DNA - The African Mirror

Mar

2022

A first for large African mammals: DNA used to count Gabon’s endangered forest elephants

ACROSS the African continent the populations of both species of African elephants – forest and savanna – have been declining due to habitat loss, poaching and human-wildlife conflict. Author FIONA MAISELS, Wildlife Conservation Society, African Elephant Specialist Group (IUCN) and Honorary Professor, University of Stirling Forest elephants are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as “Critically Endangered” – a category for species that have declined over 80% within three generations. And it has listed savanna elephants as “Endangered” – indicating a decline of over 50% within three generations. But there remains some areas where there is both…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Medical schools need to prepare doctors for revolutionary advances in genetics

HEALTH

HUMAN diversity did not appear to matter to modern medicine. At the time, the state of medical practice ignored the differences between individuals and between men and women. RAMA SHANKAR SINGH, Professor of Biology, McMaster University This practice was reflected in how doctors were trained. They took courses in basic biology, biochemistry, anatomy and physiology. But genetics, the science of variation, was not a required course until recently. Advances in genetics research have slowly transformed the practice of medicine. There has been a slow accumulation of a long list of diseases caused by variations in a single gene. Since the…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Five principles that should guide future DNA ‘editing’ in South Africa

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

IN recent years there have been several major innovations in genetics. One prominent example is CRISPR-Cas9, a novel biotechnology derived from bacteria that could be used to make precise changes to specific locations in the human genome – our DNA. BONGINKOSI SHOZI, Doctoral Fellow with the UKZN African Health Research Flagship, University of KwaZulu-Natal MARIETJIE BOTES, Post Doctoral Fellow, University of KwaZulu-Natal Scientists could use CRISPR-Cas9 and similar technologies to eliminate genetic diseases by using germline cells (gametes and embryos). This is known as germline editing; a child born from modified gametes or embryos will have such “edits” in their…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Could genealogy websites help catch aid worker sex abusers

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

EMMA BATHA TECHNOLOGY that helped catch a U.S. serial murderer, dubbed the Golden State Killer, could be used to track down aid workers who sexually abuse girls and women overseas, according to the team behind a groundbreaking project in the Philippines. In abuse cases which result in pregnancy, scientists say DNA could be taken from the child with the mother's consent and uploaded to a genealogy database to trace the father. The technology has been made possible by the popularity of commercial genealogy services which now hold DNA data on millions of people keen to explore their ancestry. "I'm really…