 They have received an ARC grant of $240,000 over three years to throw light on a key unresolved problem in cell biology - how a cell determines when it has the right amount of mitochondria to carry out its correct functions.
The unlikely combination comprises Head of Molecular Sciences and Professor of Biochemistry, Nick Hoogenraad, and senior lecturer in Computer Science and Computer Engineering, Dr Dianhui Wang, a specialist in data mining and computational intelligence techniques for bioinformatics and multimedia information processing.
Their's is a new approach to mitochondrial research Professor Hoogenraad has carried out with the help of ARC and other grants since 1974.
Mitochondria, Professor Hoogenraad explains, are 'organelles', highly specialised structures essential for the viability of cells.
They contain the machinery to generate most of a cell's energy, but also play essential roles in synthesising compounds needed by the cell, and contain critical regulators of programmed cell death. Mammalian cells must have the right amount of mitochondria to perform certain functions, and the amount of mitochondria varies depending on the circumstances of the cell.
For example, the cells of a bear hibernating in the cold of winter, or a rat running on a treadmill become more packed with mitochondria. The action of the cold or the exercise provides a physiological 'push' and the animal responds by making more mitochondria.
 'There must be a mechanism that senses the physiological push and this is what we are seeking. But here lies the problem, and here is where computer science is being introduced,' Professor Hoogenraad said.
'Human mitochondria have between 1,000 and 1,500 different proteins, encoded by a subset of the 30,000 genes in the nucleus of each cell. How does a cell co-ordinate the activities of 1,500 genes? There must be some kind of 'master switch' which controls all these genes.
'We are using both a laboratory-based molecular genetics approach and a computational approach to examine a large number of genes encoding mitochondrial proteins to try to find some unifying information by which this control mechanism may occur.
'The computational aspect of this research is to process the information we believe is embedded in the genes. All these genes 'dance' to the same tune - the physiological push - and we are using the computational approach to find new paradigms for finding this information.
'However, while the computer will be an extremely valuable tool, anything the computational approach brings up will have to be verified in the laboratory. In bringing together the two disciplines of biochemistry and computer science there is great potential synergy in the nascent field of bioinformatics.
'The results of our work will provide information on the process of ageing as this process is associated with a loss in bio-energetic function and other conditions such as diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease in which mitochondrial oxidative metabolism is implicated.
'It will also provide an excellent training ground for research students to develop a set of unique and valuable skills.
Professor Hoogenraad and Dr Wang: 'The results of our work will provide information on the process of ageing.'
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