UC researchers using hoki eye protein in world-first nanotechnology research
September 14, 2012
University of Canterbury (UC) scientists have started using cutting edge nanotechnology to turn protein from fish eye
lenses into tiny components for use in devices to help doctors detect various illnesses such as cancer.
UC this week received more than $1 million to launch the project which will be breaking new barriers of scientific
research.
They will be testing hoki fish eye lens protein nanofibres that are up to 10,000 times smaller than a strand of human
hair and not visible to the naked eye. Every year more than 110,000 tonnes of hoki is fished in NZ waters and
Christchurch’s based Independent Fisheries Ltd company are supplying UC researchers with all the hoki eyes they need.
``They can only be seen using big electron microscopes. Eye lenses contain approximately 90 percent proteins, so it is
an easily accessible source to extract proteins for research,’’ project leader and UC scientist Dr Madhu Vasudevamurthy
said today.
``By spending hours, days and weeks researching and analysing we have mastered a method of protein nanofibre manufacture
using hoki eye lenses, a source unique to New Zealand. Through this research funding we want to produce results that
could help in the detection of such illnesses as diabetes and cancer,’’ he said.
For the past two and half years, Dr Vasudevamurthy has been working in collaboration with Professor Juliet Gerrard, a
world leading bionanotechnology expert at the UC’s state of the art Biomolecular Interaction Centre.
Bionanotechnology - nanotechnology developed using biological molecules - is still a growing area of science. UC has
developed bionanotechnology expertise over the last eight years and they are now poised to focus on pioneering research.
``To our knowledge, we are currently the only group in the world with an ability to manufacture protein nanofibres on a
large scale which will be hugely helpful in DIAGNOSING illnesses along with many other potential applications.
``We have a unique research centre that brings together experts from various backgrounds – including biochemists,
chemists, chemical engineers, microbiologists and bio-informaticians.
``This unique combination of experts is a boon for young scientists like me who can tap into this expertise when faced
with difficult research problems and through this research, NZ is poised to acquire some unique IP in the fast-growing
area of bionanotechnology.’’
The research will be conducted in collaboration with the Technical University of Denmark which has expertise in the
area.
The UC research aims to put New Zealand at the forefront of bionanotechnology research. The University currently has
13,000 students, 600 courses and is the third biggest employer in Christchurch.
ends