CCP4 Crystallographic School South Africa 2021 - Data Collection to Structure Refinement and Beyond – Digital Conference The first CCP4 Crystallographic School South Africa took place on the 22 February – 5 March 2021 hosted online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 90 attendees – including 39 students and postdoctoral researchers represented by 14 different nationalities – participated in the workshop, … Read more CCP4 Crystallographic School South Africa 2021
Tackling antimicrobial resistance through fragment-based drug discovery - “GCRF START has been pretty awesome, in the way it’s allowed us to help accelerate some truly cutting-edge South African science with the tools we get to develop and provide at Diamond.” Professor Frank Von Delft, GCRF START Co-I at Diamond Light Source, UK According to the World Health Organization (WHO), antimicrobial resistance is one … Read more Tackling antimicrobial resistance through fragment-based drug discovery
Understanding the molecular processes of infectious diseases for clinical drug design and discovery - The Agenda for Sustainable Development calls for the world to “ensure healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages” by 2030 (SDG3). Although there has been progress in many health areas, the UN reported in 2020 that the rate of improvement has slowed and may not be sufficient to meet SDG 3 targets, particularly … Read more Understanding the molecular processes of infectious diseases for clinical drug design and discovery
Disentangling the neuromolecular networks involved in speech and language - As a biochemist/biophysicist working primarily with proteins, I am naturally drawn to the mechanisms of interactions of biological macromolecules. My name is Sylvia Fanucchi, and I am a senior Lecturer in the Protein Structure Function Research Unit (PSFRU) at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa. I am interested in how things work … Read more Disentangling the neuromolecular networks involved in speech and language
Promising first steps towards an inhibitor targeting the South African HIV-1 subtype C protease (C-SA PR) - In a bid to design clinical drugs to improve health outcomes for people living with a particular strain of HIV and its mutants, scientists at the University of the Witwatersrand’s Protein Structure-Function Research Unit (PSFRU) in South Africa have embarked on a clinical drug discovery journey with promising results. The aim of the research, which … Read more Promising first steps towards an inhibitor targeting the South African HIV-1 subtype C protease (C-SA PR)
Engineering sustainable solutions – Enzymes to tackle toxic waste - The effects of human activity on climate change are evident in accelerated changes to global climatic conditions. As a result, there have been efforts to decrease human impact on the environment. This includes sustainable and environmentally friendly waste management systems, bioremediation of damaged ecosystems and biocatalysis as a replacement for conventional chemical synthesis in industries … Read more Engineering sustainable solutions – Enzymes to tackle toxic waste
Focus on fungal oxidoreductases for infectious disease drug targets - “The atomic structure of proteins provides an intimate insight into these magnificent macromolecules. This knowledge is crucial to truly understand how they function; whether it is to answer a burning question or to manipulate them – either to enhance if their reactions are desirable, or to inhibit if they are harmful.” Prof. Dirk Opperman, University … Read more Focus on fungal oxidoreductases for infectious disease drug targets
New generation solutions to Neglected Tropical Diseases and Nosocomial ESKAPE Infections - “Africa is a bank when it comes to diseases. The beauty of the GCRF START grant is that it offers us the opportunity to deal with these challenges in Africa, while enabling international collaboration and access to amazing synchrotron facilities with world class results.” Dr Ikechukwu Anthony Achilonu, Protein Structure-Function Research Unit (PSFRU), University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD’s) and Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) are major challenges threatening the world’s sustainability and development efforts across the spectrum of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, causing millions of … Read more New generation solutions to Neglected Tropical Diseases and Nosocomial ESKAPE Infections
SA women take the lead in structural biology - A team of researchers from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and University of the Free State (UFS) has achieved a remarkable feat in the field of structural biology by determining the structure of an enzyme that could be a key component in producing valuable commodity chemicals in greener, sustainable processes. Known as cytochrome P450 … Read more SA women take the lead in structural biology
Double first! First synchrotron user from the University of Zululand solves partial structure of the Schistosomiasis (Bilharzia) G4LZI3 universal stress protein - In a ‘double first’, Dr Priscilla Masamba, has become the first University of Zululand student to use the UK’s National Synchrotron Light Source, Diamond, and solve the partial structure of a protein from Schistosoma mansoni. With access to the synchrotron made possible by GCRF START, Priscilla employed sophisticated robotic instruments and macromolecular X-ray crystallography techniques … Read more Double first! First synchrotron user from the University of Zululand solves partial structure of the Schistosomiasis (Bilharzia) G4LZI3 universal stress protein
Structural biology – Improvements in health - The need for health improvement on the African continent continues to be a pressing issue, and START’s emphasis will be on diseases such as HIV-AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and African horse sickness that are devastating to human and animal populations. The structural biology strand of START research will support scientists in finding and developing cures by … Read more Structural biology – Improvements in health
The START of great things! - Visualising the structure of an intact helical filament at close-to-atomic resolution for the first time “We are seeing critical scientific discoveries and the emergence of a new generation of experts that have resulted directly from our training programmes in advanced methods and the use of synchrotron facilities and tools.” Dr Gwyndaf Evans, START Principal Life … Read more The START of great things!
Synchrotron Techniques for African Research and Technology