nanonewsbig news in the world of the very small

NANOTECHNOLOGY AND NANOSCIENCE IN HEALTH

Contents

NANOTECHNOLOGY AND HEALTH: SOME FACTS ..................2

NANOMEDICINE RESEARCH IN SOUTH AFRICA: A QUICK READ ...............3

CAREERS SECTION..........5

IN DEPTH SECTION .........9

POSTER .......................14

ABOUT NPEP PROGRAMME ...............15

CONTACT US ................15

Focus your imagination on the possibilities - nanotechnology for health and medicine.

If you haven’t yet heard the word “nano”, then you are missing out. What you are missing is one of the biggest leaps that science has taken in a long, long time. The fuss is really about particles so tiny that we need the world’s most powerful microscopes just to be able to see them. Now, we don’t want to split hairs here, but try this as an experiment: carefully pull out a strand of hair and look at it. Now imagine your strand of hair being half that width, then halve it again, and again. In fact try to imagine dividing one hair into 80 000 portions of equal width. Depending on how thick your

Editorial

nanonews • 2014 • health • editorial 1

hair is, one of those portions would be close to one nanometre in width. That’s almost unimaginably small, right? But because nanoparticles are so small, they have properties that make scientists go a little weak at the knees. Scientists working in the areas of health, water, energy and in industry in South Africa are hard at work trying to find useful ways in which to put these small materials, nanomaterials, to work. This new technology called nanotechnology - or rather, the study of nanoscience – can bring life-changing benefits. In this newsletter, take a peek into the world of students and scientists trying to make a difference to the health of all South Africans. Just imagine and look to the future.

Editor Prof Janice Limson, Science in Africa

The Healthcare Challenge in South Africa

2 nanonews • 2014 • health • some facts

So what is nanomedicine all about?

Nanotechnology is being used to develop nanodevices and nanostructures to prevent, treat and monitor disease.

The goals of nanomedicine are to:

• Diagnose as accurately and early as possible.

• Treat as effectively as possible without side effects.

• Evaluate the efficacy of treatment non-invasively.

The principal applications of nanomedicine include:

Diagnostics and monitoring Highly sensitive, portable point-of-care (POC) test kits which offer all the functions usually provided by a laboratory are being developed to enable quick, early and accurate detection of disease. Nanotechnology can also be used to deliver imaging agents into the body to enable early detection, diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of disease. For example, nano-biosensors are being developed for the in situ detection of glucose levels in diabetes therapy. Nanotechnology could eventually enable potential screening tests for several pathogens simultaneously and could be used for wide-ranging screening in remote clinics.

Drug discovery, development and delivery The use of nanoparticles to deliver specific therapeutic substances/drugs to the source of the disease as early as possible could increase efficiency and minimise side effects. Additional possibilities include controlled release of drugs/therapeutic substances and using nanoparticles to stimulate the body’s innate repair mechanisms.

Tissue engineeringThis includes developing new materials that are bio-compatible for use as implants in tissue replacement, tissue repair and manufacturing of tissue and organs, e.g. liver, pancreas, bone, cartilage, etc. Nanomaterial-based scaffolds are being investigated to artificially stimulate cell proliferation to trigger cell regeneration.

Medical instruments and devicesResearch areas include the further miniaturisation of medical devices, the use of carbon nanotubes in place of glass pipettes, the incorporation of nanodevices into catheters and silver nanoparticles for their antibacterial properties.

Surgical treatments Nanotechnology can be used to reduce the invasiveness, complexity and associated risk of surgery and surgical procedures.

NANOTECHNOLOGY AND HEALTH: SOME FACTS

With figures of over 33 million people worldwide living with HIV, including an estimated 24.5 million in sub- Saharan Africa, HIV healthcare is a challenge for all countries across the globe. Opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis (TB) often accompany a high rate of HIV infection, and as a result, in Africa, HIV is the single most important factor contributing to the increase in the incidence of TB since 1990.

This heavy disease burden is placing a huge strain on national health infrastructure in South Africa and is draining resources that ought to be used in addressing other diseases that are also important and growing in urgency, e.g. diabetes, cancer, heart disease, sexually transmitted diseases, malaria, arthritis and asthma. New solutions are needed to manage these diseases.

Rapid diagnosis and more effective treatments are needed, especially for infectious agents, to improve the lives of infected patients and to prevent further spread. One of the approaches being explored to tackle this healthcare challenge in many countries, including South Africa, is nanotechnology.

