Biosciences

Enhancing nature to save millions from malaria As the world geared itself to commemorate World Malaria Day on 25 April, systems biologists at the CSIR were preparing to wrap up the first phase of a research project that could have a profound effect on the antimalarial pharmaceutical industry in coming years.

Traditional healers and scientists working together Custodians of indigenous knowledge - accustomed in the past to being left out in the cold on matters of scientifically-based public health - rubbed shoulders with scientists and representatives of government at a CSIR workshop recently.

Burning the torch for malaria research The systems biology research group at CSIR Biosciences is approaching this problem of drug-resistant strains of the malaria parasite in a novel way by trying to shed light on the mode of action of compounds with antimalarial activity, as well as to identify drug targets using a systems-biology approach that involves the application of genomics and proteomics - scientific technologies fairly new to South African research.