Institute for Molecular Bioscience

Institute for Molecular Bioscience We harness nature to discover cures for a better world Our vision is to create a world with a cure for every disease.

We harness our knowledge of nature to create sustainable cures for diseases that plague people, animals and plants. Our researchers use Australian venoms, plants and soils to stop superbugs in their tracks, to create better cancer treatments, to ensure patients survive strokes and heart attacks, to solve inflammatory diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, and to develop environmentally friendly and effective pesticides. We are based at The University of Queensland in Brisbane/Meanjin, Australia.

A tiny fish helping tackle a massive global challenge 🐟Antibiotic resistance is on track to become one of the world’s bi...
19/03/2026

A tiny fish helping tackle a massive global challenge 🐟

Antibiotic resistance is on track to become one of the world’s biggest health threats. Yet, developing safe new antibiotics remains slow, expensive, and often unsuccessful.

That’s where zebrafish come in.

By using zebrafish embryos, researchers can quickly and ethically assess whether new antibiotic compounds may cause kidney damage, a key reason drugs fail. Compounds are injected into the yolk, absorbed by the developing embryo, and monitored in real time. Because zebrafish kidneys function similarly to our own, they offer a powerful early indicator of safety.

The result? Faster identification of both harmful and promising drugs, helping accelerate the path to safer antibiotics.

Small model. Big impact.

📸 Zebrafish yolk ignites insights into kidney damage by Michelle Novais de Paula, 2025.

Why do some newborns develop life-threatening sepsis, while others don’t? Researchers from the University of Queensland’...
12/03/2026

Why do some newborns develop life-threatening sepsis, while others don’t?

Researchers from the University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience — Professor Mark Schembri and his team — have helped uncover a critical clue: babies who become severely ill lack protective antibodies against E. coli that are normally passed from mother to child before birth.

The discovery comes from an international collaborative study led by researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Centre, showing these naturally transferred antibodies can actively protect newborns from infection. The findings open the door to identifying at-risk pregnancies earlier and even preventing neonatal sepsis before it begins.

Published in Nature, this research highlights how maternal immunity can be enhanced to save newborn lives worldwide.

Read more 👉 https://bit.ly/3NlGX4R

How could deadly venom inspire new pain medicines?Professor Irina Vetter, pain researcher at the Institute for Molecular...
11/03/2026

How could deadly venom inspire new pain medicines?

Professor Irina Vetter, pain researcher at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience, shares insights in a new Chemistry World feature exploring how cone snail venom peptides could lead to the next generation of pain treatments.

In the article by Anthony King, Vetter explains how nature’s toxins target pain pathways with remarkable precision, offering powerful clues for developing safer, more effective therapies.

Read the feature to learn more 👉https://bit.ly/3P4gsSb



Chemistry World

✨ You are invited ✨ UQ's IMB is hosting a Cheese and Chats: Endometriosis, Together in Discovery event, as part of Endom...
11/03/2026

✨ You are invited ✨

UQ's IMB is hosting a Cheese and Chats: Endometriosis, Together in Discovery event, as part of Endometriosis Awareness Month.

Join us on 25 March 2026, 5:30–7:30 pm at The Atrium, Brisbane City, for a unique evening with researchers, clinicians, patient advocates, and people with lived experience as we explore the science, stories, and solutions transforming endometriosis care.

Did you know 1 in 7 women and girls in Australia live with endometriosis, a condition that can cause chronic pain, infertility, and life-changing disruption — yet is often misunderstood and diagnosed too late?

Moderated by Victoria Carthew, award-winning journalist and passionate women’s health advocate.

Hear from our amazing panel featuring Dr Brett McKinnon, Prof Gita Mishra AO, Jess Taylor (QENDO Australia), Gillian Gordon, and Associate Prof Akwasi Amoako — leaders in research, clinical care, and patient support.

📅 Tickets & info: https://imb.uq.edu.au/event/session/21228

New tech just landed in the lab⚡ We’re excited to announce the installation of our new SyncroPatch 384 from Nanion Techn...
10/03/2026

New tech just landed in the lab⚡

We’re excited to announce the installation of our new SyncroPatch 384 from Nanion Technologies in the King Group at IMB, UQ.

Awarded through the SyncroPatch 384 Research Grant, this powerful system will dramatically accelerate our work — allowing experiments that would traditionally take years to be completed in months.

With this state-of-the-art technology, the team will screen arthropod venoms to uncover potential drug leads for a range of therapeutic targets, including epilepsy, pain and heart disease.

A huge thank you to the Nanion team — especially Paul George, who travelled across the world to install the system and get everything up and running.

We can’t wait to see the discoveries this technology helps unlock🧬

March is Endometriosis Awareness Month — shining a light on a chronic condition affecting millions worldwide.Yet many pe...
10/03/2026

March is Endometriosis Awareness Month — shining a light on a chronic condition affecting millions worldwide.

Yet many people still wait years for diagnosis, answers, and relief.

At , researchers are working to better understand the biology behind endometriosis and the chronic pain it causes, helping move us closer to earlier diagnosis and more effective treatments.

This Endometriosis Awareness Week, we’re proud to stand with QENDO Australia, whose advocacy, education and support are helping drive real change for the endometriosis community.

Read more about our research 👉 https://bit.ly/4um0UJz
Learn about QENDO 👉 https://bit.ly/4de5CTr

Image: Lymphocyte attraction: understanding disease progression via endometrial organoidsIsaac Kyei-Barffour, 2025.

