• In order to develop more tolerable therapies, a research team at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology of Universidad de Santiago de Chile studies the use of biodegradable nanoparticles to increase the Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) circulation time in the body to combat cancer.

In order to develop more tolerable therapies, a research team at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology of Universidad de Santiago de Chile studies the use of biodegradable nanoparticles to increase the Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) circulation time in the body to combat cancer.

The study is led by Dr Patricia Díaz, professor at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology and is being developed in the context of the 2016 Fondecyt Post Doc Project (3160837) "Uso de nanopartículas con circulación prolongada para la administración de ATP en tratamientos anticancerígenos." Dr Díaz and her team will test new nanotechnology-based applications to deliver cancer-fighting drugs into the body.

She explains that any drug delivered in the body for therapeutic purposes requires a circulation time to play its therapeutic role.

Some molecules, like ATP, are quickly degraded, so high constant drug doses are required to be therapeutically effective and this is not beneficial for patients.

“As drugs are encapsulated in nanoparticles, the enzymes that metabolize them cannot bind to them. This is why they are protected against degradation. Consequently, drugs’ half-life is increased, prolonging its therapeutic efficacy,” she explains. 

Improved treatments

The advantage of using ATP as a cancer-fighting drug is that it has minor side effects if compared to other drugs. But ATP degrades very quickly when it is recognized by the enzymes in the body. Therefore, different drug administration methods are required, like the use of nanoparticles with biodegradable and biocompatible properties.

“For this reason, we want to encapsulate ATP into biocompatible nanoparticles to increase its half-life. We will also use other strategies to make them invisible to the immune system, so that they can circulate longer. The idea is to prevent them from binding to the cell and to avoid extracellular release of ATP. In this way, we expect to have a higher amount of drug available in the body for a prolonged anti-cancer effect,” she explains.

According to Dr Díaz, the main objective of the study is to test the effectiveness of ATP-carrying nanoparticles in cancer treatment. “I expect to demonstrate that nanoparticle-encapsulated drugs increase their bioavailability when compared with conventional administration methods. Besides, we also expect to analyze the potential synergistic effect of administrating ATP in combination with other drugs frequently used in cancer treatment.”

“This synergistic effect could destroy a higher number of cancer cells, benefiting patients with advanced cancer,” she adds.

Another advantage of this type of treatment is that, as it allows a sustained release of drugs in time, patients could receive the treatment once a week or every two or more weeks, depending on the drug encapsulation capacity and its circulation time,” she concludes. 

Dr Juan Pablo García-Huidobro, researcher at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, is also participating in the study, which is being conducted at the Pharmacology Laboratory.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• These researchers seek to change the concept of nutrition through an artificial intelligence startup, which has also developed other 100% plant-based products with the same taste, texture and smell as traditional foods.

• By means of a Regular Fondecyt Project, researchers at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, led by Dr. Brenda Modak, are studying a treatment to protect the national salmon farming industry from the dangerous bacterium Piscirickettsia Salmonis, by using wild plants from the Atacama Desert.
• “Synthetic products have proved to be a problem where they have been used as they accumulate at the bottom of the sea. This is the reason why we refer to this as a sanitary challenge that national aquaculture has to face. Working with a natural compound will not only lead to a less invasive cure: there will also be less pollution in waters where it is used,” Dr. Modak stressed.

In the last decades, aquaculture in Chile has been constantly growing, placing Chile in the first place of producers in America, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Also, salmon production accounts for 76% of the national fish farming industry, according to the National Service of Fishing. For these reasons, infections affecting salmon farming at a national level can become a serious problem for the country.

“We are the world’s second leading country in salmon farming, after Norway. So, everything related to infectious diseases becomes important, even more, when it comes to Piscirickettsia salmonis, a bacterium that has killed about 50% of the salmon population in the country,” affecting an industry that generates more than 60 thousand jobs in the south of the country,” Dr. Brenda Modak stressed.

In order to find effective solutions to this problem, Dr. Modak, together with a multidisciplinary research team from Universidad de Santiago’s Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, are working on the Regular Fondecyt Project “Evaluation of natural products with potential antibacterial activity against P. Salmonis.”

“We are trying to test the activity of natural products isolated from plants against this bacterium (P. Salmonis), which has been difficult to combat with common synthetic antibiotics. However, our compounds have proved to be effective as antiviral drugs and immunostimulants for salmons, so this is where the idea of testing them in salmons already infected came from,” she said.

