CSIRO and Australian hi-tech company, Proteome Systems Limited (PSL) are moving quickly to capitalise on scientific interest in proteins generated by the success of the Human Genome Project.

PSL and CSIRO have signed an agreement to develop opportunities for research collaboration in the cutting-edge fields of proteomics and bioinformatics.

"Proteomics - identifying the structure and functions of proteins - is a hugely valuable undertaking," says Dr Keith Williams, CEO of Proteome Systems.

"Proteomics has the potential to revolutionise medicine, agriculture and biotechnology," he says.

Dr Williams says that while the Human Genome Project has delivered a wealth of information about the human genetic blueprint, it is proteins that actually do the work in a living organism.

"The genome data will be of immense value in helping us to decide which proteins to concentrate on first," he says.

Like genomics, proteomics generates massive amounts of data. The new field of bioinformatics is about managing this data to yield commercially significant results.

Proteome Systems is developing technology to facilitate high volume, high speed proteomics.

Dr Williams says that CSIRO's top class capabilities in statistics, data management, software architectures and image analysis are likely to be crucial components in building a strong Australian presence in proteomics and bioinformatics.

"Proteome Systems, like CSIRO, is an organisation built upon technological innovation," says Dr Mervyn Thomas, CSIRO.

"The combination of world-leading research and development in proteomics with advanced informatics research has the potential to change the face of medical and agricultural biosciences. This is an opportunity to build a new industry for Australia," he says.

"The new class of instruments being developed by Proteome Systems to perform high speed, high throughput protein analysis will impact immensely on the speed and accuracy with which researchers can do protein-based discovery. CSIRO's image analysis scientists are working with Proteome Systems to enhance the precision of these instruments and develop ways of analysing their output to extract meaningful biological data from visual information," he says.

Proteome Systems Limited is a privately held Australian drug discovery and biotechnology company launched in January 1999. Headquartered in the high-tech biohub of Sydney, Proteome Systems is recognised as a world innovator in the development of proteomic technologies. Proteome Systems' four business groups comprise: Agricultural Biotechnology, Human Disease (Drug Discovery), Technology (scientific instruments and consumables), and Bioinformatics (Protein databases and tools). Proteome Systems has key alliances and partnerships with several international companies, including Dow AgroSciences, Shimadzu Corporation and MicroFab Technologies.

Tom McGinness
CSIRO 02 9325 3227
Tom.McGinness@cmis.csiro.au
www.cmis.csiro.au