Biologists from South Africa

"For many years it was widely held that molecular biology was a completely useless subject, a 'fundamental' science of no interest to those working on practical matters"

"Current ideas of the uses of Model Organisms spring form the exemplars of the past and choosing the right organism for one's research is as important as finding the right problems to work on. In all my research these two problems have been closely intertwined."

"A lot of the things that have been accomplished in science have been accomplished on the basis of ignorance … in the sense that you import into the science people from outside. Because once you have an established science, it has got its high priests — the guys who know everything that will work or won't work. And they don't want to be bothered. So you have to have a challenge. And the great thing is that young people are ignorant, and we should catch them before they turn into the priesthood. So I think that science should have a much more daring approach."

"Even God wouldn’t get a grant today because somebody on the committee would say, oh those were very interesting experiments (creating the universe), but they’ve never been repeated. And then someone else would say, yes and he did it a long time ago, what’s he done recently? And a third would say, to top it all, he published it all in an un-refereed journal (The Bible)."

"Then we started clinical work ... and I just wasn't suited to that. I didn't like ... the whole structure of a teaching hospital. That is, I felt very much that treating patients as things is the wrong thing. And since I thought it was very hard to be a scientist and not do this, then I preferred not to do it at all. So, in fact, I think I am the only person who has ever passed medicine who had never seen a patient until his examination — because I never went. And, in fact, one of the great stories is that I failed my medicine because I was asked to smell this patient's breath and correctly diagnosed Macleans toothpaste where I should have diagnosed acetone."

"Well, I think my skills are in getting things started. ... In fact, that's what I enjoy most — it's the opening game. And I'm afraid that once it gets past that point I get rather bored with it and want to do other things. ... The other thing I'm good at is talking."

"I think for the first time we can attack the fundamental biology of man."

"Like Feynman, Brenner is witty and has won a Nobel Prize. But most important for a legend, Brenner, like Feynman, has this wonderful superiority complex, which results in irreverence, disdain for authority, and allergy to pomposity. This is what young starting scientists love."

"I feel that many of us are often not open to seeing the bigger picture. Perhaps, in this era of information inundation, we prefer or feel more comfortable forgetting how much we still don’t know."

"I would like to point out that all the information we have gathered, all the observations we have made, have resulted from exploring the unknown."

"Life on Mars will be a precious and fragile resource, and I believe morality there will be defined by a deep appreciation for life and all that’s needed to sustain it, and I believe that this attitude will filter down to Earth."

"I’m a paleontologist, and a biologist. The particular area that I work in is called paleobiology. I use my understanding of bone structures of modern animals to make extrapolations to the fossil record."

"When fossils are found, people try to identify and understand the fossil itself. But my research goes beyond that. I want to try and understand something about the animal when it was living — how long did it take to grow, what kind of factors affected its growth, did it have any disease, was it male or female."

"My second book is called . This book is about is the history of life on earth from a perspective of the African continent. It’s like a big picture story. The book was aimed at the high school level but can also be enjoyed equally by adults.One of my very big interests is to promote science through different platforms."

"Kids have so much information about the prehistoric world, it is unreal. They know the geological time, they know about predators and prey and the names of so many dinosaurs."

"South Africa certainly has unique issues. As you know, our country has the legacy of the apartheid. So for me, as an Indian woman, growing up in South Africa meant that there were certain restrictions — which universities I could attend, what I could do. If you look at the numbers of black women in science in South Africa"

"I often work with the Association for South African Women in Science and Engineering and I’m very involved in trying to promote and encourage young people to come into science"

"In terms of what I want to do, Africa, Africa, Africa. We are a continent that’s reliant on rain for our crops: we are already a poor continent so we cannot put in a lot of irrigation."

"It is also the continent where there is the greatest predicted food shortage compared to the population growth. The United Nations has projected the African population to double to 2.4 billion by 2050, while global warming is likely to worsen droughts and reduce crop yields. But apart from all of that, it is my passion to do this for Africa."

"No, definitely not. It can be a solution for only a small amount of crops that are going to help with food security. People are thinking about aeroponics, hydroponics, eating insects, eating all sorts of other foods. Resurrection crops is one solution of many – but I think it is a very important one."

