R17m boost to SA science
Research in a new cutting-edge research facility in Grahamstown could help solve the Eastern Cape's socio economic problems and contribute to the fight against diseases such as cancer and TB.
R17m boost to SA science
Research in a new cutting-edge research facility in Grahamstown could help solve the Eastern Cape's socio economic problems and contribute to the fight against diseases such as cancer and TB.
Minister of Science and Technology Naledi Pandor said this at the launch of the new Time-Of-Flight-Secondary-Ion-Mass-Spectrometer (TOF-SIMS) at Rhodes University's Department of Science and Technology (DST)/Mintek Nanotechnology Innovation Centre recently.
Drugs that can be delivered directly to cancer cells, and a slow-release drug to counteract multi-drug-resistant TB are among the outcomes that the highly specialised new research facility at Rhodes University could achieve.
Rhodes University Professor Tebello Nyokong, who is the director of Mintek Nanotechnology Innovation Centre, says the new equipment could lead to huge strides in medicine right on our doorstep.
Nanotechnology is an area of science that seeks ways to enhance the chemical or physical properties of materials. This includes making them lighter, stronger or producing more efficient chemical reactions.
The specialised equipment that enables molecular particles to be analysed was bought through a R17 million investment by the Department of Science and Technology, the National Research Foundation (NRF) and Rhodes University and was launched on Friday 14 November.
This technology promises great medical research developments says Nyokong. For example, Nyokong said current cancer drugs are unable to differentiate between cancer or non-cancer tissues. With the new facilities they hope to develop nano-particles in the form of drugs that will be directly delivered to the cancerous areas in the body.
Currently the main nanotechnological research at Rhodes University is on cancer. In a media statement about the launch, the University said the facilities have made the Eastern Cape Province a significant nanotechnology hub.
Pandor appealed to the university to ensure that the new equipment supports research not only at Rhodes, but is accessible to researchers from other parts of South Africa. Pandor said the research done in these facilities could be a solution to the Eastern Cape's socio economic problems.
Revolutionary research by a team for the Council of Scientific Industrial Research (CSIR) aims to develop a Tuberculosis (TB) drug inserted safely into a patient for timed release of a full treatment for TB, Pandor said. This was a very important innovation to address the problem of TB patients not finishing their treatment and later developing drug-resistant TB.
Pandor said South Africa’s National Nanotechnology Strategy had been hailed by the science community as one of the best in the world, because of its focus on socio-economic development. She said this world-class equipment would attract scientists from around the world, and would help retain South African scientists and engineers. No longer would they need to leave the country to conduct effective research.
Pandor said one of her goals as minister was ensuring that South Africa ranked high in infrastructure for science and technology. These specialised facilities are not only limited to medical discoveries: better air quality, cleaner water and healthier food have been some of the results of research in nanotechnology.
Why the new Rhodes University nanotechnology facility matters:
Wikipedia’s definition of nanotechnology is “the manipulation of matter on an atomic, molecular and supra molecular scale”.
This area of science seeks ways to enhance the chemical or physical properties of materials. This includes making them lighter, stronger or producing more efficient chemical reactions. A Secondary-Ion-Mass-Spectrometer is a crucial tool in nanotechnology research.
It directs an electronic current at the surface of a substance to free the components of a molecule for analysis. In an online article on the ToF-SIMS, Montana State University’s David Mogk explains that the type of current used in a time-of-flight spectrometer achieves a specific result.
“ToF-SIMS is also referred to as 'static' SIMS because a low primary ion current is used to 'tickle' the sample surface to liberate ions, molecules and molecular clusters for analysis," he writes.
“In contrast, ‘dynamic’ SIMS is the method of choice for quantitative analysis…
Organic compounds are effectively destroyed by ‘dynamic’ SIMS, and no diagnostic information is obtained.”
More about nanotechnology and the Time-Of-Flight-Secondary-Ion-Mass-Spectrometer at: http://serc.carleton.edu/research_education/geochemsheets/techniques/ToFSIMS.html http://www.understandingnano.com/nanotech-applications.html