Nanotechnology is often called an ‘enabling’ or ‘refining’ technology as it allows the specificity of existing technologies to be improved. A large part of nanotechnology focuses on manufacturing materials, by capitalising on the novel properties seen at the nanoscale. Changing the shape, structure and formation of materials at this scale greatly impacts the characteristics of the final product, and thus its use.

Left: HIV in blood streamBelow: Blood sample being taken

nanonews • 2014 • health • a quick read 3

NANOMEDICINE RESEARCH IN

SOUTH AFRICA: A QUICK READ

Imagine for a moment that different bacteria or viruses each have very specific and different shaped locks. If your doctor has a set of keys for different diseases, he/she can test your blood to see which of the keys fits, and so make a diagnosis. Simple, right? It is, and this is exactly what scientists are doing – designing a whole lot of keys for different diseases, so that doctors can very quickly and easily make a diagnosis. These keys that doctors use are really tiny molecules, smaller than you can see with an ordinary microscope.

The trouble with many of the current diagnostic tests is that they are expensive. This is partly because the

Nanotechnology designs a new set of keys to diagnose disease

‘keys’, the molecules used to identify specific diseases, are expensive to produce. Scientists in South Africa are using DNA and nanotechnology to help design newer, smarter molecules to help serve as keys to rapidly diagnose disease, and hopefully right in your doctor’s office or at the hospital, and at a fraction of the present cost. The big buzzword amongst scientists, then, is designing new molecules - or ‘keys’ - called aptamers. Apta comes from a Latin word, which means “to fit”. Getting the right fit for early disease detection then makes a whole lot of sense.

Read more about this in our In Depth Section on page 9.

Have you ever struggled to unlock the door to your house with a big bunch of keys? It happens to almost everybody, going through one key at a time, getting impatient until you find just the right one? That is because only the right key fits the lock and will open the door to let you inside your home. What does this have to do with diagnosing a disease when you are sick? Quite a lot.

If caught early enough, people’s chances of beating cancer and recovering increases dramatically. People need to know how they can get treatment and what the treatment options are. The most common are surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Due to the severe side effects, scientists around the world are trying to find better treatments. In South Africa a renowned chemist and distinguished professor at Rhodes University, Professor Tebello Nyokong, and her research group are investigating new ways of fighting cancer known as photodynamic therapy (PDT).

Photodynamic therapy uses light and light sensitive (photosensitive) drugs to fight cancerous cells.

These drugs are molecules known as phthalocyanines and, in reality, are harmless blue dyes. However, when activated by laser light, a chemical reaction occurs and turns the drugs into cancer killing machines! An ideal cancer treatment aims to kill cancer cells without damaging healthy cells. Photodynamic therapy may be the solution as light can be directed to cancerous tissues, leaving healthy cells unharmed.

Read more about this in our In Depth Section on page 10

Cancer is something many people would prefer not to discuss, but it is a reality for many South Africans, and it is important to understand and talk about this disease.

Light at the end of the tunnel: treating cancer with a laser

Above: Cancer cell

secret lies in nanomaterials that can keep the drug in your body for longer as it goes about its business of helping you get better, and quicker too. For people with HIV and TB who have to take medicine every day for a very long time, this could be very good news.

Read more about this in our In Depth Section on page 13.

Into the future – smart drug delivery

4 nanonews • 2014 • health • a quick read

The BBB is a bit like a security guard in the brain with a large “Access Control” sign. It prevents large molecules from crossing over into the brain. For diseases like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, getting treatment to affected areas of the brain is essential for effective treatment. Luckily, this is where nanotechnology can come in, since the “nano” field is the study of the “small”.

Researchers have shown success

For some illnesses, especially in the brain, it is really difficult to get medicine to the area where it is needed. This is because the brain has a natural protective barrier that scientists call the BBB – the blood brain barrier.

Smart medicines that you don’t have to take every day are on the horizon

“Take two of these tablets three times a day for five days and take three of these capsules twice a day, for three days …” says your doctor. Are you a bit confused? Don’t you wish that you could just take one tablet and get better?

