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Unisa and CSIR open multi-million rand facility to advance SA biotechnology
Unisa and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) opened a multi-million rand Nuclear Magnetic Resonance facility, which will position South African scientific research on the world stage. The R5 million facility, which aims to advance South Africa's biotechnology, was officially opened on Thursday 10 September 2009 at the CSIR campus in Pretoria.
Unisa’s Dr Martin Myer, a senior lecturer and research coordinator in the Department of Life Sciences and Consumer Sciences, said the facility will give the university’s postgraduate students registered in Biotechnology an opportunity to do practical research training at a recognised scientific research institution.
"Biotechnology as a study option has not been available due to a lack of established know-how and suitable instrumentation in appropriate laboratory facilities. But now this facility will open up a niche area for biotechnology research under the supervision of seasoned researchers. Our postgraduate students will also be trained on other platforms in biotechnology at CSIR Biosciences, such as molecular biology and confocal microscopy," said Dr Myers.
The opening of the facility is a culmination of an agreement sealed earlier this year by the two institutions. Dr Myer said this partnership was important to preserve South Africa's technology and technology transfer, and to prevent the proliferation of international patents on South African biodiversity.
Three postgraduate students will get an opportunity to participate in research initiatives at the facility each year and it is envisaged that over the next years, 30 students will have participated in research initiatives at the facility.
Dr Myer said the acquisition of the 600 MHz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance machine was rare in South Africa and it would enable Unisa students to compete properly at an international level.
"This machine has a magnetic force 300 times stronger than the magnetic field of the Earth and has the ability to catapult local scientific research beyond what is currently being achieved. It will also enable scientists and research students to provide a complete analysis and interpretation of compounds, and is non-destructive to samples. Without an NMR, it is as though scientists are looking into space and seeing a fuzzy picture of Mars," Dr Myer explained. | 
