Small miracles

Developing the most minute of particles for a range of life-saving medical uses is recognised as one of the fastest-growing areas at the new frontier of science.

Tiny "nano patches" stuck to the skin could supersede syringes for drug delivery as a result of research at UQ’s Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN).

Professor Mark Kendall has won a three-year Queensland Government Smart State Senior Fellowship valued at $300,000 to research how nanotechnology could replace syringes in administering therapeutics.

Professor Kendall said an explosion in designer drugs needing precise delivery to specific locations in the skin had made practical and needle-free methods a priority.  “We are targeting immunologically sensitive cells to produce improved immune responses in the treatment of major diseases such as HIV, malaria and allergies,” he said.

The grant boosts funding for Professor Kendall’s project by $540,000 over three years, as Queensland biotech firm Coridon has committed $240,000 as industry co-sponsor.

Recognition of Professor Kendall’s innovative work is one of many achievements for the AIBN ahead of the opening of its $70 million purpose-built complex at the St Lucia campus in October.

The Queensland Government announced in June it would provide $6.5 million to establish the Bionano-products Development Facility (BnDF) at the AIBN.

Professor Peter Gray, Director of the AIBN, said the Facility would help establish and grow pioneering research and innovation involving institutes and facilities across the State.  “The BnDF will strengthen and advance the development of bioproducts in Queensland by providing access to an integrated research facility with cutting-edge technology that does not currently exist in Australia,” he said.

Professor Gray said the BnDF would focus on three interrelated research themes – biopharmaceuticals, biomicrodevices and biocommodities.

Another AIBN coup has been the development by Professor Anton Middelberg and Dr Annette Dexter of nanotechnology to help extract more petrol from oil fields.  With oil companies forced to leave behind as much as two barrels for every barrel of oil produced, the technology could help reduce the cost of supplying petrol to the market.  Known as Pepfactants®, the peptide technology can control the emulsions and foams used in a wide range of industry processes and could impact on products from petroleum to specialty chemicals and therapeutic drugs.

Professor Middelberg is also a member of an AIBN research team awarded $158,000 by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) to develop mass vaccines against bird flu quickly and safely.

NANO PATCHES BNDF PEPFACTANTS BIRD FLU

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