Latest news with #UniversityOfBayreuth
The Herald
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald
Revolutionary men can also have a dark side
On May 28, the world awoke to news of the death of Kenyan author and academic Ngugi wa Thiong'o, regarded as one of the leading African novelists and an important figure in modern African literature. Wa Thiong'o, who survived a prostate cancer diagnosis decades before, had been struggling with kidney problems at the time of his death. He passed away in Georgia in the US. Wa Thiong'o was an award-winning author of many books, including his debut novel, Weep Not Child , which was awarded the 1966 Unesco First Prize. Many other book prizes and accolades would follow, including the prestigious 2022 PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature, which is awarded biennially to writers, principally novelists, 'whose works evoke to some measure of brilliant versatility and commitment to literature as a search for the deepest truth and the highest pleasure'. He was also the recipient of 13 honorary degrees from some of the most renowned higher learning institutions in the world. In 2014, Walter Sisulu University awarded him a Doctor of Literature and Philosophy honorary degree, and in the same year, the University of Bayreuth in Germany, where I am currently pursuing my PhD in Geography, also awarded him an honorary doctorate. There is no question that Wa Thiong'o was a giant of African literature. But in March 2024, shocking allegations were made by his son, Kenyan-American writer Mukoma Ngugi, who stated on social media that his father, the great novelist and academic, had physically and psychologically abused his late wife Nyambura, Mukoma's mother. Writing on X (formerly Twitter), the Associate Professor of Literature at Cornell University shared the pain of growing up witnessing the abuse and silencing of his late mother. 'My father @NgugiWaThiongo physically abused my late mother. He would beat her up,' he wrote. 'Some of my earliest memories are of me going to visit her at my grandmother's where she would seek refuge. 'But with that said, it is the silencing of who she was that gets me. Ok — I have said it.' The revelations sent shock waves across the literary world and society in general, with many question how such a respected man could be guilty of such heinous actions. While the story was widely reported, it did little to diminish the legacy of Wa Thiong'o, who continues to be revered and celebrated in death as he was in life. But the allegations of Wa Thiong'o's abuse of his wife should not be swept under the carpet. They are as much a part of his legacy as his accolades and award-winning novels are. The refusal to engage with this aspect of his life, to see him as a complex human being who was both a victim of colonial violence in Kenya and a perpetrator of domestic violence on the home front, is an injustice not only to the memory of Nyambura, but to all women in the world who have been erased and whose own legacies are overshadowed by those of the powerful men they are married to. This perpetuates the privatisation of violence, where men are revolutionaries in public and abusers in private. This is the case with many great revolutionaries. One of the greatest black revolutionaries, Black Panther Party cofounder Huey P Newton, was accused by close Panther associates of behaving erratically and in abusive ways towards comrades, particularly women. In 2007, Ericka Higgins, one of the women leaders of the Panthers, disclosed that she was allegedly repeatedly raped by Newton and told that if she reported the rapes, her children would be harmed. There are wounds that many women who are in relationships with men celebrated as revolutionaries have had to endure in silence. When they speak out, they are shamed for 'tarnishing' the men's images. But if we are to reflect on the legacy of Wa Thiong'o and other great men, we must do so truthfully and remember them in their fullness.
Gizmodo
21-05-2025
- Science
- Gizmodo
Biologists Engineer Spiders to Spin Glowing Red Silk
CRISPR-modified spiders have bright and colorful silk. And also no eyes. Researchers have, for the first time ever, used CRISPR gene editing on spiders. While the genetically-modified critters lack the ability to give you spidey senses, they do spin glowing silk. In a study published in the journal Angewandte Chemie, researchers at the University of Bayreuth created the world's first CRISPR-modified spiders, some of which produced red fluorescent silk, and some of which had no eyes. CRISPR-Cas9 is a powerful gene editing system that has revolutionized our ability to treat disease and probe the human genome. CRISPR has been used to edit the genomes of animals, plants, and microbes, and now, a species of common house spider (Parasteatoda tepidariorum). Genetically modifying arachnids posed a unique set of challenges. A lot of spiders like to eat each other, so breeding them can be, well, tough. They also have very complex genomes—which were duplicated early in spider evolution. After some early failed attempts, the researchers settled on injecting the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing machinery, along with a gene for red fluorescent protein, into unfertilized spider eggs. The goal was to insert, or 'knock in' the red fluorescent protein gene into the part of the spider genome that produces a protein found in silk. That was easier said than done. The process required the researchers to anesthetize female spiders and drive a tiny needle into their abdomens. After recovery, they bred the female spiders with the males of the same species. The next generation of spiders, they found, spun colorful, fluorescent red silk, showing that the researchers had successfully edited the spider genome. 'We have demonstrated, for the first time worldwide, that CRISPR-Cas9 can be used to incorporate a desired sequence into spider silk proteins, thereby enabling the functionalisation of these silk fibres,' Thomas Scheibel, senior author on the study and a biochemist at the University of Bayreuth, said in a statement. The researchers also experimented with CRISPR-KO, a gene editing tool that knocks out, or inactivates, a specific gene. They used this to knock out a gene called 'so,' which was thought to be important for eye development. The gene was, indeed, important. The resulting CRISPR-KO-modified offspring were born sans eyes (or with fewer eyes than normal). What's creepier, eight eyes or no eyes? Spider silk is stronger than steel, featherlight, and has tear resistance, making it a particularly useful material for things like clothes and surgical sutures. The researchers said that this experiment could open the door to create silk with new properties. 'The ability to apply CRISPR gene-editing to spider silk is very promising for materials science research – for example, it could be used to further increase the already high tensile strength of spider silk,' Scheibel said. So, maybe some glowing red clothes are in our future.
