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31 March 2020 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied
UFS Covid-19 vaccine research team
Prof Robert Bragg and members of the Veterinary Biotechnology research group believe that finding a vaccine for COVID-19 will not be a ‘quick fix’. From the left are: Prof Bragg, Samantha McCarlie, Liese Kilian, and Dr Charlotte Boucher-van Jaarsveld. The photo was taken during the World Veterinary Poultry Association congress in Thailand in 2019.

On 31 March 2020, there were 804 061 coronavirus cases and 39 064 deaths globally due to the outbreak. According to media reports, there is still no licensed vaccine for COVID-2019 – the cause of our current global health emergency.  

Prof Robert Bragg, researcher at the University of the Free State (UFS), says this is without a doubt the most pressing research need in the world today. 

The Veterinary Biotechnology research group in the Department of Microbial, Biochemical, and Food Biotechnology at the UFS recently submitted an article for publication on the design of a possible COVID-19 vaccine, based on work they have done on infectious bronchitis virus (also a coronavirus). The article, authored by the group of which Prof Bragg is a member, is titled: A sub-unit vaccine produced in 'Yarrowia lipolytica' against COVID-19: Lessons learnt from infectious bronchitis virus. 

The research group, consisting of researchers and postgraduate students, is mostly looking at strategies for improved disease control, mainly in avian species, through vaccine development, treatment, and biosecurity.

Prof Bragg says their main aim with this study was to get the research out there so that the bigger pharmaceutical companies could take up the design of a possible COVID-19 vaccine and assist with the development of a vaccine. 

He says the research group’s role in this lengthy process would be to express the protein, which could be used in the development of a possible vaccine. “Thereafter, it will have to be taken up by a vaccine manufacturer to get the vaccine made and to the market.”

Developing a vaccine
Liese Kilian, a member of the research group, finished writing up her MSc thesis in Microbiology in the UFS Department of Microbial, Biochemical, and Food Biotechnology in December 2019 – the same time that COVID-19 originated in China. She has been working on the development of an edible sub-unit vaccine against the infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), which is a widespread avian coronavirus. This virus is specific to poultry and is different from COVID-19. 

Kilian’s project was conducted under the supervision of Prof Bragg and Dr Charlotte Boucher-van Jaarsveld. Dr Boucher-van Jaarsveld is a research fellow in the university’s Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology.

Kilian, with the assistance of Samantha Mc Carlie, currently a master’s student in the research group, substituted the genetic code of the IBV with the genetic code of the COVID-19 virus, which were already published at that stage. Thus, a gene for the development of a possible sub-unit vaccine against the S1 spike protein of COVID-19 was developed for expression in the same yeast strain used to express the spike protein of IBV. A sub-unit vaccine can be described as part of a pathogen, triggering an immune response against the pathogen from which it is derived.

After Killian successfully developed the gene for this study, she expressed the S1 spike protein of the IBV in a yeast-based expression system developed by the research group. Dr Boucher-van Jaarsveld says this simply means that the yeast takes up the foreign genetic material (viral gene) into its own genetic make-up and makes more of this protein as if it is part of the yeast’s normal material. 

“The images of COVID-19 are being shown constantly in the media and the ‘spikes’ can be seen on all of these images. These spikes are very typical for all coronaviruses and there is some level of similarity between the structure of these spikes in many of the coronaviruses,” Prof Bragg adds.

According to the World Health Organisation, the spike protein is a promising candidate for a sub-unit vaccine due to its immunogenicity and safety, as well as manufacturing and stability considerations during large-scale development.

Prof Bragg says there are many different expression systems that are widely used. Producing the sub-unit vaccine in a yeast species is beneficial for the work they are doing. A yeast expression system is favourable as large-scale production, is less expensive compared to mammalian cell lines, and can be applied as an edible vaccine.

“The technology to grow massive volumes of yeast are also very well established. This, after all, is how beer is made!” Prof Bragg says. Dr Boucher-van Jaarsveld adds: “The expression of an antigen is not necessarily just geared towards vaccines but can also be used in the development of diagnostic tests to screen populations for infections.”

Working with other researchers
“Now that the situation is all but out of control, we maybe need to investigate the possibilities of working with other key researchers at the UFS as well as other universities in South Africa to develop the vaccine or diagnostic reagents locally. Discussions on this aspect are already underway.”

Several other universities in South Africa are also working to find a cure for the virus. Government availed funding for more research on the matter. According to Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister, Blade Nzimande, the University of Cape Town, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, as well as the Vaccines Institute of Southern Africa are working on the development of a vaccine.

Prof Bragg expressed the hope of obtaining funding for this work. “Because without funding, we will not be able to do anything with this data,” he says. They are currently investigating different funding options. 

“The sooner we start on the development of a vaccine, the sooner there will be one, but it will not be a ‘quick fix’. It must be stressed that, even if vaccine development is fast-tracked through the regulatory bodies, it will take many months (if not years) to move from the laboratory to the first human experimentation. It will take even longer before any human vaccine can be rolled out,” says Prof Bragg.



