UKZN’s new labs chart the path to discovery

On 7 March, the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) will celebrate the opening of two high-tech new laboratories on its Westville campus at an event including academics, researchers and local industrial partners.

The University has invested R14 million into the Peptide Sciences Laboratory and Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) Thin Films Laboratory, which will be officially opened by Vice-Chancellor Dr Albert van Jaarsveld, with guest speaker Mr Barlow Manilal, CEO of the Technology Innovation Agency, in attendance.

The Peptide Sciences Laboratory, housing the latest instrumentation, will be the only one in South Africa devoted to the synthesis of peptides with pharmaceutical purposes; peptides are short chains of amino acids with applications including biomaterials, nanotechnology and drug discovery.

This laboratory will accommodate around 20 postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers under the leadership of A-rated scientist Professor Fernando Albericio, who has dedicated years to synthesizing peptides to the point where it is possible to say that any peptide synthesized worldwide is using a technology developed by his group. Albericio has co-founded four biotechnology companies, published more than 900 articles in scientific journals and filed more than 50 patents.

Pharmaceuticals based on peptide technology are used to combat infectious and metabolic diseases like HIV, cancer and tuberculosis, to name a few, and could be used for treatment of allergies, pain and central nervous system complaints. Albericio has launched more than twenty commodities used for the synthesis of peptides to the market, two of which were developed at UKZN. One cosmetic on the market contains a peptide developed in Albericio’s laboratory, and one peptide whose synthesis was developed by his group is in the market for cancer, with another reaching clinical trial stage.

The PVD Thin Films Laboratory, with its newly acquired state-of-the-art pulsed laser deposition system, will house the only instrument of this kind in the Southern Hemisphere and enhance the University’s competitiveness in developing new devices. The instrument is capable of coating atomically-thin layers of most solid materials onto any substrate that is up to 50 mm in diameter. Thin films, and multi-layered thin films, play a crucial role in most modern functional devices such as integrated chips in computers, computer hard-drives, solar cells, superconducting materials, ultra-hard coatings, hi-tech sensors and optical coatings.

The advances in devices such televisions, computers, sensors, cell phones and solar cells depend on the functionality and deposition of thin films, with the type and method of material deposition affecting the efficiency of the device. The advanced system in the laboratory will, say researchers, take them on a new path of materials discovery; in a single experiment, they will be able to optimise the functionality of a device and identify the optimum material composition for device functionality. This will increase throughput in materials research and make UKZN more competitive in developing new devices.

Source University of KwaZulu-Natal