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Science met the Australian Parliament on Thursday 5 March to discuss brilliant research into diabetes, causes, cures and treatments, being undertaken by scientists at the Australian Synchrotron.
One of Australia’s leading scientific minds, Nobel Prize winner Professor Brian Schmidt, joined with Diabetes Australia CEO Professor Greg Johnson to explain how the Australian Synchrotron is helping to shine a light on important discoveries about diabetes.
Diabetes costs Australia around $10 billion annually, and while there is as yet no cure, some discoveries made at the Australian Synchrotron are expected to contribute towards improved treatments or even potential vaccinations.
The Minister for Industry and Science Ian Macfarlane attended the breakfast event, and provided the event’s closing remarks.
Synchrotron facilities around the globe are, this year, engaging in discussions like the ones at this event, which aim to highlight the importance of light and optical technologies, as part of the United Nations International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies.
“The Year of Light represents a unique opportunity for scientists to engage, inspire, and educate on a global scale,” said Australian Synchrotron Director, Professor Andrew Peele.
“This event is just one way that we can initiate a broader discussion about light technology, and the important discoveries made possible by the Australian Synchrotron.
“Without the considerable investment made by the federal and state Governments to build and operate the Australian Synchrotron, these discoveries simply would not have become a reality.”
The Australian Synchrotron uses ‘synchronised’ applications of strong electric and magnetic fields – that accelerate high-energy electrons – producing intense beams of light that are a million times brighter than the sun.
The X-ray and infrared light is filtered and adjusted to travel into experimental workstations, where the light reveals the innermost, sub-microscopic secrets of materials under investigation.
Synchrotron techniques are used in many important areas, including advanced materials, agriculture, biomedics, defence, environmental sustainability, food technology, forensics, oil and gas, mining and nanotechnology.
For more details about the Australian Synchrotron, please visit: www.synchrotron.org.au/about-us
Published: 05/03/2015