Proteomics powerhouse

Western Australia has the opportunity to become a powerhouse for protein research thanks to Proteomics International, a recently formed company based at Murdoch's State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre.

"Proteomics is a technique to look at all the proteins of living cells and how they interact," said Dr Richard Lipscombe, Managing Director of Proteomics International.

"It evolved from the Human Genome Project, where scientists were identifying the genes but not investigating their functions.

"Proteomics is a step forward from this, giving us the ability to investigate whole systems and organisms, and the combined power of the genes together."

Proteomics International, which established itself at Murdoch last September, uses the most powerful equipment in the State and is one of only a handful of such facilities in Australia.

"We have started by servicing current biomedical, agricultural and veterinary research projects at Murdoch University, and our emphasis is on creating new intellectual property" said Dr Lipscombe.

"We are no longer dealing with laboratory benches for science. Our expertise uses mass spectrometry and superfast computers and is applicable to almost any biological problem from salinity to disease in the community.

"Proteomics expertise speeds up the retrieval of results giving answers in minutes that previously took days or even weeks.

"This opens up lots of exciting opportunities and we hope to exploit the increasing global demand for these techniques, especially throughout Singapore, Taiwan and Korea."

For more information about Proteomics International:

Telephone: (08) 9214 3886

Email: info@proteomics.com.au

www.proteomics.com.au