ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM

Australia's science future 3-4 May 2000
Full listing of papers

Professor Peter Rathjen studied as an undergraduate at the Department of Biochemistry, University of Adelaide, in part as a member of the team led by Professor R H Symons that discovered RNA self-processing in viroids. As the 1985 Rhodes Scholar for South Australia he undertook a DPhil at the University of Oxford from 1985 to 1989, studying mobile genetic elements in yeast and mammals. He began work on the molecular regulation of stem cell differentiation during a two-year postdoctoral position with Dr J K Heath, also at Oxford. He returned to the University of Adelaide in 1990, and was appointed to the Chair of Biochemistry in 1996. His research interests include the molecular basis of mammalian development, the differentiation of embryonic stem (ES) cells, and the use of genetic and ES cell technologies for human therapy.

Symposium themes - Genetic engineering of plants and animals

Rational genetic alteration of the mammalian genome: Scientific insight and application
by Peter Rathjen

Abstract
Scientific advances in two disparate fields have altered fundamentally our perception of the mammal, and these advances can be expected to revolutionise the application of mammalian biology. Genome analyses are providing genetic information at an unprecedented rate, and we will soon have detailed knowledge of several mammalian genomes. Concomitant with this is rapid progress in understanding the function of genes, both alone and in combination. Reproductive technologies have had profound impact on our understanding of biology. The success of animal cloning as exemplified by Dolly the sheep indicates an unexpected plasticity in the nature of ‘cell type’. Further, the development of cultured embryonic stem (ES) cells provides a remarkable resource for the generation of unlimited numbers of somatic cells. Together these advances provide, for the first time, robust methodologies for the production of whole animals and somatic cells that are genetically modified in accordance with rational design. Genetically altered whole animals can be expected to find application in the investigation of gene function, agriculture and medicine, while unlimited numbers of genetically altered somatic cells are predicted to provide novel therapies for currently untreatable human disease.