While it might appear to be a burden to follow these instructions, there are real reasons why your pharmacist or doctor will spend some time trying to explain when to take what and how often. They want you to get better, and quickly. But back to that dream. What if you could take just one tablet and get better; or, at most, only one tablet every few weeks? Scientists are thinking about this too. And this is where they hope that this new field called nanotechnology can make a difference. Scientists in South Africa are working on a new way to package tablets and drugs to make this a reality. The

using drug carriers called nanoliposomes for taking drugs to areas inside the brain. They are also going one step further, asking whether these drug carriers can stay there permanently. What if they can act like mini-robots, delivering drugs when needed? That is for the future.

Read more about this in our In Depth Section on page 11.

Dr Mervin Meyer

Senior lecturer in the Department of Biotechnology, and also the Director of the DST/Mintek Nanotechnology Innovation Centre-Biolabels Unit at UWC.

Compiled by Prof Janice Limson

nanonews • 2014 • health • careers 5

Q & A with Dr Mervin Meyer

UWC’s Dr Mervin Meyer is on the hunt for new biomarkers - molecular beacons to help develop diagnostic tests to identify breast and cervical cancer. He is a senior lecturer in the Department of Biotechnology, and also the Director of the DST/Mintek Nanotechnology Innovation Centre-Biolabels Unit at UWC.

One

Q: Describe any successes you have had in your research so far.

A: The group has identified several biomarkers to help diagnose cervical and breast cancer. The group is now in the process of confirming the presence of these biomarkers in cancer tissues.

Two

Q: What will the next steps be in the research?

A: Once the biomarkers are proven researchers will develop devices which can be used to detect whether someone has a specific type of cancer.

Three

Q: What is the ultimate goal you are hoping for in your research?

A: The group aims to develop at least one commercial product based on this technology that can change the lives of South Africans.

Four

Q: What motivates you to stay in science?

A: Science is the quest for knowledge and is crucial for the future welfare of our country. As a scientist you are continually confronted with new challenges and there is therefore no routine or repetitiveness in this job, which is an aspect of my work that I enjoy. Research can be extremely frustrating at times; however, the gratifying feeling of achieving success compensates for the frustrations and makes it all worthwhile.

Five

Q: What messages do you have for students wishing to enter this field?

A: Nanotechnology is a multi-disciplinary field and to be successful you must be willing to venture into other disciplines.

Six

Q: What three words describe you?

A: Determined, dedicated and hardworking.

Seven

Q: What was your career path to your present position?

A: A PhD in Biochemistry from the University of the Western Cape and four years of postdoctoral research, first at the National University of Ireland, and then back at UWC led to a Medical Research Council Career Award and my present position [where he currently supervises 17 Honours, Masters and PhD students]. My collaborators in this research include Prof Bongani Ndimba, Dr Abram Madiehe, Prof Eugenia D’Amato, Dr Ashley Pretorius, Dr Zainu Arief and Dr Martin Onani, all from UWC.

CAREERS SECTION

Above: Cervical cancer cell

Above: Breast cancer cell

Q & A with Dr Amanda Skepu

6 nanonews • 2014 • health • careers

Q: Describe any successes you have had in your research and development work.

A: To date, we have successfully developed a malaria rapid diagnostic prototype that will enter the market soon. We will produce the diagnostic tests internally in our newly constructed cleanroom and will trade under the trade name MinDiagnosticsTM. We have also recently established a peptide synthesis facility, MinpeptidesTM, which produces and sells a variety of high purity peptides to research institutions and industries. Finally, under our MinNanoGoldTM platform, we manufacture extremely stable and biocompatible gold nanoparticles.

Three

Dr Amanda Skepu has been busy. In a short time as Development Director of the Biolabels Nanotechnology Unit at Mintek, she has developed a facility to produce sensors for malaria. Dr Skepu is a Principal Scientist within the DST/Mintek Nanotechnology Innovation Centre (NIC) at Mintek, part of Mintek’s Advanced Materials Division. NPEP Nano News catches up with Dr Skepu to share some insight into her work.

Dr Amanda Skepu

Development Director of the Biolabels Nanotechnology Unit at Mintek and Principal Scientist within the DST/Mintek Nanotechnology Innovation Centre (NIC) at Mintek.

Compiled by Prof Janice Limson

One

Q: What is the main focus of the work that you do at the DST/Mintek Nanotechnology Innovation Centre?

A: Nanotechnology for health applications forms the basis of our research.

We synthesise various sizes of gold nanoparticles and peptides that are used in the development of rapid diagnostics tests and also for therapeutic applications. We are also involved in the development of improved nanotechnology-based rapid diagnostic tests for infectious diseases such as TB and HIV.

