Medical breakthrough in SA
2005-05-05 08:30
Bloemfontein - A Free State University student's groundbreaking discovery could be used to clean up blocked arteries more efficiently in the future.
Professor Lodewyk Kock of the department of biotechnology at Kovsies said on Wednesday that Olihile Sebolai made the breakthrough during his MSc studies this year.
"He discovered a whole cascade of oily substances in a yeast that have the potential to be used as lubricants which can be used in the future to clean up blocked arteries," said Kock.
The lubricants could be used - after about 10 years - to lubricate nano robots. These are very small robots that would be engineered to manipulate functions to clean human arteries.
"Words cannot describe how excited I am. I never expected to receive such recognition for my studies. I am humbled by all of this," said Sebolai.
The 26-year-old is a student at the department of microbia, bioclinical and food biotechnology.
The department has conducted research for the past 23 years to isolate yeast that produce lubricants. Sebolai discovered a yeast that can produce large quantities and varieties of lubricant otherwise known as pre-hydroxy fatty acids.
His work was published in a specialised American scientific journal, Prostaglandins and Other Libid Mediators.
"It will allow easier flow of blood in the blocked arteries of a person who has high cholesterol," said Sebolai.
The research and findings would be investigated further before the discovery could be put into practice.
- SAPA