Biosciences - CSIR

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Biosciences

Strategic overview
The vision of CSIR Biosciences is to provide
bioscience solutions that improve health and
fight disease, and that support the private and
public sector industries in a manner that is
sensitive to the economic realities and the
natural environment of the societies we live in.
The strategic objectives that will underpin
achievement of this goal include engagement
and partnership with key stakeholders in the
national R&D system and the National System
of Innovation in order to find alignment with
national imperatives.
The biosciences research core has been
structured into seven platforms, which
incorporate multi-disciplinary expertise required
to deliver on key elements of a research value
chain that is focused on addressing economic
development and health-based socio-economic
challenges: discovery biology, discovery
chemistry, bioprospecting and analytical
platforms focus on the identification and
development of new molecules and biological
targets that find application to provide novel
solutions for HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. The
plant biotechnology, bioprocess technologies
and product and process development
platforms focus on the identification and
development of novel technologies that
enhance the competitiveness of the emerging
South African biosciences industry.
Close interaction with the International
Cooperation and Resources and the Frontier
Science and Technology programmes of the
Department of Science and Technology (DST)
has enabled the organisation to align with
strategies at national level. In this respect,
several strategic initiatives are being
developed. Strong partnerships and
collaborations with local universities and
research councils have been formed, as well as
with top institutions in Africa, Europe and the
US. These partnerships have facilitated access
to world-class laboratories and technologies. In
line with the emphasis on scientific research,
the unit has lodged eight Patent Cooperation
Treaty (PCT) patents during the year that
protect multi-application technologies and will
eventually lead to high-impact publications.
Human capacity to increase the CSIR skills
profile is being developed through studentship
and postdoctoral programmes.
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Mosquito repellent candle factory
launched in Limpopo
CSIR researchers and traditional healers who
collaborated in studies on indigenous plants
with mosquito repellent properties, celebrated
the discovery in the mid-1990s of a novel
mosquito repellent that proved to be more
effective than similar or comparable
commercial products on the market.
In August 2005, this discovery resulted in
another celebration when the Deputy Minister
of Science and Technology, Derek Hanekom,
officially launched a community-owned
mosquito repellent candle factory in Limpopo,
where this plant is being cultivated and
distilled, and its essential oils used in the
manufacturing of candles.
Hi-Hanyile is the result of a project aimed at
transferring CSIR essential oil production
technology and skills to the Giyani community
in Limpopo, with the DST providing the funding.
The first stages of the project involved the
establishment of a 30 ha cultivation site where
lemon grass and the mosquito repellent
essential oil crop, BP1, are grown and then
processed in an essential oil distillation factory.
The 650 m 2 factory contains equipment
required to formulate the active ingredients of
the candles, as well as to undertake
manufacturing and packaging of 400 000
candles per year.
The project currently provides employment for
67 people from rural communities around
Giyani.
Exploiting proteins to build
molecular motors
Proteins provide the functional scaffolding
constituting all organisms, and enable complex
chemical reactions (using enzymes) that can
convert thousands of substrate molecules per
second.
Proteins are highly organised, forming efficient
and stable nano- to micro-sized protein
complexes. Determining the stability of the
complexes gives insight into how these proteins
are able to fold and interact in the cell,
performing reactions that are not possible in a
chemistry laboratory. CSIR researchers,
Dr Neeresh Rohitlall (CSIR Biosciences) and
Dr Raymond Sparrow (CSIR National Laser
Centre), are exploiting these protein
characteristics to build nanomotors — molecular
devices which convert energy into movement
and forces in the order of picoNewtons.
Light has the potential to activate and control
nano-machines that can kill cancer cells, or
even help break up clots in blood vessels and
the brain. Scientists hope to create nanomotors
with applications that can target disease and
repair damaged cells in the body. The CSIR’s
molecular motor project is aimed at
engineering a light-activated controllable power
source that can be coupled to a variety of
nanodevices. The proposed nanoscopic energy
source is probably the smallest and most
efficient known energy source. It is the only
such power supply to introduce on/off
controllability as fundamental to its design. The
nanodevice can be developed for specific
applications such as drug delivery, nanoengineering
or minimally invasive nano-surgery,
particularly for delicate tissues such as the
retina.