Two

Q: What is the relevance of your field of research to wider society?

A: Our research has a huge impact on society. We develop simple, improved and cheaper diagnostic tests. These tests do not require sophisticated instruments and do not require skilled users. The tests

are a quicker and easier way of screening for suspected diseases, and result in earlier disease detection and treatment that could lead to an improved quality of life.

Below: Malaria parasite in red blood cells Below: Malaria rapid test

nanonews • 2014 • health • careers 7

Q & A with Dr Amanda Skepu (cont.)

Above: MinDiagnosticsTM facility

Above: MinPeptidesTM facility

Above, below & right: MinNanoGoldTM facility

Q: What motivates you to stay in science?

A: The new technologies that are being developed have a major impact on improved quality of life.

Four

Q: What three words describe you?

A: Dedicated, hardworking and friendly.

Five

Q: What are your messages for students or researchers wishing to enter this field?

A: You need to love and have passion for working in the field of scientific research.

You need to have an inquisitive mind.

You need to just have fun with science.

Six

Q: Your dream?

A: To see the research we do being developed into useable products or technologies for the benefit of South African citizens.

Seven

8 nanonews • 2014 • health • careers

Q & A with Prof Addmore Shonhai

Prof Addmore Shonhai is in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology at the University of Zululand. A biochemist by training, he is now using nanotechnology to understand diseases.

Prof Addmore Shonhai

Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology at the University of Zululand.

Compiled by Prof Janice Limson

One

Q: Describe your research career to date.

A: My interest in science was ignited by one of my high school science teachers whose passion for science rubbed off onto his students. I joined the National University of Science & Technology in Bulawayo, completing a BSc Honours in Biochemistry & Applied Biology. After finishing my Honours degree I worked briefly in several research laboratories before starting a PhD at Rhodes University where I worked with Prof. Greg Blatch in Biochemistry, Microbiology & Biotechnology, completing my PhD in 2007.

Two

Q: What motivates you to do research?

A: I enjoy the privilege of being in a position to ask research questions of my choice and to be able to answer them by conducting experiments in the lab. Research gives me an opportunity to interact with students who are the actual drivers of the research I do. It inspires me to develop young people into scientists who would be able to make a difference in society. This is important, given the challenges that we face in Africa.

Three

Q: Describe your present research and any successes to date.

A: I currently study the role of very special molecules (heat shock proteins) in the development of malaria. Apart from this, I have lately taken an interest in understanding how synthetic nanoparticles interact with proteins and assessing the nature of their interaction with living matter in general.

Four

Q: What, if any, could the future impact of your research be for the general population?

A: I wish to reconcile our interest in malaria and nanotechnology. We are currently investigating how nanoparticles influence the structure and function of proteins. We intend to create alternative malaria diagnostic kits that incorporate the use of nanoparticles.

Five

Q: What is your dream?

A: It is my wish to make a contribution to the great strides that we need to make to improve the welfare of people’s lives in Africa, as our continent is home to some of the most debilitating infectious diseases.

Below: Loop illustrating the structure of heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70), a protein that facilitates folding of other proteins in the cell. Prof Shonhai and his group study the role of heat shock proteins in cell stress and in the development of malaria parasites.

Above: Bacterial cell with nanoparticles present within its vicinity. Prof Shonhai and his group study how NPs may influence protein folding in bacteria.

Dr Makobetsa Khati

Head of the Emerging Health Technologies department at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) (Pretoria)

Article by Charlotte Hillebrand, MSc student in Physics, University of Cape Town

Below: CL3 facility

Aptamers: A sensitive, specific and synthetic health technology

nanonews • 2014 • health • in depth 9

A single tuberculosis bacterium (TB) can multiply and spread throughout its host very quickly, which is why early detection is so important. As TB is relatively difficult to detect, diagnosing patients can be costly. Luckily new technologies are constantly being developed to diagnose patients with diseases such as TB. One such technology makes use of single stranded DNA molecules, known as aptamers. These single-stranded DNA molecules fold into themselves, creating three-dimensional structures, and, like a key fitting into a lock, are able to selectively bind to specific molecules.

Aptamers can be designed to bind to molecules produced by disease - causing organisms, such as those produced by TB. Special dyes can then be linked to aptamers, which means that they can be used to detect TB and other diseases in a patient’s blood. We spoke to Dr Makobetsa Khati to find out more about this new technology.

