Lorne Infection and Immunity
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Mansi Gandhi
Nucleic acids and immunity Dr Michael Gantier, ARC Future Fellow, Research Group Head, Nucleic Acids and Innate Immunity at the Hudson Institute in Melbourne, sheds light on the latest trends and developments in immunology and infectious disease research.
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Lab+Life Scientist: What’s your lab’s current focus? Michael Gantier: W e a r e w o r k i n g o n fter completing a PhD on RNA
understanding how nucleic acids (ie, DNA and
interference in Dublin (Ireland), Dr Michael
RNA) are involved at the interface between
Gantier moved to Australia to join the laboratory
infection and immunity. In addition to carrying
of Professor Bryan Williams.
genetic information, DNA and RNA are also
In 2015, he established his independent
critical regulators of immune responses to
laboratory at the Hudson Institute of Medical
pathogens. Being universally conserved across
Research, to study how nucleic acids control the
all forms of life, nucleic acids are used from
interface between host and pathogens, and how
prokaryotes to eukaryotes to signal infection,
this can lead to inflammatory diseases.
and mount rapid responses limiting the impact
Dr Gantier is presenting at this year’s Lorne
of the pathogen on the infected host. This system
Infection & Immunity Conference 2018 to be
universally relies on the capacity of the host to
held from 14–16 February in Lorne, Victoria. He
distinguish its own nucleic acids from those of
reflects on the latest developments in the field
the pathogen.
of infection and immunity and his lab’s current research focus and future plans.
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The last decade has revealed that defective capacity to distinguish between host and
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