Transcript
[Music plays and an image appears of a Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation medallion above text: Professor Glenn King, PhD, FAAM]
[Image changes to show Prof Glenn King talking to the camera]
Prof Glenn King: As scientists what we’re trying to do is create something of value.
[Images move through to show a close view of Glenn talking, Glenn working in a lab, a close view of Glenn’s hand holding up a sample of liquid, and Glenn and colleagues in the lab]
Being able to achieve that not once but several times is incredibly rewarding.
[Images move through to show a medium and then close view of Glenn talking to the camera, and then various views of the Queensland Bioscience Precinct, and text appears: Professor Glenn King]
I’m Professor Glenn King from the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland and Chief Scientific Officer of Infensa Bioscience.
[Images move through to show a medium and then close view of Glenn talking to the camera, and then a facing and rear view of Glenn walking around the Queensland Bioscience Precinct]
Early on in my career I got interested in how we could protect crops in an environmentally sustainable way.
[Images move through to show Glenn talking to the camera, Glenn and a colleague looking at a spider specimen, various insects in test tubes, and a close view of a spider in a plastic container]
So, in the mid-1990s we began to think about ways to protect crops from insect pests and we decided why not turn to the best insect killers on the planet, spiders.
[Image changes to show Glenn talking to the camera, and then the image changes to show Glenn working in the lab syringing up some pink liquid from a bottle]
What we were searching for were molecules that would kill insects but were completely harmless to humans.
[Image changes to show Glenn talking to the camera, and then the image changes to show Glenn working in the lab again]
Believe it or not the answer was right here in our backyard. The best molecules were in the venom of the Australian funnel web spider.
[Images move through to show a close view of Glenn mixing a sample in a tube, and then the image changes to show Glenn talking, and then the image changes to show Glenn with a colleague]
In 2005 I founded a company called Vestaron to try and commercialise these discoveries.
[Images move through to show Glenn watching a scorpion climb up his colleague’s arm, Glenn talking to the camera, and a close view of the scorpion on a sleeve]
This Australian innovation is now having global impact with these insecticides around the world.
[Images move through to show Glenn talking to the camera, a close view of Glenn talking, and then a close view of the Infensa Bioscience badge on a uniform shirt]
Ten years of working on spider venom made us realise that the venoms had molecules for human therapeutics and that in turn led to the founding of Infensa Bioscience.
[Images move through to show test tubes in a tray, test tubes being gently vibrated on a machine, a robotic machine with nozzles, and Glenn and a colleague looking at rows of samples]
30% of all deaths every year are due to stroke or heart attack and yet we do not have a single drug to protect the brain or the heart.
[Images move through to show Glenn and a colleague talking, Glenn talking to the camera, rows of sample tubes, notations in a book, Glenn talking with his colleague, and Glenn talking to the camera]
Remarkably in the venom of an Australian funnel web spider we found a molecule that protects the brain after stroke, the heart after a heart attack, and helps us maintain the integrity of donor hearts for heart transplant.
[Images move through to show a spider being transferred from one container to another, Glenn talking to the camera, and the spider under a plastic container on a lab bench]
Infensa plans to start clinical trials for heart attack next year and those clinical trials will be run in Australia.
[Images move through to show a spider being worked with, Glenn talking to the camera, a close view of a spider being moved into another container, and Glenn and a colleague looking at a spider]
Infensa is truly an Australian story, it’s an Australian innovation, it’s funded by Australians, it’s based in Australia, it’s employing Australians, the benefits will feed back into the Australian economy.
[Images move through to show Glenn talking, a close view of Glenn talking to the camera, Glenn’s colleague looking at a scorpion on her lab coat sleeve, and Glenn smiling while standing in the lab]
I’m incredibly humbled and honoured to have received the Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation. I hope this will inspire others to push boundaries.
[Image changes to show a close view of Glenn smiling at the camera]
Don’t forget you’re the innovator, so follow your passion.
[Music plays and the image changes to show a Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation medallion on the left, the Australian Government Coat of Arms at the bottom right, and text: 2023 Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation]
