Australian Genome Alliance

What is the Australian Genome Alliance?

The Australian Genome Alliance is lobbying the Australian Federal Government to establish a new genomics research fund. The Alliance was established by Dr. Phil Batterham, Director of CESAR (Centre for Environmental Stress and Adaptation Research) and Dr Susan Forrest, Director of the Australian Genome Research Facility and is endorsed by the Genetics Society of AustralAsia.

The Alliance is a loose association of researchers working to develop genomics science for the social, economic and environmental benefit of Australia. Membership is open and researchers are encouraged to submit genome projects for inclusion on the Alliance web site. The projects should be of a scale that would exclude them from existing funding schemes.

Which genomes?
The Alliance aims to raise the awareness of a number of potential projects that could be considered for immediate funding. No status or priority is given to these projects by the Alliance and the addition of projects to the list is possible at any time. The Helicoverpa armigera genome project is one such project.

Researchers all over the world are working to fight this moth. Every one of them would benefit from knowing the moth biology better. Accordingly, the notion of a Helicoverpa armigera genome project was strongly endorsed by delegates at the International Congress of Entomology held in Brisbane, Australia in August 2004. Sequencing projects that would pave the way for this project has been completed or are in progress.