BuaNews (Tshwane)
Edwin Tshivhidzo
9 September 2007
Cape Town — President Thabo Mbeki will officially open the Cape Town component of the International Centre for Genetic and Biotechnology (ICGEB) at the University of Cape Town on Tuesday.
The event follows the international bid won by South Africa to become the third country in the world to host a research laboratory of the ICGEB after Italy and New Delhi.
President Mbeki will be accompanied by Minister of Science and Technology, Mosibudi Mangena, Italian Minister of University and Research, Mr. Fabio Mussi and the Director General of the ICGEB Mr, Francisco Baralle.
The Department of Science and Technology dedicated R40 million for the establishment of the centre which is geared to address Africa's health and agricultural needs.
The Cape Town component of the ICGEB will develop research programmes focused on the needs of the African continent, such as infectious and chronic diseases, staple crop development and the use of biotechnology to further develop manufacturing and industrial sectors.
Minister Mangena earlier said that the component would also contribute to the global effort to meet the Millennium Development Goals, halt and reverse the spread of HIV and Aids, malaria and other diseases by 2015.
The South African government, through its Department of Science and Technology, submitted its bid proposal towards the establishment of the centre, in May 2006 together with Tanzania and Nigeria.
The main focus of the centre will be on HIV and Aids, hepatitis, rotavirus, human papilloma virus, malaria, tuberculosis and more recently, dongue.
The ICGEB's research is expected to help scientists across the globe to determine the mechanisms related to infections and the insurgence of diseases at the molecular level.
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