Vacancies

Post Graduate Fellowships

Post-graduate fellowships (MSc; PhD; Honours) are available in the department of Biochemistry, Microbiology & Biotechnology. Students may be interested in participating in the following:

1. Neurological Disorders

Amyloid fibrils, oxygen radicals and senile plaques are characteristics of Alzheimers disease. The project would involve the extraction and isolation of arginine metabolising enzymes from the brain and monitor their interaction with amyloid peptides in an attempt to elucidate the mechanism, etiology and pathogenesis of Alzheimers disease 

2. Fructooligosaccharides [scFOS]

a) Medicinal properties

Biochemical mechanisms associated with the interaction of short chain prebiotic fructo-oligosaccharides with crucial enzymes that are associated with various medical disorders.

b) Enzymatic synthesis

Enzyme purification and biochemical characterization of known and new candidate fructosyltransferases enzymes for industrial scFOS production from refined sugar.

3. Nanotechnology and disease

Biological synthesis of silver/platinum/gold nanoparticles by the fungus (Aspergillus) and biomolecular templates (protein cages, viral capsids) and their role against biomedical targets, such as ribonuclease, thiazolekinase and superoxide dismutase in Plasmodium falciparum (Malaria) or trypanosoma (sleeping sickness)

Contact:
Professor C. Whiteley
Tel: +27-46 603-8085 or
email C.Whiteley@ru.ac.za

Last Modified: Fri, 15 Jul 2011 15:03:00 SAST