News

  • Ready to beat Malaria

    Posted on April 25, 2018

    Malaria is a vicious disease that is Africa’s leading cause of death among children under the age of five. Millions of people in Africa are infected with it and 90% of the world’s reported cases occur on the continent.

  • Finding food coping strategies in your back garden

    Posted on April 17, 2018

    Up to 70% of households in rural settlements across South Africa are food insecure.

  • UP does everything it can to kill one of the biggest killers in South Africa

    Posted on March 26, 2018

    Tuberculosis (TB) kills more people every year than HIV/AIDS or any other single infectious agent. This statistic seems criminal considering that if the disease is diagnosed and treated timeously, most patients can be cured. Diagnosis and treatment.

  • Hot birds in the hot seat

    Posted on February 22, 2018

    Prof Andrew McKechnie of the Department of Zoology and Entomology was recently awarded the South African Research Chair in Conservation Physiology.

  • UP leads the world in using nuclear therapy to fight cancer

    Posted on February 09, 2018

    Most people have, in some way or other, been affected by cancer, whether through the loss of a loved one or a personal fight against the big C, a dreaded and often incurable disease.

  • African genetic diversity could hold answer to unlocking disease susceptibility

    Posted on January 24, 2018

    A team of South African researchers which includes researchers from the University of Pretoria (UP) recently completed a study aimed at unlocking the unique genetic character of southern African populations.

  • Be part of the Cape Town Hypothesis Test

    Posted on January 01, 2018

    The smallest floral kingdom in the world is a rather big deal – and it is only found in South Africa. Fynbos, the natural hard-leafed shrubland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces, makes up 80% of plant species in this kingdom, and the area has been named a...

  • Finding simple ways to maximise the strength of your bones

    Posted on January 01, 2018

    Needless to say, without bones in our bodies, we would not be able to survive. Bones provide support, give bodies shape, provide protection to other systems and organs, provide attachments for muscles, and contain the bone marrow where blood cells are produced.

  • Corruption and state capture: Research gives 'voice' to ordinary South Africans

    Posted on December 07, 2017

    The Centre for Communication and Reputation Management at the University of Pretoria commissioned Ask AfriKa (South Africa's largest independent research company) and Infusion Knowledge Hub to explore the views of ordinary citizens regarding corruption and state capture.

  • 8 out of 10 learners still cannot read at appropriate level

    Posted on December 05, 2017

    The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2016 report paints a disturbing picture of primary school reading literacy in South Africa, with no significant progress nationally since the last report in 2011.

  • UP joins the fight against maternal and neonatal sepsis

    Posted on November 28, 2017

    The Centre For Maternal, Fetal, Newborn and Child Health Care at the University of Pretoria has announced that it will join the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Maternal and Neonatal Sepsis Initiative, which aims to accelerate the reduction of preventable maternal and neonatal deaths...

  • Forests are living on the edge – and this is not a good thing

    Posted on November 21, 2017

    Forests are living habitats that contain life in all its incredible forms. Towering trees create canopies that are home to an array of species – many of which are found only in the forests they occupy.

  • Unravelling the mysteries of meerkat behaviour

    Posted on November 08, 2017

    Researchers at the University of Pretoria form part of the Kalahari Meerkat Project in the Northern Cape's Kuruman River Reserve, which has studied groups of wild meerkats for over 20 years.

  • The pathogen discoverer – in search of novel and/or emerging tick-borne pathogens

    Posted on November 01, 2017

    Africa has one of the highest burdens of infectious diseases of humans and animals. Zoonotic diseases – those transmitted from domestic and wild animals to humans – annually cause 2,2 million deaths and 2,4 billion cases of human illness worldwide.

  • From audits to action: UP data is saving moms and babies

    Posted on November 01, 2017

    UP researchers have been working with the South African government to collect data on mother, newborn and child deaths across the country since 1997.

  • Indigenous bacteria gives maize crops a helping hand

    Posted on October 20, 2017

    A local bacteria that grows around plant roots could help SA farmers save money by improving maize yields and reducing crop water stress. According to researchers at the University of Pretoria’s (UPs) Department of Plant and Soil Science, this environmentally-friendly agricultural solution...

  • Ground-breaking surgical procedure by South African team regarded as the first of its kind

    Posted on October 13, 2017

    In what is regarded as a first of its kind, a group of South African veterinarians, together with a maxillofacial surgeon, succeeded in surgically lengthening the misaligned jaw of an adult male chimpanzee.

  • Another veterinary painkiller found to be toxic to vultures

    Posted on October 11, 2017

    The drug known as carprofen, which was found to be toxic to vultures, belongs to the same family of drugs as diclofenac and meloxicam.

  • Some flies like crowds

    Posted on October 11, 2017

    Global population growth and migration from rural areas to cities has resulted in human settlements being concentrated in urban areas.

  • Committed to improving maternal and child health in South Africa

    Posted on October 04, 2017

    Prof Robert Pattinson started his career in medicine working in a mission hospital in KwaZulu-Natal in the late 1970s. The doctor in charge was an old man suffering from Parkinson's disease.

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