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About BioSouth
BioSouth is a network of Dunedin Biotechnology and related entities whose aim is to generate more wealth for the region from Biotechnology. The initiative aims to generate this wealth by providing an environment that encourages links between research and industry. Membership of BioSouth includes a wide range of skills, from the University of Otago?s research capabilities, to plant and animal breeding expertise at AgResearch and Crop and Food and every other skill required to take science into the market, from project management to a range of business services.
The Dunedin City Council is acting as the facilitator, bringing the various partners together to discuss common issues. The initiative was launched as a result of a realisation that there was a significant amount of activity and the potential for even greater wealth to be generated from Biotechnology in the region. Dunedin?s recent biotechnology success is centred on the University of Otago and Crown Research Institutes which are the research powerhouses of the region. The University of Otago has a proven international reputation in Health Sciences for biomedical research molecular gene mapping as well as for the sciences, technology and information technology.
Research highlights in the past year include the creation of a Bose-Einstein Condensate, vaccine development for asthma and cervical cancer in humans and tuberculosis in farmed deer, design of novel mitochondrial medicines, identification of a gene linked to stomach cancer, rapid detection of neurotoxins, commercial development of marine invertebrates through aquaculture, completion of a sheep gene map and establishment of Sheep Map? database and deer genome mapping. Supporting these achievements, the University has 15 major research themes and 26 research centres and a further 84 collaborative research groups.
A major successful partnership with the New Zealand Crown Research Institute, AgResearch, established a national research centre on campus for agriculture and medical research to develop sophisticated molecular tools for genome analysis, especially in the use of sheep and deer gene maps, forage gene mapping and biodiversity, and factors that regulate deer antler growth. The recently established ruminant genomics programme in the AgResearch Molecular Biology Unit will make further international contributions to ruminant gene mapping. A second major research collaboration is with the New Zealand Crop and Food Crown Research Institute and the establishment of the Plant Extracts Research Unit to investigate the identification of natural products for use in pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals.
Utilising the biomedical and science resources in the University of Otago has provided key strategies for biotechnology development, with potential for continued growth. Recognising the accelerating momentum in the life and information sciences, the University of Otago is building biotechnology platforms through dialogue with the scientific and business community. Multi-disciplinary groups are well established for Gene Structure and Function, Oxidative Stress in Health and Disease, Formulation and Drug Delivery, Immunological Basis of Disease, Cancer Genetics, Marine Science, Neurosciences, Product Development, Sensory Sciences, Virus Research, Biodiversity, Bioethics, Laser Technology, Micro-chemical Analysis, and Computer and Information Sciences. The expertise and innovation in these key areas have recently been enhances with the University of Otago providing increased funding for genomics and proteomics, bioinformatics, NMR spectroscopy facilities and small mammal facilities.
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