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Enzymes put to work to produce
pectin from citrus waste
CSIR biochemists are collaborating with the
University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, the
Chemin Incubator and Kat River Citrus Co-op
Ltd to establish a pectin production plant that
uses enzymes to produce pectins from citrus
waste.
South Africa’s citrus industry, one of the
biggest exporters worldwide, produces large
volumes of citrus peel waste. Pectin, a
polysaccharide, is found abundantly in the
primary walls and intercellular layers of plant
cells. It is obtained from a variety of sources
including many fruit pulps like orange and
apple pulp.
In citrus fruit, pectin constitutes the white
spongy inner part of the peel. Pectin is
traditionally produced by chemical hydrolysis,
with significant yield losses and the production
of substantial waste streams.
The aim of the three-year project is to extract
and convert high-methodoxyl (HM) pectin from
the citrus peel, to value-added low-methodoxyl
(LM) pectin using an enzyme-based process.
There has recently been significant growth in
the uses of LM pectin. LM pectins are used as
thickening or gelling agents in a broad range
of formulated foods such as yoghurt, milk
desserts and jellies. The CSIR will apply its skills
in process chemistry, biotechnology, chemical
engineering and food science to develop the
technology required for the extraction,
hydrolysis, purification and formulation of LM
pectin.
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The birth of the “safe egg”
Food safety coupled with rising consumer
concerns inspired the establishment of an R&D
consortium led by the CSIR. The consortium
successfully developed a new system to
pasteurise shell eggs, significantly reducing the
risk of Salmonella enteritidis, a disease-causing
micro-organism carried by infected chicks.
Uncooked and semi-cooked eggs and products
containing raw eggs – many types of desserts,
mayonnaise and salad dressings – can contain
the pathogen resulting in salmonella poisoning.
The consortium, supported financially by South
Africa’s Innovation Fund, draws together the
expertise of food scientists and microbiologists
at the CSIR, sensory evaluation experts at the
University of Pretoria, design engineering
expertise from Delphius Technologies and
commercial experts at Eggbert Eggs, South
Africa’s second largest egg producer.
The new system involves a specially designed
oven and phased process – which is a
combination of microwave and hot air
technology. The challenge is to keep the eggs
at an optimal temperature to destroy the microorganism
without changing the composition or
taste of the egg.
Preliminary results show that the new
technology also destroys the avian influenza
pathogen. The consortium is in discussion with
local retailers, caterers and restaurants to
consider using and selling pasteurised eggs.
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Partnership to develop
“super sorghum” for Africa
The CSIR has joined forces with eight other
globally-respected organisations to develop
more nutritious, easily digestible sorghum with
increased levels of pro-vitamin A and E, iron,
zinc, essential amino acids and protein
prototype with increased lysine.
An African-led consortium under the leadership
of Kenya-based Africa Harvest Biotech
Foundation International is presently conducting
research into fortifying one of Africa’s
important staple foods. While the grain is
uniquely adapted to the semi-arid and subtropical
climatic conditions of the continent, its
nutritional imbalance can, however result in a
form of hunger known as micronutrient
malnutrition.
The African Biofortified Sorghum Project, a
Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative, is
funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation to the tune of US $17.6m. CSIR
biotechnologists, Drs Luke Mehlo and Andile
Grootboom, have temporarily relocated to the
US to assist in producing improved sorghum
seeds. Dr Blessed Okole is project leader on
behalf of the CSIR.
Consortium partners are:
Africa Harvest
African Agricultural Technology Forum
Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa
International Crops Research Institute for
Semi-arid Tropics
University of Pretoria, South Africa
Agricultural Research Council’s Grain
Crops Institute, South Africa
University of California, Berkeley, USA
Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc, a DuPont
Company, USA.
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