To develop the treatment, researchers will work with plants that grow wildly in the Atacama Desert, which produce a resin that covers the plants to protect themselves against the unfavorable environment in which they grow.

“We will extract the resin from the plant and then we will separate its different components. We have seen that the resin is made of two groups of compounds, from which we will take some samples and test them against the bacterium,” she said.

Three Universidad de Santiago’s laboratories are taking part in this study: the Laboratory of Chemistry of Natural Products, the Laboratory of Immunology and the Laboratory of Virology. First, the study of the extracted resin will be started until the pure compounds are obtained. This will be followed by the bacterial cell growth. Then, the in vitro work will be done, observing how the bacterium is affected by the compounds. Finally, in the in vivo work, salmons will be infected and then they will be given an injection with the elaborated product.

“Synthetic products have proved to be a problem where they have been used as they accumulate at the bottom of the sea. This is the reason why we refer to this as a sanitary challenge that national aquaculture has to face. Working with a natural compound will not only lead to a less invasive cure: there will also be less pollution in waters where it is used,” Dr. Modak stressed.
 

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• In the Southern Hemisphere, Chile is the largest exporter of berries. Therefore, national researchers focus their efforts on increasing their life, to allow these products to reach more distant markets. An eco active container which aims to contribute to this purpose has been generated at U. Santiago.

In 2008, Dr. Maria Paula Junqueira, academic at the Technological Faculty, committed herself  to making a contribution to the food area, and she was part of  the task of converting Chile into a food power. Thus, through a Fondef project, she tried to combat the limitations generated, particularly by the fungus Botrytis cinerea, in the so -called  berries, and this allowed their  extension of life.

The closing of the investigation "Life extension of fresh berries by using eco-active packaging” was held on Friday 19^th at the Plaza San Francisco Hotel, where the results were presented to the participating institutions.

The eco active container has an antifungal agent in his film, which fights the fungus specifically mentioned. Also, it  is also friendly with the environment, because it is recyclable. To verify the efficiency of the invention, tests with raspberries and blueberries were tested in Chile, while in England raspberries and blackberries were used, because we are in different seasons.

Of all the berries used in the study, raspberries showed a better response to interact with the packaging, and this helped to extend its life in two days.

"We had a very promising result," the academic at the Department of Science and Food Technology remarked; she  added that "due to the final results of this research, an  initiative was taken in order to try with other fruits like grapes and strawberries and we already have companies which are interested in participating. "

Dr. Junqueira thanked the cooperation of the school, saying that she had "an unconditional support from the University from the start and then at all stages involved in  the project."

This work, which also involved Dr. Maria Angelica Bargains and Dr. Francisco Rodriguez, members of the same academic unit, gave birth to a patent application in Chile, which will also be replicated abroad soon.

Companies’ experience

In the presentation of results, representatives of the participating companies  were present. Enrique Harvgreaves attended in representation of  Typack company, a packaging  company. He said: "I do hope that this product is on the market soon.” He also thanked the opportunity to develop a collaborative work with the University.

Meanwhile, Alvaro Acevedo, from Vitalberry, referred to the contribution generated in the production process of these fruits during the investigation. "The market demands have pushed us to the improvement of production processes, and this has increased the quality requirements demanded for these products," he said. He also emphasized that this result "has a lot of potential; undoubtedly, it is a product to be applied massively".

Dr. Luis Magne, Head of Technology Transfer, attended on behalf of the Vice-President for Research, Development and Innovation. He said "we take on the challenge of leading the University on the path of innovation. The road has not been easy but  maturity has been achieved in the sense of understanding what technological research is. "

Luisa Martínez, financial analyst of the Fund for the Promotion of Science and Technology was also present in this event.

 By Valeria Osorio

• A research team of the Technological Faculty of Universidad de Santiago, led by Dr. Arturo Rodríguez, conducted a study on the perception of Chilean people with regards to the use of electromagnetic technologies and their effect on human health. According to the survey conducted, among 1,100 people in the Metropolitan Region, although 87.4 per cent think that these tools are harmful to health, 92 per cent would not stop using them.

Electromagnetic technologies (mobile phones, Wi-Fi devices, mobile phones antennas, among others) have reached almost all spheres of life. In spite of this, users do not know much about the electromagnetic radiation these devices emit and the risk that they pose, two factors that have been considered the cause of some health problems.

