The BMB department is home to 11 academic staff members, 14 support staff members, 15 post-doctoral fellows and 59 postgraduate students carrying out teaching and research in three disciplines, namely Biochemistry, Microbiology and Bioinformatics. 

Biochemistry and Microbiology courses are offered at second and third year, as well as Honours levels. MSc and PhD degrees by research thesis are offered in Biochemistry, Microbiology and Bioinformatics. In addition, a one-year Masters degree in Bioinformatics, comprising both coursework modules and a research thesis, is also offered within the department.

The department hosts two research units, the Biomedical Biotechnology Research Unit (BioBRU) and the Research Unit in Bioinformatics (RUBi) and two Research Hubs/Nodes, the SA/UK Antimicrobial Drug Discovery (ADD) Hub and a Node of the TIA-DSI Industrial Biocatalysis Hub (IBH).

Research conducted by the various research groups covers diverse topics and sub-disciplines. Fundamental biomedical research projects include natural product and synthetic chemistry drug discovery programmes using computational and laboratory-based methods aimed at communicable (pathogenic bacteria, HIV, SARS-CoV2) and non-communicable (cancer, diabetes and obesity) diseases of national and regional importance.

It further includes research into the stress response machinery of cancer cells, as well its role in Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus biology and the interaction between picornaviruses, TB bacteria and Salmonella bacteria and host cells.

One Health-related water quality assessment is also a research focus in terms of bacterial pathogenesis mechanisms, antimicrobial resistance, the transmission pathways of infectious pathogens and the environmental impact of xenobiotic’s on aquatic systems.

Other research into biotechnological applications in the department includes the investigation of mycorrhizal fungi for application as biofertilizers in horticulture, agriculture and forestry and the exploitation of insect viruses for agricultural pest control, the latter in collaboration with the Centre for Biological Control (CBC) from the Department of Zoology and Entomology.

Last Modified: Mon, 13 Apr 2026 15:29:25 SAST