowing us to see minute biological structures that would otherwise be invisible.

“The benefits are obvious – from a better understanding of living systems, to improved diagnostic technologies.”

Professor Bowen said there were potentially boundless opportunities for quantum entanglement in technology.

“Entanglement is set to revolutionise computing, communication and sensing,” he said.

“Absolutely secure communication was demonstrated some decades ago as the first demonstration of absolute quantum advantage over conventional technologies.

“Computing faster than any possible conventional computer was demonstrated by Google two years ago, as the first demonstration of absolute advantage in computing.

“The last piece in the puzzle was sensing, and we’ve now closed that gap.

“This opens the door for some wide-ranging technological revolutions.”

The research was supported by the United States Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Australian Research Council. It is published in Nature (DOI:  10.1038/s41587-021-03528-w).

Media: Professor Warwick Bowen, wbowen@physics.uq.edu.au, +61 404 618 722; Dominic Jarvis, dominic.jarvis@uq.edu.au, +61 413 334 924.

Scientists are investigating whether rising global temperatures may lead to more stillbirths, saying further study is needed on the subject as climates change.

Researchers from The University of Queensland’s School of Earth and Environmental Science and the Mater Research Institute reviewed 12 studies, finding extreme ambient temperature exposures throughout pregnancy appeared to increase risk of stillbirth, particularly late in pregnancy.

UQ PhD candidate Jessica Sexton said while this was very early research, it did show a possible link between stillbirth and high and low ambient temperature exposures during pregnancy.

“Overall, risk of stillbirth appears to increase when the ambient temperature is below 15 degrees Celcius and above 23.4 degrees Celsius, with the highest risk being above 29.4 degrees Celsius,” Ms Sexton said.

“An estimated 17 to 19 per cent of stillbirths are potentially attributable to chronic exposure to extreme hot and cold temperatures during pregnancy.

“And, as the world’s temperatures rise due to climate change, this link will potentially increase stillbirth likelihood globally.

“But these findings are from the very limited research currently available, so expectant mothers shouldn’t be anxious – there’s still plenty of follow-up research that needs to happen.”

Environmental scientist Dr Scott Lieske said the findings suggested that as temperatures rise, women in the developing world would feel the effects..

“More than two million stillbirths occur every year around the world, with the most occurring in low resource settings,” Dr Lieske said.

“Not only are these poorer countries already affected disproportionately by stillbirth, they’re now going to be disproportionately affected by climate change as well.

“If the link apparent in this research bears out upon further scrutiny, the majority of new stillbirths will occur invariably in the nations already suffering the most.”

Professor Vicki Flenady, Director of the Centre of Research Excellence in Stillbirth (Stillbirth CRE) at Mater Research, said the research highlighted the importance of research to reduce global stillbirth rates.

“Even in 2021, a stillbirth occurs somewhere in the world every 16 seconds,” Professor Flenady said.

“Stillbirth has a traumatic long-lasting impact on women and their families, who often endure profound psychological suffering as well as stigma, even in high-income countries.

“Here in Australia, stillbirth is still a major public health problem.

“As outlined in my recent research, in 2015 Australia’s late gestation stillbirth rate was over 30 per cent higher than that of the best-performing countries globally.

“Further work is needed to understand the role that temperature plays in keeping women and babies safe during pregnancy.

“To fully understand the effects of maternal exposure to ambient temperatures and stillbirth, future studies should focus on the biological mechanisms involved and contributing factors, in addition to improving measurement of ambient temperature exposure.

“In the meantime, we would encourage pregnant women to talk to their healthcare providers about staying safe during the cold days of winter and hot days of summer.”

The research is published in Environmental Research (DOI: j.envres.2021.111037).

It was conducted with the input of the above researchers, as well as Dr Christine Andrews, Professor Sailesh Kumar and SEES Winter Research Program researcher Selina Carruthers.

