Page 15 - VHSA - Onderstepoort 100 Years - Part 3

adapted to cell culture and the first task was to develop a plaque assay for its quantitative determination and then to optimize its production and purification in order to proceed with detailed biochemical studies.
It was soon apparent that more expertise was needed and several co-workers were recruited from various disciplines. The first to join the group was R.A. (Rolf) Oellermann, a
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graduate in biochemistry from the University of Natal. He was famous for his habit of singing with gusto while engaged in his laboratory work, and he played an important role in developing and establishing biochemical procedures. He also laid the groundwork for the study of African horse-sickness virus (AHSV) in parallel to that of bluetongue virus (BTV) be- fore returning to his alma mater a decade later. H.J. (Herklaas)
HJ. (Herklaas) Els was a graduate in physics who established an electron microscopy unit within the section and was responsible for most of the research on the ultrastructural morphology
of the viruses studied over the next two decades. Excellent technical support was provided by J.H. (Johan) Broekman and P.A.M. (Flip) Wege who were experienced in cell culture technology and who established the routine production of virus which was essential for all molecular studies.
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Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Biotechnoly and Immunochemistry
1908-2008
Years