The CSIR is one of the leading scientific and technology research, development and implementation organisations in Africa. Established in 1945 as a science council, the CSIR undertakes directed and multidisciplinary research, technological innovation as well as industrial and scientific development to improve the quality of life of South Africa's people.

Supported by the Department of Science and Technology, a Synthetic Biology emerging research area (ERA) was recently established under the guidance of Musa Mhlanga (Ph.D, NYU). The focus of Synthetic Biology is to develop enabling technologies that allow the comprehensive analysis of biological systems. Key to this are sequencing and high-throughput technologies, fabrication, mathematical and physical modelling, as well as measurement and quantification.

Within the Synthetic Biology ERA, Dr Mhlanga has his own Gene Expression & Biophysics research group that is concerned with understanding and engineering gene expression. His group has built various microscopy-based platforms capable of super-resolving biological objects less than 60 nM in size as well as allowing for high-throughput imaging of cellular processes on a genome-wide scale. The latter projects have been facilitated by the innovation and technical expertise of Neil Emans (Ph.D, EMBL) who heads the RNAi High-Throughput laboratory within the Synthetic Biology ERA.

For more information on the CSIR Synthetic Biology and Dr Mhlanga's research group, visit www.csir.co.za/synthetic_biology/ and http://mhlangalab.synbio.csir.co.za 

RNAiGlobal Principal Investigators:
Musa Mhlanga
Email 

Neil Emans
Email