Biomarker laboratory to mine the proteome

A new Biomarker Discovery Laboratory was opened today at Australian Proteomics Analysis Facility (APAF) at Macquarie University, approximately ten years after scientists including Keith Williams and Marc Wilkins initiated the science now known as 'proteomics' on that very site.

APAF chief executive Mark Baker said biomarker discovery would be the future of the field over the next ten years, allowing scientists to diagnose and predict the progression of disease. "Ninety per cent of drugs work in on 30 to 50 per cent of people," he said. "We need to understand why this is the case, and to use proteomics research to personalise medicine."

"Most non-infectious disease and disorders are caused by some gene misfunction and the products of these genes are proteins," explained Dr Geoff Grigg, retired APAF chairman. "Presently gene expression is measured indirectly by the Affymetrix chip and other assays which are rather inaccurate. The real potential of biomarkers is to increase the sensitivity [of assay systems] by orders of magnitude."

Baker said the big challenge for proteomics companies was to find a focus "because proteomics is huge".

"You're moving from a chemical moiety of four bases to 20 amino acids. There are 35,000 genes as compared to 250,000 proteins."

Vice Chancellor of Macquarie University Di Yerbury also announced that APAF's joint application with 5 cancer-related groups had been awarded $395,000 as part of the inaugural NSW Cancer Institute's infrastructure grants.

She said the Facility would be applying for a third round of government funding under the new National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) framework, following on from the Major National Research Facilities grants scheme.