• The flour substrate of the seed would serve as a basis for generating special foods for diabetic and celiac people

The Chilean food industry is constantly searching for the incorporation of new seeds, used for food production. The current market offers a variety of composite products based on quinoa, flaxseed and other seeds.

In this search for assessing the potential food in other seeds, Patricio Rojas, Forest Engineer and Master in Technology Management, with specialization in Biotechnology, of the Universidad de Santiago, investigated the food potential of Acacia Saligna seeds, as part of a thesis research project, in order to evaluate the possibility of using them in the elaboration of  food products.

Acacia saligna is a species from Western Australia and corresponds to an exotic legume very drought tolerant. In Chile, you can find over 16 thousand hectares in the rural communities of the Coquimbo region (El Tangue, Cuz Cuz, Higuertitas) and used as a complementary food (forage) for goats.

This productive use is "marginal as a source of income for farmers and for the region. The species has a high tolerance to drought and is adapted to the area conditions, so its cultivation is sustainable,” Patricio Rojas points out in his research.

Benefits

In Chile, the Instituto Forestal (INFOR) and other agriculture institutions such as CONAF and INDAP which  have fostered this type of farming among farmers, have added further that afforestation with Acacia Saligna has been an important factor to curb desertification and recover degraded soils of the Fourth Region.

Therefore, Patricio Rojas,  motivated by the agro-food situation in other regions where this seed is grown, refers to Australia where "there are ten species of the genus, whose seeds are eaten since ancient times by indigenous communities and are currently processed as functional food in the form of flour and others (cakes, flavors, pasta, etc.) for a market niche called 'bush food' , he explains.

Ricardo Munoz, guiding teacher of the thesis, notes that the benefits of the seeds are visible. "Seeds are low glycemic and gluten-free, so they could be an important part of a mix basis for preparing products for diabetic and celiac people. This result is an innovation in the agro-food development," this specialist says.
 

Acacia Saligna in the Chilean industry

Despite the progress in development and innovation, the Chilean industry in this area "is not ready to process the seeds of Acacia Saligna as a feedstock. Considering that there is an estimated resource of 16 000 hectares with limited commercial use, tons of flour could be generated", Patricio Rojas says.

Besides, Rojas notes that "by incorporating seed production as an input to the processing industry of flour with beneficial properties for health, the current profitability of Acacia Saligna plantations in the Coquimbo region could be improved. 

"You have to do research and product development to be validated on a pilot scale in order to make technological adjustments and test the consuming propensity that the market could have. The bakery industry which has the skills and the concern on the issue must invest and develop in order to validate what we're envisioning right now," Professor Ricardo Muñoz says.

 

• Universidad de Santiago was among the four national universities that will receive more funds from the National Fund for the Scientific and Technological Development (Fondecyt, its acronym in Spanish), according to the results of the 2014 Contest. Universidad de Chile, Universidad Católica and Universidad de Concepción were the other three universities.

• A research team led by Dr. Pedro Chaná designed an application for computers and mobile devices that helps people with Parkinson’s disease to follow an exercise routine and contact with their attending team of physicians.
• The researchers of this study that relates Psychology to Information Science are part of the Information Technology Innovation Center for Social Applications and the Center for Movement Disorders. Dr. Pedro Chaná said that this tool “facilitates patients’ rehabilitation, contributing to improve their quality of life.”

According to international data, there are about 40 thousand people with Parkinson’s disease in Chile, while about 2% of the world population suffers from this neurodegenerative disorder that affects the central nervous system and movement and, therefore, people’s quality of life.

In this context, researchers at our University developed an innovative application for computers and mobile devices that helps patients with their exercise routines.

By relating Information Science to Psychology, specialists of the Information Technology Innovation Center for Social Applications (Citiaps, in Spanish) and the Center for Movement Disorders (Cetram, in Spanish), both of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, designed the Rehabilitation Exercise Virtual Assistant (AVER, in Spanish).

This tool allows people with Parkinson’s disease to follow an exercise routine according to a calendar and to receive instructions from their doctors in their cell phones. At the same time, doctors will be able to monitor their patients’ progress and to communicate with them through texts, images and videos from their computers.

