Children's Medical Research Institute (CMRI) is an Australian
medical research
Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as experimental medicine, encompasses a wide array of research, extending from "basic research" (also called ''bench science'' or ''bench research''), – involving fundamental scientif ...
institute
An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body.
In some countries, institutes can ...
located in
Westmead that conducts research into children's genetic diseases. , current research is focused on
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
,
birth defect
A birth defect, also known as a congenital disorder, is an abnormal condition that is present at birth regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disabilities that may be physical, intellectual, or developmental. The disabilities can ...
s,
neurological conditions such as epilepsy, and
gene therapy
Gene therapy is a medical field which focuses on the genetic modification of cells to produce a therapeutic effect or the treatment of disease by repairing or reconstructing defective genetic material. The first attempt at modifying human DN ...
.
Much of CMRI's cancer research focuses on telomeres (including
telomerase
Telomerase, also called terminal transferase, is a ribonucleoprotein that adds a species-dependent telomere repeat sequence to the 3' end of telomeres. A telomere is a region of repetitive sequences at each end of the chromosomes of most euka ...
) and the Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT) mechanism, which was discovered at CMRI in 1997.
See also
*
Health in Australia
Australia is a high income country, and this is reflected in the good status of health of the population overall. In 2011, Australia ranked 2nd on the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Index, indicating the level of develo ...
References
External links
CMRI's official websiteJeans for Genes Australia websiteAustralian Cancer Research Foundation website
{{Authority control
Medical research institutes in Sydney
Sydney Medical School
1958 establishments in Australia
Research institutes established in 1958