The well-spoken 30-year-old first dreamt of a career in genetics while in high school. Inspired by a passionate biology teacher, Semete-Makokotlela was fascinated by cells and their evolution into human beings. With years of study, including a PhD, this interest evolved into exactly what she had dreamt of: a career directed at minimising the impact of infectious diseases.
Today, in a lab at the Council for Scientific & Industrial Research's (CSIR) polymers and composites group - a far cry from the biology classroom - Semete-Makokotlela is driving groundbreaking research. The unit has developed once-a-week medication for the treatment of tuberculosis (TB). TB patients currently receive a daily dose of medication that they take for six to nine months. However, the challenge is noncompliance to daily dosages, thereby discouraging ingestion.
The new technology involves putting the drug into nanosized particles. The particles attach to TB infected cells, release the drug and kill the TB bacteria. The way the drug is formulated, particles degrade slowly, releasing over the course of the week, and with the same effect as a daily dose.
Initiated and headed by Dr Hulda Swai, one of Semete-Makokotlela's mentors, the research is set to have a phenomenal impact on patients and, ultimately, on reducing TB infections.
It will lighten the burden on TB sufferers. A lower dosage would reduce the medication's side effects, thereby removing the obstacles to their ingestion. Semete-Makokotlela says clinical trials for the drug have still to be conducted, and it could be about five years before it is available for use.
The project is funded by the department of science & technology, but in 2009 it received a US100000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The technology, which is patented by the CSIR, has remarkable potential. It can be reformulated to antiretroviral and malaria drugs, and even cancer medication.
Semete-Makokotlela joined the CSIR six years ago, after completing her PhD in biochemistry with specialisation in genetics at the North West University. She was born in Diepkloof, Soweto.
Source: Financial Mail
