Insects For Feed, Food and Fertiliser (I4F), a flagship project funded by NEPAD SANBio through the BioFISA II programme, is turning highly nutritious yellow mealworms into animal feed, food and other products.

When you think of insects, your first thoughts are probably of creepy crawlies; they might make you feel scared, grossed out or just uncomfortable. But a new project wants you to feel differently about insects, and more specifically mealworms. Could you ever think of these squirming bugs as food?

The SANBio Summer School on the Business of Clinical Research was held on 25-26 February 2018 in Pretoria. The event, just prior to the SANBio Annual Event, saw 28 students from 10 SADC countries engage with and learn from experts in the clinical research field. This article was written by the course participants.

Globally, the pace of progress in innovations and technology is rapidly escalating. While innovations come from many sources and at a variety of levels, advances in technology are increasingly the main driver of new, disruptive innovations.  

Last week NEPAD SANBio participated in the Science Forum South Africa 2017 (SFSA 2017). The SFSA is regarded as Africa’s largest “open science” event, aimed at stimulating debate on the role of science in society. The programme consisted of plenary panel debates, short seminars and talks, with the participation of local and international thought leaders from the scientific community as well as an exhibition.

The SANBio/BioFISA II project portfolio currently consists of 15 collaborative projects in health and nutrition. The network brought in external experts for a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) visit in Cape Town on 23-27 October 2017 to monitor and evaluate the technical and business development progress of the projects.  In addition to discussions and presentations related to the projects, the MEL programme included visits and facility tours to the University of Cape Town and LifeAssay Diagnostics.