The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, commonly known as the CSIR, is a world-class African research and development organisation established through an Act of Parliament in 1945. Its executive authority is the Minister of Science and Technology. The CSIR undertakes directed, multidisciplinary research and technological innovation that contribute to the improved quality of the life of South Africans.
Exhibition on 4th Industrial Revolution opened in Parliament
The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has partnered with Parliament to produce an exhibition demonstrating South Africa's readiness to embrace the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR).
The 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) refers to the current and developing environment in which disruptive technologies and trends such as the Internet of Things and virtual reality are changing the way people live and work.
President Ramaphosa's State of the Nation Address on 7 February highlighted the need for South Africa to prepare for the 4th Industrial Revolution, referring to the Presidential Commission he has appointed for this purpose.
Finding the missing regulatory links of the innate immune system
In a groundbreaking study published in Nature Genetics on 10 December 2018, a team of scientists from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), led by Prof. Musa Mhlanga, has detailed – for the first time – the mechanism of how the immune system remembers prior exposures to, for example, pathogens (micro-organisms like bacteria, causing infection), to then trigger the right response to reinfection.
First author and CSIR senior researcher, Dr Stephanie Fanucchi, contextualises the research: “The immune system sits at the apex of our protection against all diseases, ranging from infectious diseases to chronic diseases, such as cancer and diabetes.”
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