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A young scientist whose work at The University of Western Australia has the potential to improve our understanding of the human brain, transform stem-cell medicine and revolutionise agriculture has been awarded a Prime Minister’s Prize for Science.

Professor Ryan Lister is in Canberra today where he received the $50,000 Frank Fenner Prize for Life Scientist of the Year.

Floreat resident Professor Lister (36) who has a wife, Amber, and children Finn (six) and Ariadne (three), is a Future Fellow at UWA’s Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Plant Energy Biology and has won several other prestigious awards in the 15 years since completing his PhD at UWA.

His research focuses on epigenetics and genomics. The epigenome – a molecular code superimposed upon the genome that controls how genes are turned on and off – plays pivotal roles in normal development and disease or stress states in humans, animals and plants.

Ryan has sat at the forefront of epigenetics research after he pioneered new techniques that use large-scale DNA sequencing to rapidly produce whole-genome maps of the epigenome from humans, mice and plants.

“We can now vault the species divide in our research,” Professor Lister said. “With these new technologies we’re seeing the old discipline borders between animals and plants dissolve. As the cost of DNA sequencing and synthesis continues to fall, science is pushing towards discoveries that impact across many species simultaneously.”

In the human brain, he has found a new form of the epigenome that is extensively reconfigured during childhood brain development, and that may play a critical role in learning, memory and neurological disorders. In stem-cell medicine, he has clarified a current challenge with his discovery that cells retain an epigenetic memory of their past. In agriculture, his work aims to enable the development of crops that provide better yields of food, fuel and fibre in challenging and changing environments.

UWA's Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Johnson congratulated Professor Lister on his award.

"Professor Lister's achievements in a relatively short time are impressive and we are proud of him and of his major contributions to society," he said.

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Media references

Niall Byrne (Prime Minister's Prize for Science)  (+61 3) 9398 1416 / (+61 4) 17 131 977
David Stacey (UWA Media Manager)  (+61 8) 6488 3229 / (+61 4) 32 637 716