Dr Khati is the Head of the Emerging Health Technologies department at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in Pretoria where he oversees researchers and postgraduate students working in a multitude of areas. The Aptamer Technology Research Group within the department has become the focal point for aptamer-based research in the country. Here, research is being done into producing aptamers against TB and HIV, and the group has so far enjoyed promising results. Dr Khati predicts that within the next twenty years aptamers will revolutionise medicine.

Aptamers perform the same job as antibodies, which are special proteins that specifically bind to a target

molecule. However, aptamers have a number of major advantages over antibodies. For instance, aptamers are more effective than antibodies, as they are more specific to the targets they bind to. They are also more sensitive, being more likely to bind if a target molecule is present. Unlike antibodies, aptamers can be produced entirely synthetically. In addition to this, aptamers are much cheaper to produce than antibodies. These advantages should allow for simpler, more effective and cheaper healthcare technologies. Dr Khati and his team are working on developing improved TB diagnosis tools, such as a TB diagnostic kit similar to a home pregnancy test kit, using aptamer technology.

The rapidly advancing field of aptamers is a perfect example of how nanoscience and nanotechnology can help leap-frog research. Current research in aptamer technology will, in the relatively near future, have a big impact on healthcare and medicine.

Above: Chest x-ray showing cavity, fibrosis and interstitial infiltrate at right lung due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.

(Pulmonary Tuberculosis)

IN DEPTH SECTION

Prof Tebello Nyokong

Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Nanotechnology at Rhodes University Prof Nyokong holds a DST/NRF South African Research Chair and is the Director of the DST-Mintek and Nanotechnology Innovation Centre for Sensors

Article by Rose Kadye PhD student in Biotechnology, Rhodes University

Light at the end of the tunnel: Treating cancer with a laser

Incidences of cancer-associated deaths in South Africa are high and unfortunately rising. Current therapies are still associated with severe side effects and do not guarantee a cure. There are several therapies used in combination with each other to treat cancer. The most common are surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Due to the severe side effects associated with several treatments, scientists around the world are exploring alternative approaches. In South Africa a renowned chemist at Rhodes University, Distinguished Professor Tebello Nyokong, and her research group are investigating a new treatment for fighting cancer known as photodynamic therapy (PDT).

Photodynamic therapy uses light and light-sensitive (photosensitive) drugs to fight cancerous cells.

These drugs are molecules known as phthalocyanines, and in reality they are harmless blue dyes. However, when activated by laser light a chemical reaction occurs and turns the drugs into cancer killing machines! An ideal cancer treatment aims to kill cancer cells without damaging healthy cells. Photodynamic therapy may be the solution, as light can be directed to cancerous tissues, leaving healthy cells unharmed.

In order to work, the PDT drugs need light. This means that they are best used in treating cancers on parts of the body that can be reached by light, such as skin. Photodynamic therapy, intended as an alternative to chemotherapy, cannot however replace surgery since cancers that are not on the skin or near the surface will require the insertion of tubes to deliver the light to the

Cancer is something many people would prefer not to discuss, but it is a reality for many South Africans and it is important to understand and talk about this disease. If caught early enough, people’s chances of beating cancer and recovering increases dramatically. For this reason, finding cost effective ways to detect cancer - early and quickly - and then treat it, is a dream shared by many. Scientists working in universities and research institutes around the country are looking into new ways to do this, and nanotechnology is playing a major role.

10 nanonews • 2014 • health • in depth

Prof Viness Pillay

Personal Professor of Pharmaceutics, holder of a NRF/DST Research Chair and Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences.Director of the Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform (WADDP)

Compiled from information supplied by Pradeep Kumar.

detection, heat generation and photosensitization can be developed.

The work Prof Nyokong and her team are doing is lighting up the future in the fight against cancer. With collaborators around the world, and with some of her drugs already in pre-clinical trials, it is safe to say that Prof Nyokong is a beacon of hope in the fight against cancer.

More information: www.ru.ac.za/nanotechnology/

cancerous tissue. For cancer that has already spread throughout the body, PDT may not be the solution. However, Prof Nyokong is researching nanomaterials to fight cancer as well, and has combined her PDT drugs with nanomaterials, and also with magnetic fluids, in an attempt to make even better anti-cancer treatments.

