Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo (CSIC-Univ. Pablo de Olavide), Sevilla, 41013, Spain.
Milner Therapeutics Institute, Capella Building - Biomedical Campus, University of Cambridge, UK.
Semin Cell Dev Biol. 2017 Oct;70:58-64. doi: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2017.08.044. Epub 2017 Aug 30.
The impact that research has on shaping the future of societies is perhaps as significant as never before. One of the problems for most regions in Africa is poor quality and quantity of research-based education, as well as low level of funding. Hence, African researchers produce only around one percent of the world's research. We believe that research with Drosophila melanogaster can contribute to changing that. As seen before in other places, Drosophila can be used as a powerful and cost-effective model system to scale-up and improve both academia and research output. The DrosAfrica project was founded to train and establish a connected community of researchers using Drosophila as a model system to investigate biomedical problems in Africa. Since founding, the project has trained eighty scientists from numerous African countries, and continues to grow. Here, we describe the DrosAfrica project, its conception and its mission. We also give detailed insights into DrosAfrica's approaches to achieve its aims, as well as future perspectives, and opportunities beyond Africa.
研究对塑造社会未来的影响或许前所未有地重要。非洲大多数地区的问题是基于研究的教育质量和数量差，以及资金水平低。因此，非洲研究人员仅产出了全球研究的约百分之一。我们相信，使用黑腹果蝇的研究可以有助于改变这种情况。正如之前在其他地方看到的，果蝇可以作为一个强大且具有成本效益的模型系统，来扩大规模并提高学术和研究成果。DrosAfrica 项目的成立是为了培训和建立一个使用果蝇作为模型系统来研究非洲生物医学问题的有联系的研究人员社区。自成立以来，该项目已经培训了来自许多非洲国家的八十名科学家，并且还在不断发展壮大。在这里，我们描述了 DrosAfrica 项目、其构想和使命。我们还深入了解了 DrosAfrica 实现目标的方法，以及未来的前景和超越非洲的机会。
