NEWS
to transform cancer reporting,
prevention and precision medicine in
Africa. In a proof of concept study,
IBM scientists have discovered a
basic molecular link between cancer
causing genes and those associated
with metastasis, the cause of 90%
of cancer related deaths. Preliminary
results from this work have been
presented recently.
Using anonymous, unstructured
data provided by the National
Cancer Registry in South Africa
and in collaboration with the
www.intelligentcio.com
University of Witwatersrand Medical
School, the team is developing
cognitive algorithms to automate
the inference of national cancer
statistics in South Africa. This
technology is expected to reduce a
five-year time lag in cancer statistics
reporting to real-time.
With the support of the City of
Johannesburg, IBM scientists have
collected 65 samples of microbes
and bacteria from 19 bus stations
across the city as part of the global
Metagenomics and Metadesign of
the Subways and Urban Biomes
international consortium. Once the
samples are processed the results will
be available to city planners, public
health officials and scientists who
will use the data to help officials
predict and prepare for future disease
outbreaks and discover new species
and biological systems.
In early September, scientists from
IBM, H3ABioNet and the University of
Notre Dame will host a hackathon on
anti-malarial drug resistance and drug
combination prediction.
INTELLIGENTCIO
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