Скачать или смотреть From Cows to Beans: Nanoparticles to the rescue

QAAFI Science Seminar - 1 September 2015
Presented by A/Prof. Neena Mitter
Centre for Plant Science
Queensland Alliance for Agriculture & Food Innovation

ABSTRACT

The potential of nanotechnology to deliver solutions for animal and plant health will be highlighted with two key applications a) Nanovaccines for animal health and b) BioClay spray on technology for crop protection.

Nanovaccines: We have developed a nano-carrier delivery system for vaccines that demonstrates strong adjuvant effects, potential for reducing dose number and elimination of cold chain requirements. The technology was developed to reduce the administration costs of vaccines and to improve compliance, a key factor undermining the effectiveness of multi-dose vaccines.

BioClay: It aims to deliver a paradigm shift in protecting the plants from biotic stresses by delivering RNA interference (RNAi) as a non-transgenic, stable, safe and easy-to-adopt topical application. We have achieved this by encapsulating the RNAi effectors (double-stranded RNA) in specially designed clay nanoparticles to formulate Bioclay, which protects the dsRNA from degradation on the leaf surface and facilitates its release in a range of physiological conditions to target viruses as well as insect pests.

Both these applications have progressed with support from philanthropy, industry, academia and government.

About A/Prof. Neena Mitter

Associate Professor Neena Mitter, at Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation has been involved in research in Australia and India for over 20 years. The biotechnology group led by her focuses on developing RNA silencing based novel and innovative approaches towards management of pests and diseases across plant and animal science. She has won prestigious awards like Women in Technology Queensland Biotechnologist Award, Queensland International Fellowship and Young Scientist Award by the Prime Minister of India. Her successes include a Gates Grand Challenges Explorations grant for developing the ‘BioClay’, a nanoparticle based delivery of RNA silencing for crop protection, which is now further supported by industry and government. She is heavily invested in agricultural nanotechnology and currently leads a consortia of scientists from UQ, Washington State University, Zoetis and Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Queensland to develop ‘Nanovaccines for animal health. Avocado research is another strong focus of her team ranging from clonal propagation to disease resistance.