Registration for the World Conference of Science Journalists 2025 (WCSJ2025), to be held from 1-5 December at the CSIR International Convention Centre in Pretoria, South Africa, is now open. Its overarching theme is “Science journalism and social justice: journalism that builds understanding and resilience”.

This is an unmissable event for science journalists, science communicators and scientists wanting to publicise their work. The international biennial conference is taking place for the first time ever on African soil and presents a unique opportunity for everyone interested in communicating science to hone their craft, to network with their peers, and to find stories about groundbreaking African science.

The Machine Intelligence and Neural Discovery (MIND) Institute at Wits University has been awarded core funding of US$1 million by Google.org. Led by Professor Benjamin Rosman (TIME100 AI 2025 influencer), the Wits Mind Institute is home to some of Africa’s leading fundamental AI researchers, and this landmark investment will supercharge its research and drive next-generation breakthroughs in natural and artificial intelligence.

Kruti Naik, a PhD candidate at the Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform (WADDP), is pioneering new ways to treat eye infections and vision-related diseases that could transform patient care in Africa and beyond.

Instead of relying on traditional eye drops, Naik is developing microneedle patches—similar to contact lenses—that deliver medicine painlessly and directly to the eye. This innovation reduces drug wastage, avoids refrigeration challenges, and could combat severe infections linked to rising antibiotic resistance.

Her work combines microneedle delivery with nanomedicine principles to target diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, and inflammation caused by both infectious and chronic illnesses. Currently collaborating with Dr Garry Laverty’s team at Queen’s University Belfast, Naik is also developing self-assembling hydrogels that act as long-lasting implants, steadily releasing medication for conditions like HIV, TB, and cancer.

Backed by a Wits Foundation UK fellowship and NRF/DSI SARChI funding, Naik’s research highlights how accessible, patient-friendly technologies can make life-saving differences. As South Africa marks Women’s Month, her achievements showcase the vital contributions of women scientists to advancing global health.

New research from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa (Wits University), has shown that heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury accumulate in the scales of Black Mambas (Dendroaspis polylepis).

The study, conducted on snakes captured in Durban in KwaZulu-Natal and published in Environmental Pollution, was the first of its kind to examine heavy metal accumulation in an African snake species. The results mean that researchers can use scale clippings from these snakes to accurately measure spatial patterns of environmental pollution levels, without harming the snakes. 

Autophagy is a process in which worn out, toxic or degraded cellular components are swept up and recycled to maintain a healthy living cell. When this process is disrupted or disfunctions, it can lead to diseases such as cancer, neurodegeneration, and heart disease.

Microclimates – as opposed to large-scale regional or even global scale macroclimate models – may hold the key to offsetting the negative impacts of extreme weather events on already vulnerable insect populations.