Science at the Shine Dome 2010

New Fellows Seminar

Wednesday 5 May

Professor Scott O’Neill FAA
School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland

Scott O’Neill joined the University of Queensland in 2001 where he currently serves as the head of the School of Biological Sciences. He obtained his PhD from the University of Queensland in entomology in 1989, did postdoctoral work at the University of Illinois and was then a faculty member of Yale University in the School of Medicine before returning to Australia. His work is focused on the central role that bacterial symbionts play in the biology of animals. This work has primarily focused on the model symbiont Wolbachia and its association with numerous insect hosts. A primary goal has been to better understand the molecular mechanisms that underpin the interaction between Wolbachia and insects. More recently Scott’s work has focused on the application of Wolbachia symbiont systems for the control of human diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, such as dengue fever.

Wolbachia symbionts of insects and the control of dengue fever

All animals establish intimate associations with microbes that have major influences on their normal functioning. One group of bacteria known as Wolbachia specialises in living inside the cells of millions of different insect species. The success of Wolbachia is derived from the many effects it has on its hosts. These include nutrient provisioning, protecting the host from pathogens and parasites and different forms of reproductive manipulation that override various aspects of host sex-determination and early development. We have been utilising the effects of these symbionts to develop a new approach to control dengue virus transmission in human populations. There are an estimated 50-100 million dengue cases every year in tropical regions of the world and new control methodologies are urgently needed. A novel Wolbachia-based approach to dengue control is showing strong promise as a new way to eliminate dengue transmission.