Media: Jessica Sexton, jessica.sexton@uq.edu.au, +61 427 315 750; Dr Scott Lieske, scott.lieske@uq.edu.au, +61 3365 3979; Professor Vicki Flenady, vicki.flenady@mater.uq.edu.au, +61 19664956; Margaret de Silva (Comms), margaret.desilva@mater.uq.edu.au, +61 492 934 845; Dominic Jarvis (Comms), dominic.jarvis@uq.edu.au, +61 413 334 924.

In a world first, a satellite-based global coral reef bleaching monitoring system will scan the Earth’s oceans for coral-killing bleaching events in real-time.

The Allen Coral Atlas project, an international research collaboration featuring University of Queensland scientists, are using unprecedented detailed habitat maps of all global coral reefs – over 230,000 of them – to detect reef bleaching anywhere in the world.

Dr Chris Roelfsema, from UQ’s Remote Sensing Research Centre, said the digital atlas tool was desperately needed, given the state of the world’s coral reefs.

“The current prognosis for the world’s coral reefs is bleak,” Dr Roelfsema said.

“With ever-warming, more polluted and acidic oceans, models predict that 70 per cent to 90 per cent of coral reefs will be lost by 2050.

“Until now, there hasn’t been a global system in place to monitor coral reefs under the stresses that may lead to their deaths.

“The Atlas team have now created this incredible tool, which monitors the global health of coral reefs and bringing new hope to support conservation efforts.

“The Allen Coral Atlas will allow us to offer critically important information to scientists, decision and policymakers, something that’s urgently needed for rapid response and conservation.”

Previously, only disparate data sets and maps that were available to scientists and policymakers.

The Allen Coral Atlas allows anyone with internet access to monitor and download data on every major reef globally at never-before-seen detail, across time.

Satellites detect variations in reef brightness by using high-resolution satellite imagery powered by an advanced algorithm indicating whether reefs are under stress or resilient to marine heatwaves.

“This monitoring capability will help us to see, where and to what extent coral bleaching is likely to be occurring as well as where it isn’t bleaching so we can identify resilient reefs,” Dr Roelfsema said.

“The platform can observe where corals are bleaching throughout the world, ranging from no bleaching to severe.

“Once we know where this is happening, governments and NGOs on the ground can swoop in to take action sooner, rather than later.”

The project began in 2018, when a new generation of cube satellites operated by Planet, allowed for four-metre-per-pixel mosaic image of the world’s coral reefs to be assembled.

Satellite data was then cleaned up via the Carnegie Institution – Asner Lab, before UQ scientists used the data to create the first global map that represent coral and algae, seagrass, sand, rubble and rock.

“This is just the first global version of our monitoring system, with the partnership intending to improve and expand it to include a broader range of impacts on reefs such as land-sea pollutants and sediments,” Dr Roelfsema said.

“This first, truly global reef monitoring system is simply a drop in the bucket for what is to come.”

The Allen Coral Atlas, named for the late Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen, is funded by Vulcan Inc. and directed by Arizona State University, and was developed through a unique partnership between UQ, Arizona State University, National Geographic Society, Planet, and Vulcan.

Image above left: UQ-created reef habitat maps, with the superimposed blue colour representing coral bleaching. Credit: Allen Coral Atlas. Image above right: bleached corals in Hawaii. Credit: Greg Asner.

A video interview with Dr Chris Roelfsema is available here, and a social media toolkit is available here.

Media: Dr Chris Roelfsema, c.roelfsema@uq.edu.au, +61 400 207 401; Professor Stuart Phinn, s.phinn@uq.edu.au, +61 401 012 996; Dominic Jarvis, dominic.jarvis@uq.edu.au, +61 413 334 924.

Scientists have visualised and investigated a key molecular pathway that could one day help treat inflammation, diabetes, cancer, infectious diseases and potentially even COVID-19.

The international collaboration, featuring University of Queensland researchers, isolated and studied the MyD88 molecule and found the missing link between immune cell receptors and the body’s inflammation response.

UQ’s Professor Bostjan Kobe said that he and his colleagues noticed, a few years ago, a gap in understanding what activated inflammation within the body.

