Gladys Karirirue Kahaka is a Namibian biotechnologist who was a recipient of the 2012 L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science. She was the first Namibian to receive the award. She studies the genetics and molecular structure of plants.

Life and work

Gladys Kahaka was born in Botswana and moved to Namibia. Kahaka grew up at Gam, Namibia in the Tsumkwe region and completed her schooling at

Jakob Marengo Secondary School Jacob Marengo Tutorial College (JMTC) also known as Jacob Marengo Senior Secondary School in Namibia, located at Mungunda Street in Katutura, Windhoek History Founded by Ottilie Abrahams in 1985. Jacob Marengo Tutorial College was established to ...

in Windhoek. After graduation she earned a BSc in biology and chemistry at the

University of Namibia The University of Namibia (UNAM) is a multi-campus public research university in Namibia, as well as the largest university in the country. It was established by an act of Parliament on 31 August 1992. Background UNAM comprises the follow ...

with research centered around the preservation of the biological and chemistry resources of Namibia through biotechnology. She went on to complete her doctoral thesis at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom aided by the L'Oréal-UNESCO Award, which allowed her to pursue her doctoral research. In particular, she has identified genes in organisms, leading to a better understanding of their interaction with the environment. She is studying three endangered species: cheetahs, killed by farmers, ximenia, a tree that bears nutritious fruit, and devil's claw, a medicinal plant that is threatened with extinction. Devil's claw, ''

Harpagophytum ''Harpagophytum'' ( ), also called grapple plant, wood spider, and most commonly devil's claw, is a genus of plants in the sesame family, native to southern Africa. Plants of the genus owe their common name "devil's claw" to the peculiar app ...

'', can provide a source of income for poor local farmers in Namibia which is the largest exporter of the medicinal plant. Kahaka, is studying the plants genes so it can be grown responsibly and on a larger scale. Kahaka was one of the 15 young scientists chosen for the "L'Oréal-UNESCO Prize for Women in Science" annual program. Kahaka is the first Namibian to receive this award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kahaka, Gladys Women biochemists Namibian scientists L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science fellows 21st-century women scientists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Namibian women scientists