SERA e-News

January-March 2009, Vol 6, No 1

Breakthrough in fight for food security promised by new genetic modification technology

Water and Green Buildings - addressing a scarce commodity

SERA Focus Area Team Co-Leader appointed as CSIR Fellow

Breakthrough in fight for food security promised by new genetic modification technology
	Patent applications for two novel technologies have jointly been filed by the CSIR and Pioneer Hi-Bred Inc as part of the African Biofortified Sorghum (ABS) Project. The technologies promise to enhance the efficiency of genetic transformation of plants for scientific research and plant breeding.

Water and Green Buildings - addressing a scarce commodity
	In this issue of the SERA e-News, we feature a summary of the findings from a chapter of the 'Green Building Handbook for South Africa', in which BIG Team co-leader - Dr Jeremy Gibberd of the CSIR, describes water systems used in green buildings and sets out some objectives.

SERA Focus Area Team Co-Leader appointed as CSIR Fellow
	Co-Leader of the SERA Process Integration for Clean Coal Technologies (PICCT) Focus Area Team and University of Pretoria (UP) Professor, Thokozani Majozi, has been appointed as a CSIR Fellow.

USEFUL LINKS

NRF Call Schedule for 2009

Call for proposals: NRF/CNRS International Cooperation

The role of higher education in development

ASSOCIATED ACTIVITIES

HIV/TB alliance deadlier than thought, warns report - A quarter of TB deaths occur in HIV patients, says the WHO - double the previous estimate. Source: SciDev.Net

Opinion piece: Science is a human right - 33 years later, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights still not ratified by SA and the USA. Source: AllAfrica.com

Put water centre stage, says UN report - The world could face a global water crisis if water isn't made a central consideration in decisions on challenges such as climate change. Source: SciDev.Net