“Our immune system triggers inflammation as a protective measure when pathogens or bacteria enter our bodies, but sometimes this defence goes awry and can worsen how our body copes with the disease,” Professor Kobe said

“We knew that signals sent from the receptors on the surface of immune cells led to inflammation in the body but didn’t understand how this occurred at a molecular level.

“Now we’ve scrutinised and visualised an incredibly important protein called MyD88.

“This is a key signalling molecule in immunity pathways; its job is to pass a message from the immune cell receptors for the body to trigger an immune response.

“While immunity is clearly needed to fight against pathogens, sometimes the immune system can trigger falsely or hyperactivate an inflammatory response even once the pathogen is gone.”

By better understanding how to block this pathway, researchers could be able to treat diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, cancer and even COVID-19.

Griffith University’s Dr Thomas Ve said the research was achieved thanks to advancements in molecular visualisation and analysis technology.

“Just a few years ago, ‘conventional’ techniques such as X-ray crystallography weren’t able to study these types of proteins,” Dr Ve said.

“We’ve had to develop and utilise some cutting edge technology, in this case microcrystal electron diffraction and X-ray free electron lasers.

“This is one of the first times microcrystal electron diffraction has been used to determine a new protein structure in this way.

“And this was one of the first comparisons of these emerging structural biology techniques.

“In the end, both of these incredible technologies gave us the world’s first clear image of this critical inflammatory target.”

The research has been published in Nature Communications (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22590-6).

The study collaborative study was conducted by the research groups of Professor Bostjan Kobe, Dr Thomas Ve, Dr Hongyi Xu (Stockholm University) and Dr Connie Darmanin (La Trobe University).

Research funding was received from the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Swedish Research Council, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and the SciLifeLab technology development project.

Media: Professor Bostjan Kobe, b.kobe@uq.edu.au, +61 407 009 170; Dominic Jarvis, dominic.jarvis@uq.edu.au, +61 413 334 924; Deborah Marshall, d.marshall@griffith.edu.au, +61 7 3735 5245.

University of Queensland scientists have published the clinical trial data confirming their molecular clamp-stabilised vaccine technology was safe and potentially effective.

The vaccine candidate developed by the team last year did not progress through to Phase 2/3 clinical trials, due to cross reactivity caused by the protein fragment used to stabilise the clamp design.

Initial data from the clinical trial conducted in Brisbane was initially released last December and has now been published following peer review in the prestigious Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Project co-leader Associate Professor Keith Chappell said 99 per cent of vaccinated participants in the study produced a neutralising immune response.

“In 75 per cent of vaccine recipients it was above the average in recovered patients, and in 38 per cent it was more than twice the average for recovered patients,” he said.

“Adverse events were comparable to those in the saline placebo, with the only exceptions being mild injection site pain and tenderness.”

Project Director Professor Trent Munro said the paper also discussed the cross-reactivity in HIV diagnostics that led to the decision not to proceed into later stage clinical studies.

“The design of the original molecular clamp excluded known antibody binding sites in order to reduce the potential, but unfortunately the antibodies registered a low response on some highly sensitive HIV tests.”

Project co-leader Professor Paul Young said the 2020 vaccine candidate was not an option for Australia’s current vaccine rollout.

“The team understood the decision in December to shift the focus to other candidates that were showing promise.

“Some of these vaccines are now in market and need to remain the immediate priority.

“This study has strongly validated the Molecular Clamp technology as a promising rapid response strategy for vaccine development.

“The team is continuing to work on alternative clamp constructs that could be used to respond to COVID-19 in the future or other viral diseases.”

The data published relates to the clinical trial involving 120 participants aged 18 to 55, 96 of which received the vaccine candidate.

Collaborators on the clinical trial included CSL/Seqirus, Australian National University, Doherty Institute, CSIRO, Patheon, Cytiva and Nucleus Network.

In addition to support from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the Queensland Government provided $10 million Advance Queensland funding for the vaccine project last year, the Federal Government contributed $5 million and more than $10 million was provided by philanthropic and other donors.

The research is published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Media: UQ Communication; communications@uq.edu.au; +61 7 33651120.