biology

Roodeplaat Research Laboratories

Roodeplaat Research Laboratories is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Roodeplaat Research Laboratories rather than just read about it. In short: Roodeplaat Research Laboratories (RRL) (Afrikaans: Roodeplaat Navorsings Laboratoriums) was a front company established in 1983 by the South African Defence Force to research, test and produce biological weapons within a covert operation known as Project Coast. The Agricultural Research Council - Plant Protection Research Institute is now situated on this location.

Key takeaways

Roodeplaat Research Laboratories belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Roodeplaat Research Laboratories to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Roodeplaat Research Laboratories from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Roodeplaat Research Laboratories (RRL) (Afrikaans: Roodeplaat Navorsings Laboratoriums) was a front company established in 1983 by the South African Defence Force to research, test and produce biological weapons within a covert operation known as Project Coast. The Agricultural Research Council - Plant Protection Research Institute is now situated on this location.

Founding - Project Coast RRL, as the research facility was commonly known, was founded in April 1982 as part of the top-secret biological and chemical weapons program known as Project Coast. This was illegal, being in violation of the international Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC). Project Coast was only publicly revealed in October 1998, in the report of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. RRL was located north of the Roodeplaat Dam near Pretoria, next to an agricultural research station, so as not to attract attention. Daan Goosen was executive director until 1986, when he was fired for alleged breach of secrecy. Wynand Swanepoel, a dentist in the special forces, took over his post. The auditor of finances Pierre Theron was appointed personally by the then Prime Minister Pieter Willem Botha. All RRL front companies were subordinate to the South African Defence Forces (SADF) and were headed by chemical and biological weaponeer Wouter Basson.

Secret mission to develop weapons Initially, defensive chemical and biological warfare agents were to be developed and tested in animal experiments in order to better protect the armed forces fighting in the South African Border War in Namibia and Angola against SWAPO freedom fighters and the communist MPLA. Very soon, however, the order came to research offensive warfare agents and to develop deadly poisons that would not be detectable in an autopsy. The laboratories were not fully operational until 1985 and some also had biological safety level 3. Among other things, brodifacoum, paraoxon, ionophore antibiotics and the nerve agents sarin, tabun and VX were researched. In 1987, an expansion of the research area was discussed. Production units for anthrax, aflatoxins, botulinum toxin and tetanus toxin, to name just a few, were discussed. These expansion plans, including the construction of a BSL-4 laboratory, were never realized. To keep up appearances, RRL also conducted contract research for the pharmaceutical, agricultural and medical sectors. About 15 percent of the projects were commercial in nature and some research results were also published in scientific journals.

Other SADF front organisations Badger Arms Biocon (South Africa) Civil Cooperation Bureau Delta G Scientific Company Electronic Magnetic Logistical Component Geo International Trading Infladel Jeugkrag Lema (company) Military Technical Services Protechnik Veterans for Victory

See also Project Coast South African Border War South Africa and weapons of mass destruction Rhodesia and weapons of mass destruction Medical experimentation in Africa SAIMR Selous Scouts

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Roodeplaat Research Laboratories

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Roodeplaat Research Laboratories claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Roodeplaat Research Laboratories before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Roodeplaat Research Laboratories ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Roodeplaat Research Laboratories

In research: Roodeplaat Research Laboratories appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Roodeplaat Research Laboratories in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Roodeplaat Research Laboratories is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1983 establishments in South Africa, Biological warfare facilities, Companies established in 1983, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Roodeplaat Research Laboratories outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Roodeplaat Research Laboratories in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Roodeplaat Research Laboratories means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Roodeplaat Research Laboratories out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Roodeplaat Research Laboratories in simple terms?

Why does Roodeplaat Research Laboratories matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Roodeplaat Research Laboratories?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Roodeplaat Research Laboratories.