Only a handful of mammals aside from us – primates, some bat species and the elephant shrew – get their period. Image from shutterstock.com

Explainer: why do women menstruate?

For half the population, it comes three to five days each month, 12 months each year, for 40 years of our lives. Menstruation can be debilitating, relieving, disappointing, or simply an inconvenient fact…
One suggestion is that menopause enables women to provide for their grandchildren. Image from shutterstock.com

Explainer: why do women go through menopause?

Menstruation is a reproductive quirk that humans share with only a few other mammals. But even stranger is the fact that women stop menstruating when they have a whole third of their lives left to live…
An estimated 5.2% of cancers worldwide are caused by the human papilloma virus. Image from shutterstock.com

Michael Douglas, oral sex and cancer – the facts about HPV

Oral sex is often the first of many forays into sexual intimacy we experience as fumbling teenagers. And for many couples, it remains an important – and enjoyable – part of their sexual repertoire. But…
Up to 80% of people who contract herpes remain completely asymptomatic. Image from shutterstock.com

Explainer: what is herpes?

When it comes to sexual health, the virus that causes those tingling blisters and angry sores of genital herpes is often the most reviled and feared. Most cases of genital herpes in humans are caused by…
As simple as the procedure sounds, we don’t yet fully understand how faecal transplants work. Image from shutterstock.com

Trading chemistry for ecology with poo transplants

Antibiotics joined our growing arsenal of weapons in the fight against disease over seventy years ago. Their target – the bacterial infections that putrefied our wounds, filled our lungs with pneumonia…

Contact Dyani for

  • General
  • Media request
  • Speaking request
  • Consulting / Advising
  • Research collaboration
  • Research supervision