Part of Prof Nyokong’s research in nanotechnology involves synthesizing nanomaterials in the form of carbon nanotubes and quantum dots. Carbon

Light at the end of the tunnel: Treating cancer with a laser (cont.)

nanotubes can absorb light and generate heat which can kill cancer cells or make them more sensitive to other treatments. Magnetic fluids are composed of magnetic particles which emit heat when a magnetic field is applied, and can also be used to kill cancerous cells. Quantum dots are nanoparticles that can absorb and re-emit light and can be used in detecting cancer. By combining quantum dots, magnetic fluids and photodynamic therapy a much more robust cancer therapy that involves

Into the future - smart drug delivery

nanonews • 2014 • health • in depth 11

These questions, and more, form part of research at Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform, or WADDP as it is known to many. Leading a large cohort of pharmaceutical experts, postgraduate students, and postdoctoral fellows, Prof Viness Pillay focuses on taking a nano-based approach in their research, which is aimed at tackling many of these issues. Prof Pillay, Director of WADDP, shares some of their

The holy grail of drug research is getting medicine right to the area where it is needed, and also in sufficient quantities. Think of specific types of cancer, or treating parts of the brain affected by Alzheimer’s disease. Going one step further, what about engineering the drug in such a way that it only becomes active once it is at the target site and once it ‘recognises’ the diseased cells? Once there, the drug still needs to be taken up by the cells. Is it possible to increase the uptake by cells and enhance the payload?

current approaches and plans for the future.

Intelligent design

Getting drugs to the target site, controlling the release of the drug and increasing its uptake: this is no small feat. Words like design and architecture come to mind, combining and testing different components, each with their own roles, coupled

to drugs compactly engineered to work in concert. The study of this composite approach features in much of the current research at WADDP. Their recent breakthrough in treating eye disorders provides a good example.

but also for future approaches in drug delivery for treating HIV-associated dementia.

These nanoliposomes, the researchers hope, will further form a component of a futuristic, implantable, nano-enabled bio-robotic intracranial device for the delivery of an anti-aging drug in Alzheimer’s disease.

And looking to the future is precisely what characterises this research group.

More information: http://www.wits.ac.za/waddp.

Into the future - smart drug delivery (cont.)

12 nanonews • 2014 • health • in depth

Lipids and polymers: Smart release and uptake of drugs for eye disorders

To deliver antibodies and anti-inflammatory drugs to parts of the eye, WADDP reports on a recently designed system for combining lipids and/or polymers to help guide anti-inflammatory drugs to the target site. The team was particularly interested in establishing whether using polymers or lipids could help better deliver drugs to the areas of inflammation, way back in the posterior segment of the eye.

Their results show that lipids are a better system, delivering more drugs across the retina with a greater uptake by inflammatory cells, leading to better efficacy of the drug itself. Size matters when working at the nanoscale and controlling the size of the composites was key. Using the lipid approach as a scaffold for the drugs, they were able to achieve better size control.

Using a unique system of polymer nanoparticles, their in vivo studies for diabetes showed that a single subcutaneous injection of their vector was effective in maintaining blood glucose levels in the normal range for more than seven days.

Into the brain: nanotechnology + neurosciences + pharmaceutics

One of the emerging fields in drug delivery and nanomedicine is nanoneuropharmaceutics: an amalgamation of nanotechnology + neurosciences + pharmaceutics. WADDP studies here have begun to explore nanosystems that can deliver drugs to nerve cells as a means of managing the age-associated brain illness, Alzheimer’s disease. For many, such systems could offer real hope in the future. Positive results using nanoliposomes, for the targeted delivery of the drug galantamine, are paving the way for in vivo studies, not just for Alzheimer’s

Left: Nerve cell

Dr Hulda Swai

Head of the Encapsulation and Delivery Research Group at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) (Pretoria)

Email : HSwai@csir.co.za

Article by Mpho Mosia Honours student in Microbiology at Wits University

nanonews • 2014 • health • in depth 13

While cancer and heart diseases continue to be in the spotlight, scientists are asking whether nanomedicine research can be used to treat diseases in the third world. How far are we in taking a nanomedicine approach to improving drug treatment for the millions on the African continent suffering from Tuberculosis, Malaria and HIV? Enter Dr Hulda Swai, a scientist using nanomedicine to tackle these diseases.

One of the biggest challenges in primary healthcare is ensuring that

Nanomedicine to treat poverty related diseases

patients take their drugs daily and on time. For diseases such as HIV and TB this is particularly important. The dangers of non-compliance (when patients either forget to take or stop taking treatment) are well known in South Africa, where multi-drug resistant TB has reared its head. What if drugs could be reformulated so that patients might need to take a drug only once every few days or, better still, once a month?

