The ACGT, in conjunction with the CSIR, hosted the 12th Regional Plant Biotechnology Forum on the 8th of September at the CSIR’s International Convention Centre (ICC). The forum focused on “Plant-based biologics” and saw over 50 delegates in attendance.
The forum kicked off with Dr Rachel Chikwamba, CSIR Executive for Strategic Alliances and Communications, giving a brief welcome and introducing the forum’s key-note speaker, Professor Herta Steinkellner. Herta is a professor at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna, Austria. She has expertise in N-glycosylation in plants, recombinant protein production in plants as well as protein glycan engineering. She gave a presentation titled “In planta engineering of post-translational protein modification to enhance biological activity”, which was very well received by the audience and sparked interest in future collaborations between her institution, BOKU, and the CSIR.
Other contributors to the forum included CSIR’s Dr Tsepo Tsekoa and Dr Maretha O’Kennedy, Dr Priyen Pillay from the University of Pretoria and Dr Mauritz Venter from the biotechnology company Azargen. Dr Tsekoa’s presentation was on plant-made antibodies for passive immunisation, while Dr O’Kennedy gave a talk on affordable plant-produced vaccines and biologics through innovative science. Dr Pillay gave a talk on his PhD work, performed at the University of Pretoria, which focused on the contribution of agrofiltration to VP1 recombinant protein degradation. Dr Venter, co-founder and CEO of AzarGen Biotechnologies, gave a talk on “Entrepreneurial endeavours in Plant Biotechnology” and took the audience on a very entertaining journey of how he started his own successful biotechnology company.
The ACGT partner institutions were well represented by the delegates that attended the forum. Delegates were mostly from the ACGT partner institutions (CSIR, UP, ARC and UJ) but also affiliated with the following: Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP), the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) and the University of South Africa (UNISA). The forum provided an opportunity for collaborative talks to be initiated between the CSIR, BOKU and Azargen. Potential synergies between these and other research institutions will be evaluated and exploited where possible.
Story by: Thabo Khoza for ACGT