The principal investigator of the project and director of Cetram, Dr. Pedro Chaná, said that the application “facilitates patients’ rehabilitation, complements their workout routines and contributes to improve their quality of life.”

Dr. Chaná also said the AVER has already been implemented as a pilot project and is being evaluated in order to adapt the technology to users. “What follows is the field test, the last pertinent corrections and the implementation,” he added.

Besides, Dr. Chaná valued the work done together with young researchers of Cetram and Citiaps, “with whom we made up a multidisciplinary team and developed a different and very positive work culture.”

Contribution to patients’ quality of life

The Rehabilitation Exercise Virtual Assistant has been developed by a team mostly made up of young researchers. One of them, Álvaro Fernández (Citiaps), a post-doctoral researcher, shows himself “very pleased” with the work that they have done. Dr. Elena Herrera (Citiaps) shares his opinion, highlighting the contribution “to patients’ autonomy and quality of life” made by the application that they developed.

“Frequently, patients are not able to go to the physiotherapist on a regular basis or cannot afford it. This innovation will be of great help to them. Besides, it is a significant contribution to their autonomy, as they will be able to work out without needing to travel long distances or to interrupt their daily routines,” Dr. Herrera added.

The AVER tool developed at Universidad de Santiago is expected to undergo the last improvements to finally be implemented for the benefit of patients, the world of medicine and society in general.


Translated by Marcela Contreras

·         In 1859, Charles Darwin published the book “On the Origin of Species”, where he states that invading species with a high degree of evolutionary closeness to the invaded community (phylogenetic relationship), would be less likely to become established, because “struggle for survival” would be more intense between related species. However, experiments conducted by Dr Sergio Castro, researcher at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology and CEDENNA, have shown something different.

“Many people have accepted Darwin’s hypotheses as incontrovertible facts due to his recognized status in science. However, many of these hypotheses lie on mechanisms that have not been evaluated. This is a common situation in science development: usually the observations made are tested afterwards,” Dr Sergio A. Castro, researcher at the Laboratory of Ecology and Biodiversity of Universidad de Santiago, says.

In order to test Darwin’s hypothesis, Dr Castro and his research team developed a Fondecyt project. In this context, their paper “Evaluating Darwin’s Naturalization Hypothesis in Experimental Plant Assemblages: Phylogenetic Relationships Do Not Determine Colonization Success” was published by the renowned journal PLOS ONE, currently the largest scientific journal in the world, with a high impact factor (Q1) for its citations.

“Different species can be introduced in an area and several of them can finally establish themselves as populations, as if they were native species, without depending on human action. These are considered naturalized species. In our experiment, we observed a colonizing plant in different vegetal communities. These communities had different degrees of phylogenetic relatedness with the invading species. If Darwin was right, a trend towards the establishment of the invading species would have been recorded, depending on the evolutionary relatedness. However, after three years, we evaluated the results and they did not support Darwin’s hypothesis,” Dr Castro says.

The experiment was conducted in Batuco (a place close to Santiago) and 15 species were selected. One of them, the native lettuce Lactuca, was used as a colonizing or invading species, while the other 14, like chamomile, broad bean, arugula, among others, were used as experimental assemblage communities. With these plants, five treatments were organized according to their different phylogenetic relatedness with respect to Lactuca. They showed that colonization did not depend on phylogenetic relatedness. 

“En nuestro estudio todas las plantas pudieron convivir, independiente de sus parentescos. Por esto, los resultados manifiestan que la hipótesis de Darwin no tiene un respaldo tan sólido o por lo menos no es tan general como él lo planteaba”, indica Castro.

“In our study, all plants were able to coexist, regardless of their relatedness. Therefore, the results show that Darwin’s hypothesis does not have a strong base or, at least, the hypothesis is not as generalized as he stated,” Dr Castro says.

The researcher has also evaluated Darwin’s naturalization hypothesis by analyzing the composition of Chilean flora and introduced exotic plants. This work not only disproved the hypothesis, but it yielded opposite results.

“We found that species from other environments can be introduced in Chile’s central zone and find relatives that survive well in this climate. These relatives can provide pollinators and seed dispersers, making naturalization more likely to happen, contrary to what is expected in Darwin’s hypothesis,” he says.

