The University of Pretoria hosted the joint biannual conference of the South African Genetics Society (SAGS) and the South African Society for Bioinformatics (SASBi) at the Kwalata Game Ranch from the 23rd to 26th of September 2014. This conference aims to unite scientists from the overlapping disciplines of bioinformatics and genetics in South Africa. The theme for 2014 was "Beyond Genes and Genomes" highlighting the importance to understand the flood of diverse biological data being currently generated and to correlate that to the function and evolution of biological systems, not only on a single gene level but also on a whole-genome level.
The department was well represented by students and staff that presented both oral and poster presentations, from the various research groups, including Human Genetics, Molecular Breeding & Biodiversity (MBB) and Plant Breeding.
Ms Ellen Ovenden, an MSc candidate in Human Genetics, won the prize for best oral presentation, for her talk, entitled: "Investigating the functional significance of genome-wide variants associated with antipsychotic treatment response", and Ms Charné Rossouw (also an MSc candidate in the Molecular Breeding & Biodiversity group) won the best poster award for her contribution, entitled: "Microsatellite cross-species amplification and high throughput development of single nucleotide polymorphisms in commercially important sharks".
Two members of staff, Drs Aletta van der Merwe and Clint Rhode (both from the Molecular Breeding & Biodiversity group), was also elected to serve on the executive committee of the South African Genetics Society at the annual general meeting of the society.
