WA's best biotechnology students US-bound

Two Perth students will take their groundbreaking research to San Diego next month to compete with America's best biotechnology students at the sanofi-aventis International BioGENEius Challenge.

Bindhu Holavanahalli and Oliver Tester have been selected to represent Western Australia at the challenge.    

Western Australia's BioGENEius Coordinator from the Department of Industry and Resources Emma O’Neil said the challenge was designed to capture the inquisitive nature of high school students in years 8 to 12 with an interest in science.

“The BioGENEius Challenge is an incredible opportunity for Western Australia’s top high school students to gain hands on experience while conducting their own research and working in a laboratory environment,” she said.

“They have the opportunity to work with cutting-edge technology, and meet key people in the State’s biotechnology research community which can help to open many doors to pursue their research careers.

“As part of the program, students are also able to network with their BioGENEius peers and participate in a range of workshops.”

Bindhu, a 17-year-old former Shenton College student now in her first year of university, has used cutting-edge GeneChip technology to understand how sulphur dioxide affects table grapes.

Sulphur dioxide is put on grapes to give them a longer shelf life but Bindhu’s research found that it also increases the production of antioxidants, giving greater nutritional value to the consumer.

Her research means that testing can now begin on developing natural alternatives to current sulphur dioxide treatments on grapes and other food crops, to create an even healthier outcome for the consumer.

Bindhu was mentored by Dr Aneta Ivanova, a researcher at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Plant Energy Biology at the University of Western Australia.

WA’s other finalist, Oliver Tester, is a 16-year-old student who attends Murdoch College. He established a subterranean peptide marker clover library that will catalogue the different types of clover that are available to sheep farmers. This will help to quickly identify the varieties that contain high levels of oestrogen that could lead to clover disease in sheep.

His research has already improved the accuracy and time it takes to carry out a seed purity test of clover varieties. It now takes just two days - a time saving of six weeks.

Oliver was mentored by Adjunct Associate Professor Chris Florides, Managing Director of Saturn Biotech Ltd based at the WA State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre at Murdoch University.

“The BioGENEius Challenge has been an exciting journey for me,” Oliver said.

“It has opened my eyes to the many exciting job and study opportunities I can choose from, and helped me to establish connections within the science sector.”

Ms O’Neil said that Oliver and Bindhu were the first Western Australian students to compete in the International BioGENEius Challenge.

“Bindhu and Oliver will compete with 14 other students from North America, to present their oral presentations and posters for the judges to assess,” she said.

“In addition to competing in the challenge, they will also meet world-leading researchers from the biotechnology field and visit various research institutes.”

Ms O’Neil said students like Bindhu and Oliver represented the State’s future scientists, and that the competition created many invaluable opportunities for them.

“Through their projects, Bindhu and Oliver have both discovered knowledge that will be vital to many sectors including agriculture and health,” she said.

“Their research has the potential to directly benefit the everyday consumer which is an amazing outcome for two WA students.”

Ms O’Neil said the BioGENEius Challenge has been established as an annual program, with the next group of 21 students’ already starting their projects for 2009.

“The next top two students will be selected in February, and will participate in the 2009 International BioGENius Challenge to be held in Atlanta,” she said.

More information on the challenge is available at http://www.doir.wa.gov.au/bioGENEius/