IT-intense research fields are set to receive a boost with the establishment of a new branch of the International Centre for Genetic and Biotechnology (ICGEB), in Cape Town.
President Thabo Mbeki officially opened the South African branch of the ICGEB this morning, at the University of Cape Town.
According to professor Igbal Parker, director of the Cape Town component of the ICGEB, some of the research fields the centre will focus on include bio-informatics and structural biology.
"These are very significant in that they are very IT-intensive areas and need high computing powers," says Parker.
"Bio-informatics, for example, needs large databases to research the overlap between species and organisms, and structural biology looks at the structure of molecules," he explains.
SA beat Tanzania and Nigeria to become the third country in the world to host an ICGEB research laboratory, the others being Italy and New Delhi.
The Department of Science and Technology dedicated R40 million over three years for the establishment of the centre, which is geared towards addressing Africa's health and agricultural needs.
The Cape Town component of the ICGEB will develop research programmes focused on the needs of the African continent. This includes infectious and chronic diseases, staple crop development, and the use of biotechnology to further develop the manufacturing and industrial sectors.
Reaching Africa
Parker says the new centre will not make major IT investments, as it hopes to leverage off existing computer centres. This will include the Centre for High Performance Computing (CHPC), managed by the Meraka Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
In May, science and technology minister Mosibudi Mangena opened the CHPC in Cape Town, which is also hosted by the University of Cape Town.
The CHPC's infrastructure consists of 160 computer nodes (640 processors) in a cluster architecture, with a peak performance of around 2.5 teraflops. It is complemented by 50 terabytes of storage space, which is comparable to a few thousand standard desktop PCs.
Parker says the significance of the ICGEB is not only that it will develop South African research capacity, but also impact on Africa in general.
"We are not yet seeing optimal use of IC [research] facilities in Africa," says Parker. "Through the Cape Town centre, we will reach into Africa and make use of the opportunities and train people."
Parker explains that African students will be brought to the ICGEB facilities in SA to study, after which they will return to their home countries with research grants in order to continue their work.
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