News and Events

2005 Media Releases

Significance of suiciding cells

A seminar on one of the most exciting research areas in biochemistry - the reasons why millions of cells in our bodies are produced and die every second - will be held at La Trobe University, Melbourne, on Wednesday 13 July.

Cell death and survival are vital elements in the quest for the causes and treatment of different forms of cancer and other diseases.

One of the world’s leading experts on the molecular mechanisms of programmed cell death, Professor David Vaux of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, will present the seminar.

Professor Vaux will join the Department of Biochemistry at La Trobe in 2006 as the University’s first Federation Fellow.

The free public seminar will be held at 4 pm in the Seminar Hall, Institute for Advanced Study, Administration Building NR8 at the University’s Melbourne (Bundoora) campus. (Melway Map 573 F-2, enter from Main Drive).

Professor Vaux will discuss the significance of the process of programmed cell death in normal development and the consequences of failures in this program in disease.

As Professor Vaux explains, ‘a million cells are produced every second by cell division. At the same time a million cells commit suicide by a process called apoptosis.

‘When cells fail to die when they should they can develop into cancers. In heart attacks, stroke or neurodegenerative diseases, many cells appear to activate their self destruct mechanism to die unnecessarily.

‘Drugs that can cause cancer cells to kill themselves, or drugs that prevent cells from dying when they shouldn’t, would make a major impact on many important diseases. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of cell death is the first step towards developing these drugs.’

Professor Vaux has made seminal discoveries to assist understanding of the molecular mechanisms of programmed cell death that has important implications in the treatment of diseases resulting from defective cell death.

While a postgraduate student, he discovered the first molecular component of the cell death mechanism and the resultant paper in Nature in 1988 is the most highly cited paper from Australia in the last 20 years. This discovery was followed by many other discoveries that have illuminated the role of apoptosis in normal development and disease.

Professor Vaux has won many prizes culminating in the award in 2003 of the Victoria Prize.

For further information:

Please contact Julia Anderson, Tel: +61 3 9479 3461, or La Trobe University Public Affairs,
+61 3 9479 2316.