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Research themes 

Research at CBC employs cutting edge techniques in solving regional problems of international relevance under the following themes:

 

  • Drug discovery and proteomics

  • Mutation, DNA re-arrangement and microbial fermentation

  • Population genetics and epidemiology

  • Plant disease prevention and control 

  • Bioinformatics

Drug Discovery and Proteomics

Drug discovery research activities focus on the identification of novel therapeutic agents for the treatments of selected tropical and non-communicable diseases from plant and animal sources. Increasing global epidemics of diseases such as diabetes, cancer, malaria and inefficiencies of currently available therapies necessitate the search for novel therapeutic approaches. Research activities within the employ techniques such as cell and tissue culture, fluorescence spectroscopy, radioimmunoassay, ELISA, PCR, western blotting, immunocytochemistry, MALDI-TOF spectroscopy etc to screen several drug candidates. Research interests of the group include:

 

  • Discovery, targets and actions of novel anti-diabetic phytochemicals

  • Isolation, peptidomic analysis and biological characterization of novel bioactive peptides and small molecules from amphibian skin secretions and reptile and arachnid venoms

  • Structural modification and biological testing of bioactive peptides

  • In silico drug design, molecular docking and bioinformatics

  • Identification of novel targets and drug candidates for malaria treatment

 

The group has a strong link with the Diabetes Research Group at the SAAD Centre for Diabetes and Pharmacy, University of Ulster, United Kingdom. This collaboration has resulted in several publications in many reputable interntional journals. 

Ulster, UK

 

Mutation, DNA re-arrangement and microbial fermentation 

Research under this theme employs cutting-edge molecular biology techniques to track mutagenesis in selected microbes used in the local food industries across northern Nigeria. Research interests of the group include:

 

  • Understanding spontaneous mutations in Streptomyces species

  • Isolation of novel class of antimicrobial compounds from Streptomyces species

  • Selection of indigenous microbes for potential use as starter cultures in local food production

  • Microbial fermentation, isolation, characterization and screening of Streptomyces for novel antibiotic production and antibiotic resistance.

  • Biogas production from organic wastes

Population genetics and epidermiology

Plant pests and disease control 

Obesity is a common disorder in industrialized societies and more recently in developing countries with a continuously growing burden and cost for prevention and treatment. Obesity is a complex disorder due to combined effects of genes, environment and lifestyle. About 50-70% of the variation in body weight can be explained by genetic factors and an understanding of individual genetic variation can therefore be of importance. Research under this theme employs bioinformatic approach to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes that are associated with obesity among Africans.

 

 

 

Plant diseases caused by viruses, bacteria and fungi affect crops and are responsible for about 16% losses in agricultural production globally. Excluding the 6 -12% postharvest crop losses, this results in a total annual loss of about $220 billion per year (Agrios, 2005). The damage is not only due to loss of money. Plant diseases also affect the quality and safety of agricultural products. Many phytopathogenic organisms produce toxins, which can affect health of farmers and other consumers of agricultural products

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