StemCell Therapy

From genetics and engineering to astronomy and geoscience, SA has been the setting for a string of major scientific advances this year.

Geneticists found themselves looking backwards as well as forwards in attempts to put right a century-old wrong.

The remains of 11 individuals in the University of Cape Towns skeletal collection were found to have been unethically obtained in the 1920s. It turned out that nine of the individuals were Khoisan farmworkers whose remains were dug up on a farm near Sutherland in the Northern Cape. A major restitution process will lead to their reburial next year.

At the request of the individuals descendants, a multidisciplinary scientific study determined the estimated age, gender and medical condition of each individual and assessed isotopes from bones and teeth to shed light on the their habitat, living conditions and diets.

DNA experts were able to establish ancestral genetic relationships while archaeologists conducted a survey of the cemetery and the disturbed graves. Finally, the individuals faces were recreated.

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Six times SA was at the cutting edge of science in 2019 - TimesLIVE

This entry was posted on December 31, 2019 at 3:46 pm and is filed under Molecular Genetics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |