The State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre (SABC) is the engine room that drives research and development in biotechnology in WA.
Established
in 1993, the SABC was developed as a multi-user university centre at Murdoch,
pioneering the concept of the ‘research hotel’, in which research
groups rent laboratory space and have full access to $9 million worth of state-of-the-art
facilities.
There are now 228 researchers from 20 research groups using the SABC facilities and infrastructure.
After graduating from Murdoch Law School with a joint degree in Law and Arts, Bruce Leishman relocated to Melbourne where he commenced work as an Articled Clerk with Minter Ellison.
“It was during my first few months in Melbourne that I was able to appreciate the quality of teaching that I received at Murdoch University. The way I was encouraged as a student to question dominant theories and to propose workable solutions to legal problems is one of immediate application in the post university environment. The importance placed on the social relevance and ramifications of law at Murdoch University, is further integral to a complete legal education, for law cannot be seen to operate in an environment void of social and cultural factors. My Murdoch degree enabled me to become an Associate to Justice Kirby of the High Court of Australia. Working with some of the finest legal minds in the nation on many landmark cases, it was again reinforced to me how the Murdoch education encourages you to think and question, and it is these traits that I believe will continually give me a competitive edge”
“This creates a critical mass of researchers with very wide expertise in plant and animal agricultural biotechnology, and commercial delivery to the agricultural industry,” said Professor of Agricultural Biotechnology Michael Jones, Director of the SABC and Head of Plant Biotechnology Research Group.
Agriculture is one of Australia’s key industries, with gross annual production worth over $30 billion. WA is a major agricultural producer, and exports more than 90 per cent of its plant and animal produce. Australian agriculture has a worldwide reputation for excellence, efficiency and competitiveness, partly as a result of the readiness to adopt new technologies, and to be at the forefront of modern agricultural research and development.
The state-of-the-art equipment includes a capilliary DNA sequencer, a Maldi-tof mass spectrometer, proteomics facilities and robotics workstations.
Professor Jones said the SABC had been successful in attracting commercial researchers to its facilities and promoting and supporting the formation of new companies in agricultural biotechnology. Commercial researchers include Grain Biotech Australia, Saturn Biotech and Proteomics International.
The research strengths and national recognition of the researchers at the SABC is also reflected in its participation in eight agricultural Cooperative Research Centres in areas as broad as Molecular Plant Breeding, Value Added Wheat, Beef Quality, Environmental Biotechnology, and National Plant Biosecurity.
The SABC continues to support research training in agricultural biotechnology, with more than 100 PhD, Honours and Masters Students registered to use the facilities.
