Brisbane researchers have synthetically re-created Zika virus in the laboratory – a breakthrough that will help to understand the virus and the fetal brain defects it causes.

Canadian health and wellness company PreveCeutical Medical Inc. (PMI) has signed a research and option agreement with UniQuest, The University of Queensland’s main commercialisation company, to develop stabilised natural and synthetic peptides from scorpion venom for immune-boosting applications.

PMI has an interest in the preventative health sector and is developing products derived from Caribbean blue scorpion venom for the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical market.

This includes the CellB9 Immune System Booster product, which contains peptides that are obtained from the Caribbean blue scorpion.

In collaboration with UniQuest, PMI aims to identify the active peptides that provide immune-boosting and tumor-selective painting properties, develop synthetic versions of the active peptides and ultimately identify other therapeutic applications.

UniQuest CEO Dr Dean Moss said the project was based on the research of Dr Harendra (Harry) Parekh, of UQ School of Pharmacy, who will be collaborating with PMI.

“UQ’s School of Pharmacy has unique intellectual property in stabilising therapeutic peptides and is in a position to add value by extending PreveCeutical’s product line,” Dr Moss said.

“This agreement exemplifies the quality of UQ’s intellectual property and the willingness of its researchers to engage globally with industry to develop new products through university-industry collaborations.”

PMI Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Van Deventer said working with UniQuest and UQ presented unique opportunities to develop products that promoted health and wellness.

“Wellness products developed from scorpion venom-derived natural and synthetic peptides have the potential to be applied across a number of therapeutic applications including boosting the immune system,” Mr Van Deventer said.

The agreement provides PMI with an option to negotiate for a license to use UniQuest’s intellectual property for the commercialisation of blue scorpion venom-derived products.

Media: Danielle Koopman, UniQuest: d.koopman@uniquest.com.au, + 61 (0) 409 767 199; UQ Communications, communications@uq.edu.au; +61 7 3346 0561

About UniQuest

UniQuest is the main commercialisation company of The University of Queensland (UQ), specialising in the commercialisation of intellectual property, research outcomes and expertise. UniQuest delivers commercialisation outcomes which provide impact for business, the environment, global communities and society. UniQuest benchmarks in the top 10 percent globally for university-based technology transfer. UQ innovations licenced by UniQuest are now generating annual sales of more than $US3 billion. For example, UQ superconductor technology, through licensing arrangements, is used in two-thirds of the world’s MRIs and more than 80 million doses of the life-saving Gardasil® cervical cancer vaccine, patented by UniQuest in 1991, have been distributed throughout 121 countries, including 72 developing countries.

Research aimed at better understanding and ensuring the survival of Australia’s endangered mahogany gliders has been bolstered by a generous donation from the late Phil Tow, a UQ Science alum.

The $10,000 donation will fund studies to improve our understanding of the needs of, and care for, this iconic Australian species thereby improving their survival and captive breeding programs.

The Manager of UQ’s Native Wildlife Teaching and Research Facility, Trish O’Hara, said the donation would positively impact the University’s work towards ensuring the survival of the endangered mahogany glider.

“The University of Queensland is proud to be one of the institutions breeding this species to ensure their continued survival,” Ms O’Hara said.

“The major threats for this species include habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation.”

The mahogany glider is an elusive and silent gliding marsupial, which was first described in 1883, but not observed in the wild until 1989.

UQ School of Agriculture and Food Sciences researcher Dr Julia Hoy and Ms O’Hara are conducting several mahogany glider research projects on microchip-automated husbandry, and nutrition.

“Like most captive wildlife, the mahogany gliders maintained at UQ are already implanted with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) microchips for identification purposes,” Dr Hoy said.

“These microchips can be linked with automated equipment such as commercially available pet feeders and doors to provide an extensive and unpredictable variety of food, enrichment and access to space on an individual animal basis, to more accurately replicate aspects of the natural environment.

“If the study animals successfully use the microchip-automated feeders and doors, this will be the first recorded use of these commercially available devices with mahogany gliders.”

Dr Hoy said the research would provide valuable ‘proof-of-concept’ information that could have broad impact for captive and free-living wildlife.

“Using microchip-automated technology to provide released wildlife with short-term access to supplementary feed and areas of refuge from predators, while also monitoring populations should improve the success of wildlife reintroduction programs,” she said.

In a second study, the researchers hope to improve understanding of mahogany glider nutrition.

Ms O’Hara said the species had a tendency to become obese in captivity, emphasising the importance of the planned research to determine their specific nutritional requirements.

The project will compare the current mahogany glider diet at UQ, other zoo diets, and a commercial sugar glider diet to ensure the species will receive the highest quality, most suitable diet.

This is an example of the type of research which UQ will undertake at the Hidden Vale UQ Wildlife Centre, a multi-million dollar teaching and research facility generously funded by the Turner Family Foundation.

Information collected during this research will be shared with other zoos currently maintaining mahogany gliders to ensure a consistent and appropriate diet across institutions.

Ensuring the survival of native Australian species is a priority for UQ’s Native Wildlife Teaching and Research Facility. To find out more about how you can support the work of the UQ Native Wildlife Teaching and Research Facility please contact UQ Faculty of Science Philanthropy Manager Julia Keith j.keith2@uq.edu.au, +61 7 3346 3143.

A University of Queensland and World Health Organisation (WHO) research collaboration has found that many of the most common causes of childhood death are preventable.

UQ Children’s Health and Environment Program Director and WHO Collaborating Centre for Children’s Health and Environment Director Professor Peter Sly said an unhealthy environment lead to the death of 1.7 million children under five in 2012.

“Access to safe water and clean cooking fuels are interventions that can reduce child deaths from conditions like diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia,” Professor Sly said.

“More than half a million child deaths each year from respiratory infections such as pneumonia are associated with environmental exposures including indoor air pollution, ambient air pollution, and second-hand tobacco smoke.

“Exposure can start in the womb then continues if a child is exposed to air pollution and second hand smoke in childhood.”

Professor Sly and his team assisted in coordinating two WHO reports.

Inheriting a Sustainable World: Atlas on Children’s Health and the Environment is an overview of the current state of children’s environmental health globally, and examines more than 10 years of data on topics including obesity, poverty, pollution, e-waste and urbanisation.

Don’t pollute my future! The impact of the environment on children’s health is a summary of WHO data on the contribution of environmental factors to children’s health outcomes.

Professor Sly said the reports also featured morbidity and the impact of early life exposures on the development of disease in later life.

“Children are one of the most vulnerable populations,” he said. “They are sensitive to environmental exposures both before they are born and during early childhood.”

“They are developing rapidly and their bodies don’t process exposures in the same way as adults so they are at a higher risk of harm.”

Children’s Health and Environment Program Coordinator Fiona Goldizen said children’s health could not be approached through one sector.

“Rather than looking at the transport sector, the education sector or chemical regulations in isolation, we need to have multi-sector action and a holistic approach to children’s health,” she said.

Contact: Bernadette O’Connor, bernadette.oconnor@uq.edu.au, +61 7 3365 5118, 0431 533 209.