NCRIS Capability - Integrated Biological Systems

Full description Research into how organisms work and interact – systems biology – is indispensable for developing new drugs, producing better and more resilient crops and increasing our understanding of the environment. The Australian Government's commitment of over $40 million through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) to systems biology infrastructure greatly increases the ability of our researchers to study the observable characteristics of plants and animals – their phenotypes – and how these relate to their genetic make-up.Phenomics Funding has been used to develop a national plant phenomics facility, which aids the development of cutting-edge crops by measuring the attributes of plants and relating them to their genetic make-up. Mice have become indispensable in research into human biological systems because of their genetic similarities to humans. NCRIS has funded the establishment of an Australian Phenomics Network to increase the number of mouse models of human disease available to Australian researchers and so reduce the cost of accessing them. An online Atlas of Living Australia has been established to provide ready and efficient access to integrated data held in existing biological collections across the country.