"Without trying to be rude, they are very ignorant about the subject. Genetic modification of plants is probably the safest kind of GM, yet it is the most vilified one."

"The crops that we are eating [today] are highly genetically modified. Through conventional breeding, thousands of gene changes happened without us knowing that we were doing GM all along."

"I want to cater to the subsistence farmer, the person who wants to make enough food to live"

"Farmers are becoming more and more dispirited, and droughts are killing them."

"We should make agriculture part of the solution to our issues… the climate change problem is so huge everything should be on the table"

"Wow! That’s fantastic – I am absolutely thrilled. I look forward to working with the new executive board and, of course, with our fabulous staff in Trieste and to engaging with as many members as I can."

"The use of every modern tool that can improve both productivity and nutrient value. If that involves genetically modified crops, indigenous knowledge, artificial intelligence, better use of grey water – no matter – go for what works best."

"When I was a young woman starting out in science I made a conscious decision not to have children as, in those days (1970s), that was the only way for me to realize my full academic potential. I don’t want other women to have to make that decision."

"Africa needs improved seeds. As climate change dries out its soil and struggling plants become ever more susceptible to pests and disease, we need new technologies to deal with these problems."

"African farmers already suffer from drought, disease, internal trade barriers, corruption and lack of property rights; refusing them the benefits of genetically modified food is a cruel and nasty trick."

"In terms of the health of a person, this is really a difficult thing to study because there are endless combinations, and trying to understand what is relevant and important is not so easy."

"Because when I started, so little was known about the human genome. It was unthinkable that we could look at a person’s DNA and make a diagnosis for a disease or perform a prenatal diagnosis where we could diagnose babies in utero to see if they inherited a genetic disease from their parents. I feel that I have been so fortunate in my career to have experienced all these changes and to work in a field that has its heyday right now."

"The only good TB bacillus is a dead one"

"People said that suddenly changing fields was either reckless or brave, but I found that my chemistry and maths background really set me up well for moving into biology."

"It was the ground-breaking start of molecular biology, so I really felt the need to capitalise on that."

"There's no room for mediocrity here. Excellence is what I've aspired towards in my own work and excellence is what this institute is about."

"We already know a lot about human history from archaeology and anthropology, but recently genetics has provided a wonderful boost to the field."

"we could actually look and say: ‘We see a Neanderthal version of the gene and we can measure its effect on phenotype in many people—how often they get sunburned, what color their hair is, and what color their eyes are."

"The greatest professional honor of my life has been to be a Member of Whitehead Institute and a Professor of Biology at MIT. To be part of the extraordinary research landscape, to educate our outstanding MIT students, and to have had opportunities to contribute to governance and international activities, has been quite wonderful."

"The great thing that we give our students at MIT, in terms of employability and flexibility to respond to shifts in careers, is the ability to solve problems, a training that is applicable across every field."

"Did you know that on a weight basis spider silk is five times the strength of steel?"

"I retired at the end of October 2013, after 46 years of service at the ARC Plant Protection Research Institute. I started in 1967 as a technical assistant and worked my way up through all the post levels to retire as a specialist scientist. However, I was reappointed at ARC-PPRI on a 2-year contract as a "retired mentor of the ARC." I have also been reappointed as extraordinary professor at the University of Pretoria for the next three years. I will continue to be involved in the South African National Survey of Arachnida, the running of the online Virtual Museum and the African Arachnida Database, and hope to continue with research on the crab spiders. I have authored more than 250 publications on spiders, which include nine handbooks and 125 scientific publications, and co-supervised 22 students from seven universities."

"No, most spiders are harmless and they do play a very important part in nature. We market spiders as the "Farmer’s and gardener’s best friend." Spiders are very important predators in crops and they prey on a variety of pest species. Of the more than 2,000 known species of South Africa only a few come into contact with humans and when they bite the wound might need some treatment."