Today joins the global community supporting International Women's Day 2026 — celebrating the achievements of women whi...
07/03/2026

Today joins the global community supporting International Women's Day 2026 — celebrating the achievements of women while recognising the work still needed to achieve gender equality.

This year’s theme, , highlights the power of collective action; giving support, visibility, and resources to help women thrive.

On Friday the 6th, IMB hosted a panel discussion exploring research into women’s health and how institutions can better support women to succeed in science. The conversation featured A. Professor Sonia Shah, Dr Lena Oestreich, Professor Brett Collins, Anjali Henders, and PhD researcher Caroline Brito Nunes.

Our community also came together for a fundraising bake sale, raising money for to support research and awareness for a condition affecting millions of women worldwide.

Women’s health has long been under‑researched and under‑recognised. Through science, collaboration and advocacy, IMB is committed to helping change that.

Some frogs and wasps are literally weaponising pain—and UQ scientists just figured out how 🐸🐝Researchers at , led by Dr...
06/03/2026

Some frogs and wasps are literally weaponising pain—and UQ scientists just figured out how 🐸🐝

Researchers at , led by Dr Sam Robinson, have discovered that some wasps and frogs have evolved toxins that mimic a key pain molecule in vertebrates—basically hijacking the biology of predators to say: “Don’t mess with me!”

This isn’t inherited from other animals. It’s a case of convergent evolution: completely separate species independently evolving the same trick. Wasps use it in venom, frogs in their skin secretions, and the result? A painful surprise for predators.

Beyond being fascinating, this discovery reveals a new class of defensive toxins, strengthens the idea that evolution often finds the same solutions to common problems, and could lead to new applications in medicine, agriculture, and biotechnology.

Science just proved life can be clever, sneaky, and… painfully creative.

Read more. See link in bio 👆

👆

We celebrated International Women's Day 2026 early this year with two uplifting events that brought energy and connectio...
06/03/2026

We celebrated International Women's Day 2026 early this year with two uplifting events that brought energy and connection across the institute.

We started the morning with an engaging women’s health research panel, where our speakers shared thoughtful perspectives on equity, opportunity and the future of women’s health science. Their conversation sparked meaningful discussion and left us inspired for what’s ahead.

And of course — the IWD Bake Sale was a huge hit! From cupcakes to cookies, our community baked (and bought!) their hearts out, raising funds for Endometriosis Australia and helping support vital research and awareness.

A big thank you to everyone who took part, volunteered, presented or simply stopped by. Days like today remind us how powerful it is when our community comes together!

✨ Future scientists in the making 🧬IMB was thrilled to be part of the 2026 UQ Alumni Book Fair, bringing hands-on scienc...
02/03/2026

✨ Future scientists in the making 🧬

IMB was thrilled to be part of the 2026 UQ Alumni Book Fair, bringing hands-on science fun to an estimated 300 young minds across the day.

Curious young visitors built delicious DNA with confectionery, created colourful microbe colonies, explored peptides found in venoms and plants, and discovered what makes their genetic fingerprint unique. Our junior scientist photo booth was a standout, with lab coats and plenty of proud parent photos captured in front of the IMB banner.

A huge thank you to our incredible Science Ambassadors and partners at the ARC Centre for Innovation in Peptide and Protein Science (CIPPS) for making the experience so engaging, and to the Alumni team for having us. We loved seeing so many families connect with science in such a fun and accessible way.

Here’s to inspiring the next generation of researchers 🔬💡

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27/02/2026

Can a brain scan diagnose depression? 🧠

Nearly 8,000 brain scans later, the answer is: not yet.

In a major international study led by researchers at UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience, MRI scans did reveal subtle structural signals linked to depression — but not nearly strong enough to work as a diagnostic test.

Even cutting-edge AI couldn’t crack it.

The takeaway? Depression is far more complex than a single brain snapshot. Biology matters — but so do genetics, life experience and environment. If we want better prediction and treatment, we need to look beyond grey matter alone.

Read the full story 👉 https://bit.ly/3MXlE9w




Parents often worry when babies gain weight quickly or grow differently from their peers. New findings from Researcher...
23/02/2026

Parents often worry when babies gain weight quickly or grow differently from their peers. New findings from Researchers Dr. Nicole Warrington, Dr. Geng Wang and Dr Kathryn Kemper reveal that our genes can influence these changes 🧬

This study followed children from infancy to late adolescence and found that the genes influencing body size don’t stay the same throughout childhood. The genes that contribute to an infant’s body size may be different to those contributing to a teenager’s body size, meaning a baby’s size tells only a tiny part of the story. Further, this research highlights how certain growth patterns are genetically linked to later risks like high blood sugar, cholesterol issues, and high blood pressure. That means understanding the biology of healthy growth (not single body size measurements) could help doctors identify when a child might benefit from extra support long before problems arise, eventually transforming how we track growth 📈

By applying these techniques to long‑term human data, researchers are opening new doors to understanding childhood development — and the early roots of lifelong health.

Read more 👉 https://bit.ly/4tMUToY

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IMB is a multidisciplinary life sciences research institute. Our scientists use world-leading infrastructure to drive discoveries from genome to drug design, disease discovery application and sustainable futures. Our research is framed through centres focused on superbugs, pain, heart disease, inflammation, solar biotechnology and the genomics-disease interplay.