The new super science of bioinformatics has been given a $1.3 million boost with the launch of the The McCusker Charitable Foundation Bioinformatics Centre at Perth's The Kids for Child Health Research.
The three year funding commitment from the McCusker Charitable Foundation was today announced at the Centre's official opening by his Excellency the Governor of Western Australia Mr Malcolm McCusker and Mrs Tonya McCusker.
His Excellency the Governor of Western Australia Mr Malcolm McCusker with Mrs Tonya McCusker, their daughter Mary, and The Kids Bioinformaticians Associate Professor Kim Carter and Richard Francis.
The Kids's Acting Director Professor Moira Clay said the McCusker Bioinformatics Centre would significantly accelerate research into child health diseases and disorders.
"Bioinformatics is a 21st century super science that has emerged out of the human genome project and now underpins our ability to analyse an unprecedented amount of data quickly," Professor Clay said.
"When we are searching for clues about the causes of the disease, it's like searching for a needle in a haystack.
"Our bioinformaticians bring together a huge knowledge in computer and biological sciences to write the programs that can analyse millions of pieces of data. What used to take years, now takes days or weeks."
"We are thrilled that the McCusker Charitable Foundation recognised the potential of this new science and have funded this important capacity for Western Australia."
The funding will support the employment of three bioinformaticians, two PhD scholarships and two honours scholarships in this emerging field.
"Our bioinformaticians are already working on complex analyses with our children's leukaemia and autism researchers, helping to unpack the causes and contributors to those conditions," Professor Clay said.
"This Centre will mean that Western Australia not only keeps up, but can help set the pace in a science that draws on the knowledge that emerged from the human genome project and accelerate many aspects of child health research."
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BIOINFORMATICS - THE NEW SUPER SCIENCE CAPACITY
The nature of scientific research has changed dramatically over the last two decades. Major factors driving change have been the completion of the Human Genome Project and the computing and internet revolutions.
Modern science means a single experiment can generate millions of results, which need to be analysed alongside the wealth of existing data. Today, the majority of scientific research projects cannot succeed without the intervention of advanced computing.
With an ever increasing reliance on the computational analysis of research data, a new research field has arisen to fill the void - Bioinformatics.
Bioinformatics is a cutting edge research field that uses computing technology, mathematics and statistics to answer biological research questions. It allows us to unpack the complex interactions between our genes and the various environmental factors that may influence how genes are switched on (or off) and how they interact within pathways to cause disease.
Bioinformatics underpins how we can determine whether children with a certain genetic profile are actually really at risk for a specific disease and whether environmental factors alter those risks. Bioinformatics dramatically accelerates our ability to sort out the real associations from the "noise".
The Kids was able to secure seed funding through a State Government science program to launch our Bioinformatics capabilities and we now have recognised expertise in this area within Western Australia.
The funding from the McCusker Charitable Foundation builds on this beginning and ensures the retention of current staff and to recruitment and training of new bioinformaticians.