دانلود کتاب پیشرفت‌ها در بیوشیمی و زیست‌شناسی مولکولی برای رفع نیازهای آفریقا

The 28th Congress of the South African Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SASBMB) was hosted by the University of Venda and held from 7 to 10 July 2024 at the Protea Ranch Resort in Polokwane. This congress came a year after the 50th anniversary of the society and 83 years after the first instruction of Biochemistry as a formal university subject at the University of Pretoria. This was the largest congress of its kind in the history of the society, with over 400 delegates, and the first time the congress was held in Limpopo province. At the opening ceremony, the gold medal was awarded to Prof. Ed Sturrock of the University of Cape Town in acknowledgment of his outstanding research track record centered on angiotensin-converting enzymes and their inhibitors, as well as his service to the disciplines of biochemistry and molecular biology in the country. The silver medal was awarded to Prof. Thulani Makhalanyane from Stellenbosch University in recognition of his excellent contribution to the field of microbiome ecology in extreme environments. Several distinguished international researchers attended the meeting and delivered plenary lectures, including Profs. Kiaran Kirk from Australian National University (IUBMB-sponsored speaker), Matthias Mayer from Heidelberg University in Germany, Stanley Mukanganyama from the University of Zimbabwe, Greg Blatch from Notre Dame University in Australia, Nikolai Kuhnert from Constructor University in Germany, and Tomohisa Ogawa from Tohoku University in Japan. The thematic areas of the congress included protein biochemistry, computational and structural biology, omics science, enzymology and metabolism, infectious and parasitic diseases, noncommunicable diseases, drug discovery, phytomedicine, and plant, animal, and general biotechnology, under which 12 talks, 87 short talks, and 211 posters were presented. At the General Meeting of the society, Prof. Francois van der Westhuizen retired as President of the society, and Dr. Jo de la Mare from Rhodes University was inducted into this position, having previously served as Secretary (2018–2022) and Vice-President (2022–2024). Finally, it was announced that the society would be hosting the congress of its parent body, the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, in Cape Town from 19 to 23 September 2027. This will be the first time that the congress will be held on African soil. To celebrate these milestones, we decided to archive some of the papers that were presented at the 28th SASBMB congress in this book. Biochemistry and molecular biology are two branches of science that are critical to solving current and emerging global challenges. Africa is the most genetically diverse continent, and in addition to this, it is a reservoir for several tropical diseases. As such, the biomedical challenges confronting the continent require solutions tailored to these needs. The select chapters presented in this book were part of the presentations made at the 28th SASBMB congress and reflect the great strides that South African scientists are making toward providing solutions to the challenges that the continent faces. The chapters have been published by Springer Nature both as a separate book and as part of the book series, Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology (AEMB). AEMB is indexed in all the major databases, thus expanding the footprint of the publications. Below, we share a few images from the 28th SASBMB congress.