Having an impact on global change

In the past few decades, people have become more interested in knowing how the different human activities affect the environment. The focal point has been climate change, passing over other factors, like introducing foreign species, flora or fauna, in other places. These factors are considered as part of global change.

“Chile is a biogeographic island. It is surrounded by a mountain chain, a desert and an ocean; therefore its flora has evolved isolated for more than 180 years. However, in the past centuries some species have been introduced that are risky to native species,” he explains.

Chile’s central zone biogeography is so particular that it is considered one of the 35 biodiversity hotspots of the world. These places are characterized by a high level of species endemism, but at the same time, their preservation is in danger as a result of human impact.

“An introduced species can produce the extinction of a native one, damaging our biodiversity. Nowadays, our variety of exotic plants is wide if compared with the variety of our native flora. But, what can we do to prevent this situation? There is little we can do in a globalization context, but we can generate diagnosis to prevent some species from entering and becoming naturalized,” Dr Castro says.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Its first office in South America will be located at Universidad de Santiago de Chile, with name of Leitat Chile International Center of Excellence in Nanotechnology (CEN) and it will operate with all the experience in research and technology that the Leitat Technological Center has had in Spain since 1906.
• It will contribute to give added value to strategic sectors of the Chilean economy, like mining industry, fishing and aquaculture, food and agriculture, and forest industry, and to the industry of personal protection equipment. According to the President of Universidad de Santiago, Juan Manuel Zolezzi, CEN’s contribution “Will allow us to give qualitative leaps in innovation matters based on science and technology.”
• The Center will arrive in Chile thanks to the Attraction of International R&D Centers of Excellence program promoted by the Chilean Economic Development Agency (Corfo), Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Knowledge Innovation Market (KIM), and Universidad de Santiago.

On September 03^rd, the Leitat Chile International Center of Excellence in Nanotechnology (CEN) was officially presented. Universidad de Santiago de Chile is one of its partners.

In Chile, it will contribute to give added value to strategic sectors of the local economy, like mining industry, fishing and aquaculture, agricultural-food and forest industry, and to the industry of personal protection equipment.

This center will also try to transform technological research and development into concrete services and products that contribute to national productivity and competitiveness, which are currently based on natural resources.

This Center will become a reality in Chile thanks to the Attraction of International R&D Centers of Excellence program promoted by the Chilean Economic Development Agency (Corfo), and to the contribution of Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Knowledge Innovation Market (KIM), and Universidad de Santiago de Chile.

During the ceremony held at Club El Golf 50, Dr Joan Parra, General Director of Leitat, was the first speaker. He said that his project in Chile is based on three core ideas: people and their talent, the making of industrial policies and the value of the product or service.

“We want these core ideas to be the seed. We are absolutely convinced that societies require technology, that technology is affecting not only our work and our leisure time, but that it is an important part of the base for social stability and economic growth,” he added.

“We will spare no efforts to make this initiative a collective success and I would like to express my gratitude, again, to Corfo and the university (Universidad de Santiago),” he said. Dr Parra travelled from Spain to head this important opening activity.

Qualitative leaps in innovation matters

The President of Universidad de Santiago, Dr Juan Manuel Zolezzi, said that CEN’s contribution “Will allow us to give qualitative leaps in innovation matters based on science and technology.”

He said that, in order to collaborate in this process, our university will accommodate the center in the campus, so that it brings its laboratories, equipment, and advanced human capital to develop technological and innovation collaborative scientific work.

“For us, Leitat is an international strategic partner with significant experience in outreach and engagement and technological transfer and innovation. These aspects are very important for our university, as it is stated in our Institutional Strategic Plan,” President Zolezzi said. 

Dr Zolezzi highlighted that “At becoming partners, we seek to broaden our capabilities to plan and to use the knowledge and technologies generated at our university to reach other important agents of the country, like industries, the government and the society. This is part of the clear commitment that we have made as a state and public university to contribute to people’s welfare.”

As Dr Zolezzi explained, Universidad de Santiago will participate in three research lines: mining industry, fishing and aquaculture, and food and agriculture

The analysis of the industry needs and opportunities in these areas will be led by Dr Alejandro Gutiérrez (Mining industry), Dr Rubén Bustos (Fishing and aquaculture), and Dr Claudio Martínez (Food and agriculture).

