Necessity drives innovation in South Africa, where challenges like power cuts, droughts and pandemics push people to be innovative – from the first heart transplant to biomedical breakthroughs and solar-powered desalination systems.
At the age of 11, Mashudu Tshifularo’s teacher in South Africa told him he wasn’t clever enough to even dream of becoming a doctor. Forty-three years later, in 2019, the ear, nose and throat professor gained international recognition by performing the world’s first 3D-printed middle-ear transplant on a patient who had survived a car accident.