A multidisciplinary team of the New Technologies Research Group (GINT-USACH, in Spanish) led Dr. Arturo Rodríguez, professor at the Technological Faculty of Universidad de Santiago, conducted a study that collected the Chileans’ opinion about technologies and their effect on human health. The study was based on face-to-face surveys and included 1,100 people from different communes of the Metropolitan Region.

The poll conducted in the context of a Public Opinion Dicyt Project showed that Chilean people are highly dependent on electromagnetic technologies, although they are aware of the health risk that they may pose. 

According to the researchers, the conclusions reflect a society that prefers meeting its need for communication and interconnection over health care. For example, 87.4 per cent of the respondents perceive the use of electromagnetic technologies to be harmful to health; however, 62.9 per cent think that it is important to have access to them and they also use these technologies for work.

The researchers say that these results are similar to other practices that can be observed in many situations of daily life. For example, drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes, which are associated to different diseases; however, people would not stop using them. 

The survey showed illustrative data regarding technological dependence. Almost 90 per cent of the respondents said that they use electromagnetic technologies for company, while 92 per cent said that they were not willing to stop using them, in spite of the negative effects they may have.

Regarding the usefulness of these technologies, 39.4 per cent say that they are not totally convinced of using them for commercial transactions; besides, they do not consider these technologies useful tools in case of emergency. 

According to Dr. Rodríguez, “this phenomenon is due to the high presence of technology in daily life and the lack of education regarding the usefulness of technological devices and the need for their use. Technologies which are only oriented to meet needs will lead us to a society that cannot tolerate frustration; doubtlessly, to an increasingly troubled society.”

Translated by Marcela Contreras 

• Between August 30^th and September 04^th, 2015, internationally renowned researchers, and professors and students in the field of microbiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, biocatalysis and biotechnology, will meet at Universidad de Santiago to discuss the importance, developments and potential applications of extremophile microorganisms, which are able to thrive in extreme conditions. The Thermophiles 2015 Meeting is a world conference held every two years. For the first time, it will take place in South America and Universidad de Santiago will host its 13^th version. 

Between August 30^th and September 04^th, 2015, world-class scientists and students of the field of microbiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, biocatalysis and biotechnology will meet at Universidad de Santiago for the 13^th International Thermophiles Meeting 2015, a multidisciplinary forum held every two years to discuss the latest scientific developments, applications and importance of these microorganisms that live in different extreme environments of the world.

The purpose of this conference is to increase the knowledge of scientists and students in this research field and, at the same time, to invite them to explore its importance for biological sciences and industrial biotechnology.

“This is an excellent opportunity not only to expose our scientists and students to world-class science and scientists in this field, but also to propose new approaches and views to contribute to science in our country and Latin America,” Dr Jenny Blamey said. Dr Blamey is a professor at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology of Universidad de Santiago and is in charge of the forum organization.

“It is important to mention that Chile is considered one of the six geographic areas with the most diverse extreme environments in the planet; therefore, the scientific matters that will be discussed during this conference are very relevant to the future scientific and technological development in this field in our country,” she added.

Scientists invited

Dr Karl Stetter is one of the scientists who will give a presentation during the activity. He is from Germany, a pioneer in the field of biological sciences and the discoverer of the microorganism Pyroccocus furiosus. The DNA polymerase from Pyroccocus furiosus is currently used for gene amplification and genome elucidation.

Another participant in the forum will be Dr Juergen Wiegel. He is from Germany too and is one of the most renowned microbiologists in the world and recipient of the Bergey’s Award.  

Dr Michael W. Adams, a British professor with many publications on this research field who leads the most important laboratory of structural genomics of extremophile microorganisms, will open the conference.

For further information, go to the meeting official web page: http://www.thermophiles2015.cl

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• The project will enable academic exchange and collaborative research on matters of renewable energies with specialists of important foreign research centers, like Lancaster University, UK, and the Institute of Technology Assessment of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria.

• The Network Project 140007 Isolated Energy Communities, led by the director of the Institute for Advanced Studies (IDEA, in Spanish), Dr Cristián Parker, was awarded funds by the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (Conicyt, in Spanish), in the 2014 Contest “Support to the formation of international networks among research centers”.

On November 13^th, at the IDEA facilities of Universidad de Santiago, a letter of intent was signed by two important research centers that formalized their participation in an international research network: Lancaster University, UK, and the Institute of Technology Assessment of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria.

The participants in this meeting were the substitute director of IDEA, Dr Fernando Estenssoro; the researcher in charge of the project in Chile, Dr Cristián Parker; the national co-researcher, Dr Gloria Baigorrotegui; the researcher responsible for Austria, Dr Michael Ornetzeder, and the researcher for the UK, Gordon Walker.

