The Onderstepoort Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, Onderstepoort was formerly known as the Blood Typing Laboratory and changed to DNA typing in 2001. The laboratory is a service-driven and self-funding unit and is run on current and general business principles. It fulfils various roles including an academic support role for postgraduate students interested in applied veterinary genetics, research of genetic diseases in various animals and development of tests and protocols that can be applied in the service division.
The service division consists mainly of a DNA profiling and parentage testing component, forensic DNA testing in animals, testing of specific genetic diseases and traits in animals, genotyping for population analysis and some pathogen testing of equines via the laboratories association with the Equine Research Centre.
The Vision and Mission of the OPVGL:
To provide a DNA typing service that exceeds the requirements of the customer in terms of efficiency and quality, based on veterinary principles and considering the animal and its environment holistically.
To maintain an annual growth rate in terms of services rendered and technical competency that reflects the international developments in the field of veterinary genomic and diagnostic genetics.
To support and promote the welfare and wellbeing of animals by providing a forensic testing service and by research in the area of genetic disease, pathogen detection and population analysis.
To provide an environment in which staff and selected students can develop and use various skills to contribute to the overall objectives of the laboratory and promote the University of Pretoria locally and internationally in the field of applied veterinary genetics .
To contribute to the training of veterinarians in the rapidly expanding science of molecular genetics and provide an up-to-date DNA testing service to the Veterinary Faculty and practicing veterinarians.
TuksGolf Training Centre officially opened at the University of Pretoria - 17/05/2013
The University of Pretoria prides itself on its publicly recognised achievements pertaining to its various sporting fraternities. These achievements can be attributed to the University’s sporting facilities, which are of the highest quality among South African universities. To add to its quality achievements, the University of Pretoria, through TuksSport and the High Performance Centre (hpc), has now officially opened a golf training centre.
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South African law professor to report to the United Nations on Lethal Robots - 16/05/2013
South African human rights law professor, Christof Heyns, will submit a widely anticipated report on Lethal Autonomous Robots (LARs) to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council on 29 May 2013.
Prof Heyns, from the University of Pretoria (UP), was appointed as UN Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions in 2010. During last year, he conducted worldwide research on the question whether states should be allowed to use LARs - weapons that, once deployed, can use lethal force without further human intervention - during war, or peace.
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A continental Leadership Transformation Programme established - 15/05/2013
The African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Albert Luthuli Centre for Responsible Leadership (ALCRL) recently co-hosted a roundtable aimed at establishing a continental leadership transformation programme.
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The Vision and Mission of the OPVGL:
The University of Pretoria prides itself on its publicly recognised achievements pertaining to its various sporting fraternities. These achievements can be attributed to the University’s sporting facilities, which are of the highest quality among South African universities. To add to its quality achievements, the University of Pretoria, through TuksSport and the High Performance Centre (hpc), has now officially opened a golf training centre.
South African human rights law professor, Christof Heyns, will submit a widely anticipated report on Lethal Autonomous Robots (LARs) to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council on 29 May 2013.
Prof Heyns, from the University of Pretoria (UP), was appointed as UN Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions in 2010. During last year, he conducted worldwide research on the question whether states should be allowed to use LARs - weapons that, once deployed, can use lethal force without further human intervention - during war, or peace.
The African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Albert Luthuli Centre for Responsible Leadership (ALCRL) recently co-hosted a roundtable aimed at establishing a continental leadership transformation programme.
Judges from five African countries (Botswana, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda) joined participants from 20 other African countries for a course on socio-economic rights, presented by the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria from 6 to 10 May 2013.
Speaking on TuksFM’s Bang Bang Breakfast Show, the University of Pretoria’s Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof Cheryl de la Rey, announced that the second Woolly Winter Campaign will be launched earlier in a bid to make it ‘bigger and better’ than the previous year’s effort.
Last edited by: Dawie Roux