ACRF Biomolecular Resource Facility

The ACRF Biomolecular Resource Facility at The John Curtin School of Medical Research at The Australian National University provided resources for investigating the molecular aspects of cancer biology and researchers with access to new technologies that are not readily available to individual research groups.

Each piece of ACRF funded equipment supported multiple cancer research applications and in combination present an extremely powerful analytical engine which will greatly facilitate every aspect of cancer research at ANU.

This facility, officially opened on August 28, 2006, provided the means to identify genes that predispose individuals to cancer, identify proteins and genes involved in the formation of a cancerous cell and decipher processes that determine its subsequent proliferation and spread or its rejection by the immune system. It also allowed the analysis of how the body deals with cancer causing agents and with drugs used in cancer therapy.

The equipment that has been funded allows high throughput genotyping, comparative analysis of gene transcript levels using variously formatted microarrays and quantitative PCR, identification of protein complexes and protein modification in signaling and other cellular events with mass spectrometry, rapid cytometric analysis for cellular phenotyping and the determination of epigenetic events involved in nuclear structure and function.

In summary, the funded equipment provided immediate access to recent technological advances that aid in addressing many unanswered questions in cancer biology.

Chief Investigators: Professor Chris Parish, Dr M Frances Shannon, Prof Philip Board, Prof Chris Goodnow, Dr David Tremethick, Dr Douglas Taupin, Dr Hilary Warren, Prof Ian Ramshaw, Prof Robert Saint & Dr Anneke Blackburn