Dr Nicola Petty
In summary:
- Scientist Dr Nico Petty working in the ithree institute conducting disease research has been awarded a grant to study the affects viruses have in bacterial evolution
- The research will provide vital knowledge needed to develop new diagnostic methods to rapidly detect, identify and respond to emerging infectious diseases
Ground-breaking UTS research into how some viruses change bacteria in ways that can lead to deadly new disease strains will be boosted by a $75,000 Establishment Grant awarded by the Ramaciotti Foundation.
Bacteriophages - viruses that infect bacteria - have been shown to spread genetic material that increases the capacity of bacteria to cause serious disease and spread resistance to antibiotic treatments.
Dr Nico Petty, a scientist working in the ithree institute at UTS was awarded the grant to uncover how viruses influence bacterial evolution.
Dr Petty and her team will use high throughput genome sequencing, bioinformatics and molecular microbiological techniques to determine the movement, evolution and spread of virulence factors and antibiotic resistance carried by bacteriophages within pathogenic E. coli.
Dr Petty said there was much to gain nationally and internationally from supporting scientific research that underpins the fight against emerging, potentially deadly bacterial diseases.
“We must understand the processes that help new bacterial diseases emerge – processes that have been taking place since the very beginning of the evolution of life on Earth” Dr Petty said.
“During the past decade there have been outbreaks of new strains of bacterial disease that were difficult to diagnose and went on long enough for thousands of people to become infected and seriously ill, with a significant number of deaths.
“Our research will provide vital knowledge needed to develop new diagnostic methods to rapidly detect, identify and respond to emerging infectious diseases and deliver better public health outcomes.”
Dr Petty joined UTS’s ithree institute early in 2013 and leads the Microbial Genomics research group. Her research employs genomics, bioinformatics and molecular microbiology to investigate emerging bacterial pathogens, with a focus on the interaction between viruses and bacteria.
Prior to UTS she held research positions at the University of Queensland, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, University of Cambridge and Pfizer.
Putting Dr Petty’s research into context, ithree institute Director Professor Ian Charles said, “Over billions of years, evolution has resulted from the spread of genes around bacterial populations, both to transfer good traits and to curtail bad ones. Our challenge is to try and catch up!”
“The application of the amazing genomic technologies that we now have at our disposal provides a window into the process of bacterial evolution, and the role of the phages in that,” he said.