"South Africa has a rich fauna of spiders, with about 2,000 known species. A variety of spiders occur in houses and outbuildings and it is inevitable that they will often come into close contact with humans. Most spiders will avoid physical contact, but when they are accidentally touched or squeezed, in self-defence they might deliver a bite. Very few spiders are potentially harmful to people. The spiders can be divided into the ones that produce neurotoxic or cytotoxic venom. The neurotoxic venom affects the nerve system and it is mainly the button spiders (widow spiders) that are the most important. They belong to the family Theridiidae genus Latrodectus and six species are known from Southern Africa. The cytotoxic venom affects the tissue around the bite site and the only spiders with cytotoxic venom so far known to be of medical importance in South Africa are the sac spiders (Cheiracanthium spp) and violin spiders (Loxosceles spp)."

"They must treat spiders with respect as spiders can bite, but spiders are amazing animals with unique behaviour, as they produce silk threads which they use for all kinds of activities. Unfortunately spiders are widely feared and much maligned, yet their natural and academic importance cannot be overstated. They compromise one of the largest groups of land animals. They are commonly found in and around houses, in gardens and on farms and are one of the more abundant types of wildlife seen on all walking trails. They are important predators in terrestrial ecosystems and for many their webs are tangible records of their complex behaviour. Spiders therefore provide children with a wonderful opportunity to study animal behaviour by using spiders for school tasks research and for school expos."

"Spiders as predators play a very important role as biological control agents. Especially now, when people want crops without pesticides, spiders have a role to play. We have started the red-listing process, but it is not yet completed. The most threatened species will probably be the baboon and trapdoor spiders, which can be affected by the pet trade and habitat destruction."

"In houses we find many species that are cosmopolitical, and they have moved with people all around the world. We commonly find some of the jumping spiders feeding on flies and cockroaches, the spitting spiders feeding on booklice, ant-eaters feeding on ants, rain spiders feeding on moths, the daddy long legs feeding on ants and the brown button spiders feeding on bugs. The only problem species in houses is the sac spider and in a few areas violin spiders."

"Their most distinctive characteristic is their ability to produce silk. These silk threads are produced in silk glands situated in the abdomen. Silk threads are used daily in numerous ways by the spider, [e.g.] wrapping of prey, to hang from during ecdysis, to deposit sperms on before mating (sperm web), to tie the female down during mating, and egg sac construction. Silk threads are also used extensively to construct intricate traps to catch prey."

"The ability to produce venom: all spiders, except one family, produce venom to subdue or kill prey. The venom is produced by a pair of venom glands in the cephalothorax and secreted through small openings on the tip of the fang. Most spiders are polyphagous and feed on a variety of available prey; they are one of the most common predator groups found in ecosystems and have special adaptations towards a predatory way of life."

"The ability to lower their metabolism. This enables them to survive for long periods without food or water and to adapt to adverse climatic conditions. This makes them very good predators."

"A variety of defence mechanisms, such as whirling of webs, dropping of legs, playing dead, etc. are used to enable them to survive."

"They are masters in the art of camouflage and mimicking. With colour, shape and behaviour they are able to blend in with their surroundings to escape predators."

"Spiders are unique in that almost every family or genus has a different behaviour. Just looking at an orb-web that is spun every day gives you some idea of what to expect of a spider."

"She was the first African biologist who graduated with a doctoral study on spider taxonomy. Later we found out that she was the first to have used pitfalls for spider studies in Africa, and had already proved the importance of these animals in biological control, long before anyone else in the world had even dreamt of it."

"She mainly told me of the many plans she had for African arachnology. Although she radiated enthusiasm, I had my doubts about the feasibility. Ansie would become the leading lady for African spider studies in the next three decades, which culminated in her election as president of the International Society of Arachnology (2004–2007), the first woman to be honoured with this position."

"If you objected with something like "Yes, nice idea but this involves identification of so many thousands of specimens," she most often reacted with "Is that all, what's the problem?""

"The faunal sample from Kadzi, an Early Iron Age site in the Zambezi Valley, is the first substantial sample for that period and region in Zimbabwe."

"The site appears to have been a permanent or semipermanent settlement. The sample consists mainly of bovid remains, dominated by buffalo as a single species, suggesting special hunting skills."

"The presence of some domestic animals proves that these animals were available to the inhabitants of the site. Their status in the community is, however, uncertain. Possible explanations for the small number of cattle fragments could be the result of paucity of livestock for environmental or other reasons, or may reflect differential disposal of cattle bones as part of ritual expression."