HIV can become part of someone’s DNA and lie dormant for decades, making a cure impossible. Early stage research in six people, reported at the Aids 2014 conference, shows that low-dose chemotherapy can awaken the virus. Experts said it was a promising start, but it was unlikely the drug would work on its own to […]
Opportunities to enhance crop yields and reduce poverty in Africa are being lost because of a “polarised public debate” on the continent, according to a report released this week (21 July) by international policy institute Chatham House. Genetic modification (GM) research projects remain stuck at the field trial stage due to governments’ fears keeping the […]
Read More… from GM’s potential in Africa impeded by ‘dysfunctional debate’
A new trans-formative point-of-care diagnostic which gives instant results for the detection of genetic material from the HIV virus is being rolled out across Africa. The small, highly portable machine – known as SAMBA II – will help transform the lives of millions, especially HIV exposed infants who have a one in two chance of […]
From behind the walls of a humble-looking building in Bali, a residential neighbourhood of Doula, Cameroon’s fast-paced economic hub, comes a steady, low hum. It emanates from around 20 women — avid learners immersed in scientific theory and hands-on practice. Read more […]
Read More… from Equipping girls with science to drive change
Scientists in South Africa are developing a combination vaccine with the potential to offer protection against five major livestock diseases. Read more […]
Read More… from New vaccine against five livestock diseases in progress
The first-ever United Nations Environment Assembly, that took place in Nairobi, Kenya, last month (23-27 June), came at a historic conjunction of events, as the international community discusses a new generation of Sustainable Development Goals and a post-2015 development agenda that will build on earlier successes and address gaps left over from the Millennium Development […]
Read More… from Gender equality for the environment: An unfinished agenda
A “breakthrough” UN initiative for transferring technology and building scientific capacity in the least developed countries (LDCs) will move closer in “a matter of weeks” when a panel to flesh out the proposals is announced, says an official close to the process. The high-level panel will consist of around a dozen experts from various backgrounds, […]
Read More… from UN to unveil panel for ‘breakthrough’ Technology Bank
Balthazar Sieders and Mike Martel spend their days cycling along the coast of Africa, stopping here and there to offer free advice on computer coding to people who need it. The duo have called themselves Coders Without Borders, and they’re part of a trend. More than four decades after Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) was formed, […]
The second Hunger and Nutrition Commitment Index (HANCI) has just been launched, providing detailed evidence on efforts to reduce hunger (ten indicators) and undernutrition (12 indicators) in 45 developing countries. [1] The data show that the richer among these countries often do better — more resources should, after all, mean better outcomes. They also show […]
Read More… from Focus on Poverty: More nutrition science or political will?
Development research remains far too academic and disconnected, with a “minuscule fraction” ever reaching local communities in a useable form, experts say. The research community rarely succeeds in transmitting knowledge to the people their work is supposed to help, said speakers at the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes’ meeting in Bonn, Germany, […]
Read More… from Local communities ‘sidelined’ in development research