News Archive

UFS implements access control measures on our Bloemfontein Campus
2014-11-21



Photo: Hannes Pieterse

Online Application form: non personnel

Map with access gates on the Bloemfontein Campus


Accessing the Bloemfontein Campus from 3 November 2014

Access control during major events on the Bloemfontein Campus

Q&A




The University of the Free State (UFS) has been tightening security measures on its Bloemfontein Campus for quite some time now. Purposefully, we have consolidated several safety measures to keep our students, staff and visitors – the heartbeat of our university – protected.

Our most significant step in this endeavour is now in the process of implementation. All five entrance gates to the campus are being equipped with strict access control.

The first phase of the process was implemented beginning of August 2014. Gates 2 (Badenhorst Street) and 4 (Furstenburg Street) were equipped with card readers. Only persons with valid access cards can enter and leave through these gates. Existing staff and student cards are equipped to be read by the short-distance card readers at the gates in order to activate the booms.

At this stage, staff and students are swiping their cards against the card readers at Gates 2 and 4 or holding it not further than 20 mm from the reader for the boom to open. Card holders now physically stop in front of the boom in order to get access to the campus.  

The duel-frequency card:

The dual-frequency cards available at the Card Division on the Thakaneng Bridge are currently out of stock. New cards will be delivered on Friday 14 November 2014.

The special offer of R30 per access card has been extended to the end of November 2014. To qualify for this offer, staff and students may pay the R30 for a dual-frequency card at the bank or cashiers on the Thakaneng Bridge no later than 28 November.  The cost of dual-frequency cards will increase to R60 per card from 1 December 2014.

Please note that only people with vehicles need to apply for dual-frequency cards.

Students and staff will, however, still be able to gain access to the Bloemfontein Campus with their current cards (in the case of staff and students who haven’t purchased dual-frequency cards yet). As is currently the practice at the gates in Furstenburg and Badenhorst Streets, you will have to stop when you reach the boom, swipe your card past the card reader, the boom will open and you will be able to drive through.

Staff and students using their dual-frequency cards should:

-       Reduce speed
-       Hold the card in a vertical position at the driver’s side window, in the direction of the long-distance reader (see photo)

It is therefore not necessary to stop in front of the boom. On holding your card upright, in line with the card reader, the gate will open automatically and you will be able to drive through (keep your card outside your window; the card reader cannot operate through tinted windows).

Please note that this arrangement only applies to incoming lanes. On leaving the campus, the card has to be swiped. This is due to the number-plate recognition technology installed at exits for additional security.

If the long-distance reader does not work, the dual-frequency card can still be used at a tag reader. 

Applying for your new card:

Electronic fund transfers: Absa Bank: 1 570 8500 71, Ref: 1 413 07670 0198, OR pay the R30 at the UFS Cashiers, Thakaneng Bridge. Please note that the price of the cards will increase to R60 from 1 November 2014.

Take your existing personnel or student card, together with proof of payment, to the UFS Card Division, Bloemfontein Campus, Thakaneng Bridge, to have your photo taken and your new dual-frequency card issued.

Permission to access specific UFS buildings or facilities linked to your existing card, will be automatically linked to the new card.

The new card is marked ‘dual’ on the back in the right, bottom corner.

The UFS Cashiers will provide assistance between 09:00 and 14:30, and the UFS Card Division between 09:00 and 15:00.

Implementation of full access control


Full access control will be implemented on the UFS’s Bloemfontein Campus from 3 November 2014. This means that access control will be implemented at all gates on the Bloemfontein Campus.

Who is using which gate? See Q&A for more information.


Gate 3 (Wynand Mouton Drive) is earmarked for use by official card holders. These include students, staff and persons doing business on campus. Parents dropping and fetching their children for sports, as well as service providers of the UFS, such as architects, may apply for valid cards. These persons will have to provide proof that they have business on campus (complete online application form and sign declaration).

All visitors to the campus will be referred to the Visitor’s Centre at Gate 5 (DF Malherbe Drive). This include, among others, parents, family and friends of students, as well as conference delegates. It is estimated that the Visitor’s Centre will be completed at the end of November (note that the gate at DF Malherbe Drive will be operational by 3 November 2014). Visitors will sign in at the Visitor’s Centre and, depending on the business they have on campus, they will only be allowed on campus for a certain period of time.

•    Lane 1 at Gate 5 will be used by visitors and service providers to enter the campus. Only card holders will be able to use lane 2.
•    Buses and trucks can also enter the campus through Gate 5.

The construction at the Main Gate at Nelson Mandela Drive is to build one extra lane for incoming traffic. The project is estimated to be completed at the end of October 2014.

•    For outgoing traffic, lane 1 (furthest from the guardhouse) and lane 2 will only be used by card holders and lane 3 (closest to the booth) will be used by service providers.
•    For incoming traffic, lanes 2 and 3 were set aside for use by only service providers. Lanes 1 and 4 will be used by only card holders.

Pedestrians

All gates for motorists will also be equipped with a pedestrian thoroughfare on completion of the project. Persons using these pedestrian gates also need to use their cards to get access to the campus.

Pedestrians who are visitors, but aren’t in possession of a valid access card, should please go to the Visitor’s Centre at the gate in DF Malherbe Drive where they will be helped.

More information

For more information on access control at the UFS, please watch our videos and read the Q&A or e-mail your enquiries to accesscontrol@ufs.ac.za.  


Issued by:    Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Brand Management)
Tel: +27(0)51 401 2584 | +27(0)83 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za


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