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Africa Melane speaks to the University of Cape Town's Dr Ben Kagina about the Omicron (B.1.1.529): SARS-CoV-2 variant.

News Author: Wiida Fourie-Basson Published: 20/05/2021 ​​Stellenbosch University (SU) plans to implement a wastewater-based surveillance platform to detect institutional SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks on two of its campuses. “This flows from the institution's commitment to do everything realistically possible to protect the campus community", says Prof Gideon Wolfaardt, director of the Stellenbosch University Water Institute (SUWI) and professor in the Department of Microbiology. The wastewater-based surveillance platform has been developed in collaboration with researchers from the University of...

Tapping his expertise in malaria research, Professor Peter Preiser of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) came up with a paper-strip test to detect proteins produced by the Sars-CoV-2 virus. The professor of molecular genetics and cell biology did this by adapting technology he had created to differentiate between types of malaria parasites, as he was keenly aware of the need for reliable diagnostics and rapid response in the Covid-19 crisis. The result is a cellulose-based test that is able to recognise Sars-CoV-2 proteins in a patient's blood sample. If the viral proteins are present, th...