Energy Communities

“The purpose is to make possible an academic exchange, at a researcher level, to understand what energy communities are,” Dr Parker said with regard to the objective of the project.

“We are in a period in which energy systems are being transformed and we are moving forward to renewable energies. But technologies are not something you implement on the first try: they are developed when they are accepted and adapted to the different needs and requirements of each community,” he said.

He specified that the idea is to study the research works on energy communities conducted in Europe and then promote their implementation in our country.

“We have selected two very interesting [research] groups for their progress, one in Austria (Institute of Technology Assessment of the Austrian Academy of Sciences) and one in the UK (Lancaster University), in such a way that we can have a benchmark and see how to promote the development of energy communities with renewable energies in Chile,” he said.

According to Dr Gloria Baigorrotegui, the European experience is interesting because, “there, in the seventies, they started without any funding, maybe in similar conditions to the ones we have today, but with a more economically promising and more advanced technological development.”

“These are the ways in which communities somehow organize their own energy systems and keep the benefits for themselves,” Dr Baigorrotegui added.

The project

The project involves seminars, publications in international indexed journals, as well as cooperation agreements that are being established with foreign institutions to continue with new research works and academic collaborations.

As the project has a multidisciplinary approach, it gathers academics of different areas, like Dr Fernando Estenssoro; Dr Ingeborg Mahla, professor at the Department of Electric Engineering, and Dr María Teresa Santander, professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering, among others

This project will help to extend the use of renewable energies in different communities, in different places of the country. It seeks to learn from the European experiences in these matters.

Universidad de Santiago’s hallmark

This project is in accordance with the social focus of our university, which impact should aim to solve the fundamental challenges of national development, in a creative way.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

·         Dr Rodrigo Contreras is conducting a study that seeks to control the action of the Botrytis cinerea fungus and provide a solution to the problem it poses for the national wine industry.

Currently, vineyards in Chile cover a 125,000 ha surface and they produce over 1,200 liters per year, making wine production an essential part of national economy.

According to the Chilean Bureau for Agricultural Studies and Policies (ODEPA; in Spanish), Chile is the fifth larger wine exporter in the world; however, these production is at risk of being affected by the grey rot caused by the Botrytis cinerea fungus that causes the partial or complete loss of the grapes.

In order to contribute to the wine industry in the country, Dr Rodrigo Contreras Arredondo (Faculty of Chemistry and Biology of Universidad de Santiago de Chile) is conducting a study that will allow controlling the problems produced by this fungus after the harvest process and during transportation.

The study is in the context of a Post Doc Fondecyt Project supported by Dr Leonora Mendoza, an expert in the study of natural botrycides.

The species studied by Dr Contreras is able to survive in spite of extreme environmental conditions. After eight years of working with this species under the supervision of Dr Gustavo Zúñiga, he developed a proposal that would allow using natural products to control grey rot without affecting human health.

Application

The Vegetal Biotechnology and Physiology Laboratory at Universidad de Santiago- according to the researcher- is the one that has most information on this endemic extremophile species and the use of its molecules. For this reason, the study is at an advanced stage and it will continue now with the application stage.

“The project is focused on fruit and wine industry, as exported grapes get damaged by the fungus after the harvest process and during transportation,” he says.

He says that the botrycide is applied after the harvest process to prevent the fungus from affecting the grapes in order to keep the seal quality and designation of origin that distinguishes these products. “We want to use the natural products synthesized by the plant; i.e., we are going to use the plants as factories of active molecules and we will apply those molecules to the post harvest fruits, avoiding the use of synthetic pesticides,” he says.

First, the applied study will be conducted in laboratory conditions, seeking for a method to strengthen production and protect the fruits. Then, Dr Contreras expects to elucidate the complete mechanism that would prevent rot grey from developing. He concludes by saying that this extremophilic plant is biodegradable and that it does not have harmful effects on humans.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Chilean and foreign experts met in a seminar organized by the Center of Studies in Sciences and Food Technology of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, where they discussed the different options that they currently have in wine industry and the use of yeasts to determine, control and counteract variables that can affect the quality of this product.

Wine industry is constantly seeking to increase its competitiveness through sustainable solutions. One of the main current challenges of genetics and biology in relation to fungi and yeasts is how to face the significant environmental changes that we are undergoing. In this context, different experts in this field met on November, 21^st, at the Plaza San Francisco Hotel, in Santiago, in the seminar Hongos y Levaduras del vino: del laboratorio a la mesa (Fungi and Yeasts for Wine: form the Lab to the Table). 

