WA premier promises investment in biotech

The Western Australian government is committed to developing the state's biotechnology sector, according to new premier Alan Carpenter, who this week announced AUD$4.5 million in seed funding for a new biotech research facility as well as medical grants totalling $5 million.

"Science and innovation are key drivers of the global economy and are vital to ensure continued economic growth and diversification in WA," said Carpenter, who has been premier for just over three weeks.

WA's economy is flourishing, on the back of a resources boom. But Carpenter said he would give a high priority to developing the state's biotech, IT and medical research industries, investing in infrastructure, education and training, to ensure the economy continued to grow in the event of a slowing in demand for WA's rich resources.

"I like the whole resource industry... but we've got to think about 'what if?'" Carpenter told a Committee for Economic Development of Australia lunch in Perth today, according to AAP reports. "There is another part of our economic spectrum which is potentially massive in the benefits it can deliver... it is the innovative end of the spectrum."

The state's new focus on biotechnology, innovation, R&D and emerging technologies, is in line with Carpenter's recent creation of a portfolio for science and innovation, to be headed by former housing minister Francis Logan.

New research centre

Carpenter committed $4.5 million in seed funding to go to a new Centre for Food and Genomic Medicine, which will bring scientists together from across biotechnology, agriculture and food technology to develop new approaches to the prevention and treatment of major health issues. Based at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital campus of the WA Institute for Medical Research, the centre will initially focus on a program of biomedical and agrifood research into diabetes and obesity -- 'diabesity'.

"The Diabesity Research Program will use cutting-edge techniques and equipment to identify novel markets of diabesity and build them into new diagnostic tests," said Carpenter. "On the preventative side, the program will focus on new food products and therapies using plant extracts with the power to reduce appetite."

As well as leading to new technology and products to enhance population health, Carpenter said, the centre would generate wealth through partnerships with the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Other partners in the centre are CSIRO Plant Industry, the WA Department of Agriculture, the University of Western Australia, and Curtin and Murdoch universities.

Medical research grants

Nobel Prize winner Prof Barry Marshall is one of 102 WA researchers who will share in grants worth a total of $5 million from the WA government's Medical and Health Research Infrastructure Fund.

Marshall will receive almost $16,000 to continue his research into Helicobacter pylori, the bacteria which causes peptic ulcers and gastric cancer. Marshall's research team at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, is using the bacteria to develop vaccines for a range of diseases, including HIV, avian flu and hepatitis C.

Scientists at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research will receive $1.7 million to help fund research into asthma, allergies, respiratory diseases and other illnesses. The institute's researchers have discovered new genes related to asthma and are also examining why some children develop the disease, why some grow out of it, and whether there are any links between air pollution and the development of asthma in children.

The Medical and Health Research Infrastructure Fund has provided almost $30 million in grants since 1997.