Dr Swai and her team of 17 multi-disciplinary researchers at the CSIR in Pretoria have a vision to transform the disease situation in Africa and other developing world nations by using nanotechnology. Their aim is to reformulate drugs for poverty-related diseases through nanomedicine.

One of the approaches that the CSIR’s Encapsulation and Delivery team is looking into is to encapsulate drugs with biodegradable nanomaterials.

Encapsulating drugs in this way, they believe, can deliver real benefits such as improving the effectiveness of the drug. Most importantly, it slows down and regulates the release of the drug into the bloodstream. By regulating the release of the drug into the bloodstream, the frequency of the intake of the drug by patients can be reduced.

This could have a huge impact in the fight against a disease such as TB, for which patients often stop taking their medication after only a few months, before they are fully cured. Dr Swai hopes that her research leads to drugs which allow patients to take medication as infrequently as once a month. The dream is that this will help patients stay on the course of medication until the treatment is complete.

Dr Swai and her colleagues are currently testing their technology in animal models, and the results, she says, are promising.

Above: Dr Hulda Swai and her team of multi-disciplinary researchers at CSIR

nanonews • 2014 • health • NPEP programme 15

About NPEP Programme

Just as in every technology, public acceptance of nanotechnology is the key when it comes to commercially developed nanotechnology products, because ultimately, it is the end-users who will influence the trajectory of nanotechnology. It is inevitable that public perception of nanotechnology will be shaped by the news and information that the public receives about it, thereby shaping their attitude and behaviour towards it. This makes it necessary that adequate information about the technology is timeously provided to educate and enable the public to make informed decisions. Their involvement at this early stage is, thus, imperative.

It is for this reason, among others, that the National Strategy has identified, as one of the key initiatives in supporting the vision

of the strategy, ensuring that the implementation of the strategy occurs in a manner that fosters open debate and public access to information. This, therefore, necessitated the development of a communication programme, the purpose of which is to inform, educate and engage the public with nanotechnology and its potential societal impact.

Aims and Guiding Principles

The NPEP’s overall aim is to promote public understanding of and engagement with nanotechnology. Our objectives are to:

• Create awareness of nanotechnology;

• Educate the public on, and enhance their understanding of, nanotechnology;

• Enable and stimulate meaningful public debate around nanotechnology;

• Stimulate interest in nanotechnology and nanoscience as a career in order to ensure long-term capacity building in the field;

• Get industry involved in the development of nanotechnology and taking the lead in nanotechnology innovation.

The success of any awareness programme depends largely on how the message being conveyed is formulated and/or articulated. For a variety of reasons, different societal groupings require different forms of information formulation and articulation. To enable the articulation of the messages to suit the needs of different societal groupings and bring about optimum results, the target audience has been divided into four categories. These are:

a) Learners,

b) The scientific community,

c) The general public and

d) Industry.

The Nanotechnology Public Engagement Programme (NPEP) was launched in 2008. SAASTA, a business unit of the National Research Foundation (NRF), was mandated to implement and administer NPEP. The major aim is to promote the public understanding of, and engagement with, this emerging scientific discipline of nanotechnology. NPEP also assists in the translation of academic research in nanotechnology for the public, industry and policy makers, being a service to these diverse groups of stakeholders. The NPEP was born out of the Government’s National Nanotechnology Strategy.

Contact us

Tel: +27 12 392-9300

Fax: +27 12 320-7803

Email: info@npep.co.za

Nano News is an initiative of the Nanotechnology Public Engagement Programme (NPEP) funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), implemented by the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA), a business unit of the National Research Foundation (NRF).

NanoNews is edited and produced by Science in Africa and Jive Media Africa.

Physical address:Didacta Building,211 Skinner Street,Pretoria, South Africa

Postal address:PO Box 1758,Pretoria, South Africa, 0001

Editorial Team:Prof Janice Limson (Science in Africa, Rhodes University)

Bongiwe Mbatha (Jive Media Africa)

Robert Inglis (Jive Media Africa)

Daryl Ilbury (SAASTA)

Mthuthuzeli Zamxaka (SAASTA)

Joanne Riley (SAASTA)

Sizwe Khoza (SAASTA)

Ina Roos (SAASTA)

Anton Binneman (SAASTA)

Nhlanhla Madide (SAASTA)