Bioinformatics

South Africa is becoming involved in fighting the HIV/Aids pandemic in a multitude of ways. Thanks to technology, the country is able to harness a wide arsenal of weapons in this fight, and South African researchers are now able to use supercomputers to make use of the knowledge that has been gleaned from the biological building blocks of life, such as genes and proteins, and determine how interactions between these can help to fight the disease, points out Meraka Institute technology research manager Johan Eksteen.

The conference on the Historical, Ethical and Legal, Educational, Bio-Medical and Bio-Technological Implications of the Human Genome Project for Research and Development in Africa. The South African government, together with the Wellcome Trust is supporting the development of African scientists who wish to attend the workshops listed below. There is an excellent line-up of speakers, together with the opportunity to take a solid course in genome bioinformatics. Funding is available for deserving scientists, especially those from poorer institutions. French speaking scientists from within Africa are especially encouraged to apply as there is specific support for French-speakers. Held at Spier Estate, Stellenbosch, South Africa