Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Months
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Previous Archive
14 February 2018 Photo Varsity Cup
Shimlas make it two out of three
Menzi Nhlabathi, flank of the Shimlas, celebrates his try against Wits.
The Shimlas are back in the top half of the Varsity Cup log thanks to a second win in three matches.

They recorded a 44-24 victory over Wits at Shimla Park on Monday night, a team who have been in red-hot form with wins over the Ikeys and Tuks in the first two rounds.

Wits had the upper hand shortly before half time when they led by 12-5, but four tries within 15 minutes, two of them seven pointers, took the wind out of their sails and turned a 5-12 deficit into a 35-12 lead for the Shimlas.

From there the Blue Train never looked back, although Wits closed the gap to 24-35 towards the end, but at that stage the win was already sealed. Flyhalf Nakkie Naudé scored nearly half (20 points) of his team’s total which included two tries.

Next up for the Shimlas is a clash with the Ikeys in Cape Town on Monday.

Vishuis and U-20 also on the winning side

Meanwhile the Shimlas U-20 team won their opening fixture against their counterparts of the North-West University. The Shimlas Young Guns under new head coach, Wian du Preez, were victorious by 47-37. They will be in action again on 26 February 2018 when they face the Young Guns of the Central University of the Free State (CUT) at Shimla Park.

Vishuis, who represents the University of the Free State in the competition for hostels, opened the defence of their title with a 42-0 thumping of the Lions of CUT.

News Archive

DNA sequencer launched at the UFS
2013-11-25

Dr Gansen Pillay, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the National Research Foundation, explaining to the scholars what will be expected of them.

The University of the Free State (UFS) can now collect immensely valuable data on drug resistance in HIV/Aids and TB with the new DNA sequencer that was launched recently at the International workshop on HIV/AIDS and TB drug resistance at the Bloemfontein Campus.

The DNA sequencer will allow the Free State province to produce viral and bacterial genetic data to fight the local development of HIV/ Aids and TB drug resistance.

The HIV and TB epidemics have expanded very fast and South Africa now has the largest HIV and TB treatment programme in the world, with over 2 million patients on treatment. However, these successful treatment programmes are now being threatened by the appearance of drug resistance.

The Free State province has been at the forefront of fighting HIV drug resistance in South Africa and has one of the most advanced treatment programmes for the management of resistance strains in the country. In addition, researchers at the University of the Free State are leading partners in the Southern African Treatment and Resistance Network (SATuRN; www.bioafrica.net/saturn), a research network that has trained over 2 000 medical officers in the treatment of drug resistance strains.

The Department of Medical Microbiology and Virology in the Medical School at the UFS has partnered with the provincial department of health, the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Delegation of the European Union to South Africa to fund a dedicated DNA sequencer machine that will be used to generate HIV and TB drug-resistance results. This new machine will enable cutting-edge research to take place, using the data in the province and, importantly, support patients with resistance strains to have access to advanced genotypic testing techniques.

“HIV drug resistance is a very serious problem in South Africa, and the recent advances in DNA testing technology allow clinicians in the province to access drug resistance testing, which enables them to manage patients appropriately who fail treatment, and use the results to cost-effectively extend and improve patients’ lives,” says Dr Cloete van Vuuren, Specialist in Infectious Diseases at the UFS’s Faculty of Health.

Dr Dominique Goedhals, pathologist from the Department of Medical Microbiology and Virology at the UFS, adds: “We have been looking forward to expanding our work with the clinicians and researchers, using DNA sequencing to shed light on the causes and consequences of drug resistance in urban and rural settings in the province.”

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept