We live in an age where decolonisation is the word on everyone’s lips. And this is wonderful and sorely needed. However, nuance tends to be lost from time to time. I am a molecular biologist and I’ve noticed that people generally fall into one of three categories when talking about decolonising the sciences: those who ask, “how do you even decolonise science?”, those who hold that science is only Western construct, and the apathetic, of whom I will make no more mention (who cares about them anyway). Categories one and two are generally diametrically opposed groups.
To the second group: science does not belong to a single culture. It is a manifestation of a human drive to understand the world around us and tell others about what we have found. We do this by making observations and adjusting our knowledge as we go. I will grant that science academia is very Western and has many problems. But science itself is human curiosity, coupled with storytelling, recording the tale of our universe.
To the first group: decolonised science is easy. African-lead science that focuses on uniquely African problems and questions is how it’s done (and I will explore this aspect further). People exploring indigenous knowledge in a respectful way that acknowledges the people who generated the knowledge over generations is how it’s done (which should have an entire article dedicated to it). There are many examples of the former in my field alone. For instance, the production of vaccines in such a way that that they are affordable and available to African nations when they are needed. Rather than relying on more economically-developed nations to provide what we need, we can find a better way to do it ourselves.
I am doing my MSc degree in a lab at UCT where we produce plant-made vaccines mostly against emerging or re-emerging viruses in Africa (the BioPharming Research Unit). This includes Zika virus, Rift Valley fever, and Crimean Congo haemeragic fever among others. We also look at veterinary viruses like beak and feather disease (birds), blue tongue (cattle and sheep), and African horse sickness (horses). One of the larger projects involves producing a vaccine against human papilloma virus (one of the leading causes of cervical cancer globally and in Africa) that includes high-risk varieties that predominate in sub-Saharan Africa. This, in particular, is due to the current HPV vaccine not catering for these types.
Vaccine production requires an expression system, either to produce live but weakened virus (called live attenuated vaccines), or to produce viral proteins (these are non-infectious). These expression systems can be bacterial, yeast-based, or animal-cell-culture-based. However, these systems require a lot of money and advanced infrastructure to set up and use. Additionally, there is a risk that other pathogens could propagate in these systems. The solution that my lab employs is plant-based production.
This is done by genetically modifying a weedy relative of tobacco called Nicotiana benthamianato produce the viral proteins of interest. The plant takes 4-6 weeks to grow to a usable size and is easily infected with the bacteria (Agrobacterium tumorfaciens) used to modify them. This bacterium naturally has the ability to genetically modify plants (we have these little guys to thank for making the sweet potato roughly 10 000 years ago) and by changing up the genes that they inject, we can change the proteins that the plant produces. Then it is a matter of grinding the leaves up and refining the protein of interest. This process is call BioPharming (because scientists love a good pun).
Because the need for sterility is less in a biopharming setup, it promises cheaper production for these medical biologics. And if there is an outbreak of a virus somewhere, vaccines can be produced rapidly, and cheaply by modifying the latest crop of N. benthamianawith the vaccine of choice. There are already a number of biotechnology start-up companies globally that utilise this technology. Recently, the first of its kind on the African continent was opened in Cape Town: Cape BioPharms.
Science is a powerful tool for understanding the material world around us. With it we have the potential to provide food and ease the burden of disease for our ever-growing population. But it can and must be rooted in our own experiences, and our own questions. Science only benefits from a diversity of worldviews and understandings and ways of thinking. It is an inheritance to which all of humanity is entitled: the gift of knowledge.
