As part of a team of Australian researchers, scientists at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) have discovered two new genes linked to open angle glaucoma in the only study of severe glaucoma cases in the world, published online in the prestigious international science journal, Nature Genetics.
Dr Stuart MacGregor from QIMR’s Queensland Statistical Genetics Laboratory said, “This discovery will help to identify patients at the highest risk of severe glaucoma. It opens the pathway to developing completely new ways of treating glaucoma patients that could delay disease progression and prevent blindness.”
Scientists from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) have found two new genes that together double a person’s risk of developing melanoma.
The new building was officially opened in 1991, and was aptly named The Bancroft Centre, as a memorial to the family who contributed to QIMR’s early history.
Discovery that the Epstein-Barr Virus (which causes glandular fever) can immortalise white blood cells. These cells can then be used for an endless source of DNA and is now performed thousands of times a day, all over the world
QIMR scientists isolated Murray Valley encephalitis virus from mosquitoes, which paved the way for discovery of other arboviruses like Ross River virus.
QIMR began operations in 1947 with a staff of seven in a disused World War II US Army hut in Victoria Park, Brisbane. This temporary accommodation was to house QIMR for the next 30 years.
QIMR was the brainchild of Dr Edward Derrick, an early Director of the Queensland State Health Department Laboratory of Microbiology and Pathology. His pioneering research from 1935 onwards into Q fever led to the discovery of the causative rickettsia, Coxiella burnetii.
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