News

  • Fancy a cuppa? UP study finds tea to be as antioxidant-rich as fruit and veg

    Posted on May 21, 2025

    University of Pretoria (UP) researchers have found that the antioxidant content of certain types of tea can be likened to that found in recommended portions of fruit and vegetables.

  • UP scientists home in on gene that could play pivotal role in diet-induced obesity

    Posted on May 12, 2025

    Researchers at the University of Pretoria (UP) may have identified the gene that is responsible for diet-related obesity. By exploring the role of the novel gene Slc7a8, they have made a potential breakthrough in current knowledge about the cellular mechanisms that drive fat accumulation. This...

  • RE.SEARCH 11: Digital Worlds

    Posted on April 17, 2025

    The latest issue of the University of Pretoria’s award-winning RE.SEARCH magazine is available now and reflects a shift towards both a fresher design and outlook. This edition is curated under the theme ‘Digital’, and offers a glimpse into some of the fascinating research...

  • UP-led astronomy research team explores formation of giant radio galaxies

    Posted on February 10, 2025

    Enabled by supercomputing, University of Pretoria (UP) researchers have led an international team of astronomers that has provided deeper insight into the entire life cycle (birth, growth and death) of giant radio galaxies, which resemble “cosmic fountains” – jets of superheated...

  • RE.SEARCH 10: Make today matter

    Posted on November 22, 2024

    The articles in this edition showcase work from all nine of our faculties, and underscore our University’s slogan ‘Make today matter’. RE.SEARCH has been named South Africa's top corporate publication as the winner of the 2024 SA Publication's Forum Awards. It is a runner up and...

  • UP researcher discovers two new dung beetle species which don't roll balls or use dung

    Posted on November 13, 2024

    Over the past two decades, field trips in search of dung beetles have taken University of Pretoria (UP) doctoral student Christian Deschodt across Southern Africa. But it was a well-trodden walk to fetch his kids from school, a mere 1,5km from his home near Hartbeespoort, that saw him stumble...

  • UP and CSIR pioneer maps for maize farmers to enable precision weeding

    Posted on October 09, 2024

    In a first for precision agriculture, University of Pretoria (UP) researchers, in association with collaborators from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), have produced maps of smallholder farms in Gauteng that highlight maize plants in green and weeds in red. The maps were...

  • Arid conditions stimulate plant trait diversity – UP part of worldwide study that offers hope for biodiversity conservation

    Posted on September 25, 2024

    The University of Pretoria (UP) has been part of a groundbreaking international study to understand how plants found in drylands have adapted to these extreme habitats. The results of this large-scale study, which involved 120 scientists from 27 countries, were recently published in scientific...

  • RE.SEARCH 9: What if? 

    Posted on August 26, 2024

    RE.SEARCH 9 is our most novel edition yet. In it, we have featured research that encourages us to think afresh, and is doing so, we’ve highlighted new ways of looking at research. You can expect to read about research that has potential and promise for the future but which is still nascent...

  • UP researchers discover optimum way to monitor blood oxygen levels in immobilised rhino, boosting efforts to combat poaching

    Posted on August 14, 2024

    New research by scientists at the University of Pretoria (UP) has shown that pulse oximeters, originally designed for humans, can be used more effectively to monitor the blood oxygen levels of rhinoceroses who are under anaesthesia and immobilised – by attaching them at an unusual site: the...

  • UP scientist issues urgent call for clean-up of toxic Krugersdorp mine dumps

    Posted on July 04, 2024

    Young children in Krugersdorp are breathing in uranium, arsenic and mercury fumes wafting over from abandoned legacy mines, while pollutants are seeping into the groundwater and nearby dams and lakes, cautions Dr Alseno Kagiso Mosai, a water remediation expert at the University of...

  • UP study reveals impact of office gossip on black gay and lesbian individuals in workplaces

    Posted on June 14, 2024

    A study by University of Pretoria (UP) researchers that investigated the effects of office gossip on black gay and lesbian South Africans has revealed the significant challenges faced by these individuals in South African workplaces.

  • UP experts contribute to discovery of new ‘superpowers’ in mole rats, which could inform human health interventions

    Posted on June 04, 2024

    University of Pretoria (UP) scientists have contributed to discovering how the naked mole rat is able to withstand heart attacks and fend off bowel cancer, two of the most fatal human ailments in the developed world. Their findings were published recently in two Nature Communications papers.

  • RE.SEARCH 8: Connect

    Posted on May 07, 2024

    In a world in which there is an ever-encroaching digital footprint and high-tech solutions, it is vital that we reconnect with an outlook of compassion, care and communication. We do this through connection and connectivity. The theme of our latest issue, ‘Connect’, highlights how UP...

  • UP researchers involved in discovery of nine trapdoor spider species

    Posted on April 08, 2024

    Nine new trapdoor spider species have been discovered in the Great Karoo by researchers at the University of Pretoria’s (UP) Department of Zoology and Entomology, and the Agricultural Research Council (ARC).

  • UP researchers find environmental toxins poison epigenetic inheritance

    Posted on February 09, 2024

    In a study that signals potential reproductive and health complications in humans, now and for future generations, researchers at the University of Pretoria and Canada’s McGill University and Université Laval have concluded that toxins in the environment, notably DDT, modify the sperm...

  • UP scientists lead Mpumalanga study of natural hydrogen gas discovered under Earth’s surface

    Posted on November 29, 2023

    Scientists at the University of Pretoria (UP) are leading a study of natural hydrogen gas discovered under the Earth’s surface in Mpumalanga – a source of renewable energy that could contribute to the national energy budget and help address the energy shortage in South Africa.

  • RE.SEARCH 7: Just Transitions

    Posted on November 23, 2023

    This edition explores the theme of ‘Just Transitions’ which is generally characterised by ideas of sustainability and the greening of the economy, and supported by the ideas of resistance, rethinking and restructuring society for a better and more equitable future. As one of the most...

  • Research shows there are more warm-bodied sharks than previously thought

    Posted on November 15, 2023

    New research arising from a collaboration between scientists at the University of Pretoria (UP) and Trinity College Dublin has shown there are likely more warm-bodied sharks out there than previously thought.

  • UP researchers close in on the secret to aging

    Posted on October 23, 2023

    The quest for immortality has long fascinated humans, and inspired countless tales – now, in two new studies published in the journals Nature and Science, University of Pretoria (UP) researchers, along with a team of global experts known as the Mammalian Methylation Consortium, are a step...

Copyright © University of Pretoria 2025. All rights reserved.

Share