The activity was organized by the Center of Studies in Sciences and Food Technology (Cecta, in Spanish), of Universidad de Santiago de Chile and sponsored by the CONICYT REDES 150077 project and the Núcleo Milenio MNFISB (Fungal Integrativa and Synthetic Biology). Many speakers from France, USA and Chile participated in the event, including professors at Universidad de Santiago de Chile and at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

The seminar covered the different strategies currently used in wine industry and highlighted the importance of yeasts in the process of improving the quality of this product through different scientific methods.

Dr Jean-Luc Legras and Dr Bruno Blondin, both from the INRA Sciences pour l’Oenologie, Montpellier, France, were two of the foreign guests to the activity. Dr Blondin explained the difference between the selected yeast and native yeasts in wine elaboration.

For her part, Dr Angélica Ganga, professor at Universidad de Santiago de Chile, gave the presentation “La relación entre ciencia y las necesidades del sector productivo nacional” (The relation between science and the needs of the domestic productive sector), in which she highlighted the production of Chilean wine industry and its innovations.

Science and nature

In the context of the discussion about the consumption of natural non-genetically modified products, the experts said that modified yeasts- although they are created in laboratory- are not really different from the natural ones, as the modifications only seek to produce better quality wine. 

Dr Francisco Cubillos, researcher at the Cecta of Universidad de Santiago de Chile explained that there are two strategies: one is to generate non-modified organisms and the other, to use what is already in nature and through crossbreeding, obtain new organisms, new yeasts. 

Chilean wine industry is not behind regarding these strategies. According to Dr Cubillos, “The fact that we are able to do science in Chile with national yeasts or that we make efforts to generate technology to improve yeasts, places our country at an international level, comparable to what the best groups in the world are doing. If we are able to improve our yeasts, we can give wine an added value.”

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Dr. María José Galotto, director of Universidad de Santiago’s Packaging Laboratory, was appointed as the National Contact Point for Horizon 2020 Framework Program in the area of nanotechnology. Horizon 2020 is a European program that provides funding for research and innovation in different fields. “This is in recognition of the University’s positioning in the area of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, reached through CEDENNA,” the researcher said.

The National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (Conicyt, in Spanish) informed that Dr. María José Galotto, director of Universidad de Santiago’s Packaging Laboratory (Laben, in Spanish) was appointed National Contact Point for the Horizon 2020 Framework Program in the area of “Nanotechnologies, Advanced Materials and Advanced Manufacturing and Processing.”

Dr. Galotto said that her appointment “is in recognition of the University’s positioning in the area of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, reached through the Center for the Development of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (CEDENNA, in Spanish), where nanotechnology is being applied to different areas of knowledge. This appointment will consolidate this new line of research and this positioning.”

According to Dr. Galotto, it is also in recognition of the constant work that Laben has developed over time, which results have been reflected in several research projects, publications in ISI journals and patents. This, in turn, results in a very close relation with the food and agricultural industry and food packaging industry at a national and international level.

The Laben was invited to be part of the International Association of Packaging Research Institutes (IAPRI). This membership, awarded by invitation only, is proof of the international recognition that our University has received.

Dr. Galotto’s appointment is also important because this area has a great future in the Food Science and Technology field; therefore, being able to get in contact with other research groups in Chile and abroad, will strengthen the links between the University’s academics and other researchers.

Among her new responsibilities, she will have to promote and foster the participation of nanotechnology research groups in the Horizon 2020 Framework Program, in which Chile will be entitled the same benefits that the European Union member states enjoy.

Regarding this, Dr. Galotto said that “up to date, we have had the first work meeting at Conicyt and we have scheduled others for the second semester, both here in Chile and in Europe.”

Nanotechnology

According to the researcher, “nanotechnology will integrate with food and agricultural industry as an option for developing food with better sensory and nutritional properties, better quality, and useful life, and greater safety.”

Dr. Galotto specified that our University is well ahead in this area, since the Laben has been working several years in applying nanotechnology to food packaging.

She added that researchers at Laben have led studies, in which nanotechnology has been applied, for example, to the development of packaging with anti-microbial activity to extend the life of food like salmon, or to reducing the level of compounds that accelerate the ripening of climacteric fruits like kiwi or avocado, among others.

Translated by Marcela Contreras