Welcome to Research Matters

Story

Limpopo's tomato growers have to face up to climate change

Limpopo Province produces 66% of the total annual tonnage of tomatoes grown in South Africa. The province is also deemed particularly vulnerable to the impact of climate change, partly because it is exposed to extreme weather events.

Lecture

‘Great expectations and the mourning after: A literary anatomy of post-independence politics in Africa’

In 1980 there were around 5 000 analogue mobile subscribers. With the GSM digital mobile coming into play around 1988, it is predicted that by the end of 2013 there will be approximately 7 billion connections in the world. With such spectacular growth in the wireless communications industry, the next challenge is the provision of greater throughput via broadband connections that are both...

Story

Mass vaccination can keep this neglected disease under control

Mass vaccination campaigns that reach 70% of dogs will control and, hopefully, eventually eliminate rabies. This is the message that Prof. Darryn Knobel of the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Pretoria would like us to hear.

Story

Taking the battle against disease into the family home

Prof Hugo, who is also an award-winning doctor and a member of the Chronic Disease Initiative for Africa, is a passionate advocate for Community-oriented Primary Care (COPC) – a proven approach to primary care according to which healthcare is brought proactively to families and individuals where they live, work and play.

Lecture

'Human rights in a time of homophobia: An argument for equal legal protection of "sexual minorities" in Africa'

Over the last decade or so, international acceptance of 'sexual minorities' has increased significantly, reflected in the consensus that a person's sexual orientation or gender identity should not be a basis for denying him or her the equal protection of the law. In most of the African continent, a conflicting trend of formally stigmatising homosexuality has manifested itself, leading to the...

Lecture

Stem cells: Current reality and future promise

The rapidly evolving field of stem cell research continues to raise great hope among patients. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells capable of self-renewal that can differentiate into all the specialised cell types of the body when exposed to appropriate environmental cues. Adult stem cells are found in almost all tissues of the body, perhaps the best known being bone marrow, while embryonic...