Characterising the chemistry of the toxins in animal venoms can lead to better treatments for pain.
The Australian Cancer Atlas seamlessly links
different datasets Australia-wide, to
better understand the cancer divide between metropolitan and rural areas, and map the gaps linked to socio-economic status and other demographic factors.
Queensland University of Technology Distinguished Professor Kerrie Mengersen with the Australian Cancer Atlas. Credit: Anthony Weate, Queensland University of Technology.
The giant red bull ant, Myrmecia gulosa. Credit: Dr Eivind Undheim and Dr Samuel Robinson.
BULL ANT VENOM COULD ACTUALLY KILL PAIN ARC-supported researchers from The University of Queensland’s Centre for Advanced Imaging and Institute for Molecular Bioscience have completed the first comprehensive study of ant venom, revealing toxins that stimulate the human nervous system to cause pain.
THE AUSTRALIAN CANCER ATLAS Australians can now discover the impact of cancer in their suburb or town, with the launch of a new cutting-edge Australian Cancer Atlas,
The study has revealed that the venom of the giant red bull ant—an Australian species with a notoriously painful sting—is composed of a suite of peptide toxins, and that these are closely related to those found in the venoms of bees and wasps. This discovery suggests these toxins evolved from a common ancestor gene found across the Aculeata, or ‘stinging wasps.’ By studying how these toxins stimulate human pain-sensing neurons, they are gaining a new understanding of how pain travels through the body, and how to develop compounds that block it.
This world leading project, led by researchers from Cancer Council Queensland and the Queensland University of Technology, with funding provided by FrontierSI, Cancer Council Queensland, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, and additional support from ACEMS, will give health agencies and policy makers a better understanding of geographic disparities and health requirements across the country. ACEMS researchers say that the atlas was designed to be user-friendly, with robust information and innovative visual presentations to help people interpret and understand the statistics, and it can be updated regularly so that all Australians can have access to the latest available information.
atlas.cancer.org.au > app, developed with the help of research funding through the ARC Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers (ACEMS). The interactive digital cancer atlas shows national patterns in cancer incidence and survival rates, based on where people live for 20 of the most common cancers in Australia—such as lung, breast and bowel cancer—likely reflecting the characteristics and behaviours, lifestyles and access to health services of people living in those areas.
ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) recipient, Dr Eivind Undheim, said the venom of bees and wasps has been a subject of research for some decades, but there had been little research on ant venom.
IMPROVING HEALTH AND WELL-BEING 68
IMPROVING HEALTH AND WELL-BEING 69
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