CSIR bioengineers are combining stem cell technology and genome engineering to help improve the efficacy and safety of medication for the African population.​

Africa retains 25% more genetic variation than the rest of the world. This remarkable diversity contributes to unique health issues associated with a disproportionate burden of disease. The examples are as numerous as they are varied. Inexpensive chemotherapeutics for breast cancer may be ineffective in up to 30% of people of African descent; the globally accepted baseline dosage for immunosuppressants following organ transplantation is incorrect for nearly 70% of the same population; and antiretroviral treatment regimens lead to drug toxicity build up so severe that over 25% of patients may be hospitalized for severe neurological side effects.​

 ​How then can we as the scientific community in South Africa, exploit advanced molecular biology technologies to address this low hanging fruit of precision medicine? In the BIGG lab we combine stem cell technology with genome engineering to generate models of disease in a dish, with which we can reproducibly mimic human physiology at the micron scale limiting the crippling cost of clinical trials. Our stem cell derived models are generated using samples of African genetic background, and then further manipulated to incorporate unique and clinically relevant African mutations which impact adverse drug reactions and disease progression. Balancing commercial enterprises with imminent translatability, with academic collaborations, we have established a platform which provides this unique combination of skills to be accessed by the scientific community on the continent at large, and ultimately seeks to impact the population we serve.
 

News and public engagements:

• (Radio) Primedia Broadcasting, 702 Interview, 2015.​
  ‘CSIR’s Dr Janine Scholefield on impact of stem cell technology on HIV treatment research’​​
• (Video) Science and cocktails, Johannesburg, July 2017. ​
  Talk by: Janine Scholefield​: ‘Genome engineering and stem cells. Modelling disease-in-a-dish’​​
• (Video) TEDxJohannesburg, November 2019.​
  Talk by: Janine Scholefield​: ‘The game-changing potential of genome engineering in Africa’​​
• (Article) SABC News, October 2019.​
  Written By: Lerato Matlala​: ‘Health innovators call for government funding’​​
• (Article) BusinessDay, December 2019.​
  Written by: Tanya Farber​: ‘From genetics to geoscience, SA has been the setting for a string of major scientific advances’​