Positive impact on the corporate sector

For his part, CEN’s manager, José Luis Checa, said: “Leitat’s strategy on arriving in Chile is to have a positive impact on the Chilean corporate sector, especially on those areas that have been defined as strategic ones. It is our firm belief that companies need innovation, as a sustainable mechanism to create value, what in turns becomes added value for the country. 

He invited all local agents in the nanoscience field to collaborate in joint projects that allow making the most of the knowledge and experience of this Spanish institution.

Needs of the productive world

Finally, in his speech, Eduardo Bitrán, Vice President of Corfo, said that we will have the opportunity of linking Leitat’s experience with the efforts made in research by Universidad de Santiago

“We acknowledge that our universities have progressed in the development of scientific research; but we still have essential challenges regarding to better relations with the needs of the country and the productive world,” he added.

“As a country, we want to move forward from an economy that uses natural resources as raw material to develop, to an economy that develops products and services with a higher added value by using its natural resources. For this reason, one of the results that we expect is the development of companies with higher levels of innovation and technology, to start developing business sectors with a higher knowledge-base,” he concluded.

Leitat Foundation in South America

This is the first office of Leitat Foundation in South America and it will focus on promoting research, development and innovation in the different economic sectors, contributing to the integral development of society and the territory, to innovation promotion and competitiveness improvement.

The Foundation defines itself as a “technological partner” constantly adapting to the market that promotes changes to strengthen technological ventures -supporting innovation in big companies- and to consolidate international collaboration as the value given by technological networking, linking research with the market.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• A research team at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology of Universidad de Santiago de Chile is working on an ointment to combat melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer

The study led by scientists Sofía Michelson and Claudio Acuña is currently at preclinical stage (animal testing). The cream’s active compound comes from a Chilean endemic plant and it has proved to be an effective solution for melanoma. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), between 2 and 3 million people are diagnosed with this type of cancer every year.

"We are fighting melanoma because it is the most aggressive skin cancer. Currently, there exist other ointments to treat skin cancer but they do not specifically treat this type," Michelson said.

The main challenge the researchers face is to find a mechanism that is able to boost the body’s response in the presence of a tumor, so that it can stop the progress of the disease.

“The problem is that the human body does not react to tumours because they make the body believe that they are normal. For this reason, the idea is to achieve an immune response similar to the one that is produced in case of bacterial, viral or parasitic infection,” Acuña said.

The cream developed by the researchers is applied topically every third day for about a month. During that period, the application zone should be protected.

The cream contains an extract of an endemic bush in Chile that is found between the regions of Coquimbo and Bíobío (central Chile) which affects the viability of the tumor cells. “We have already conducted other studies on melanoma treatments, so it was during that search that we found this substance,” Michelson said.

The effectiveness of the treatment has been encouraging. After using the ointment in animals, they more than doubled their life expectancy in comparison with conventional treatments.

"The ointment gives protection against tumor growth. If life expectancy was previously seven days, now it is up to 24 days. There are even some subsequent cases that were able to successfully eradicate melanoma," she added. The medication also allows to prevent the disease from recurring.

Another advantage of this product is its low cost. Therefore, it would give the patients more access to the treatment.

“Currently, there are many products available to treat general cancer, but many of them are expensive, so people cannot have access to them,” Michelson said. This is one of the reasons that led the researchers to study melanoma.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Dr Silvia Matiacevich and Professor Rosa Navarro, both researchers at the Technological Faculty of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, were able to concentrate quinoa proteins in liquid emulsions to then dehydrate them into a powdered product that could be an alternative to animal products.

After two years, a team of scientists at the Technological Faculty of Universidad de Santiago de Chile found that quinoa proteins can be concentrated to generate liquid emulsions and then, after being dehydrated, transformed into a nutritious healthy powdered product.

Dr Silvia Matiacevich, professor at the Department of Food Science and Technology, and Rosa Navarro, professor the Technological Faculty, are leading this study that has already shown significant results.

“We were able to produce shelf-stable liquid emulsions based on quinoa proteins. Without any additive, these proteins and oil with active properties can be kept stable for almost 25 days, with a good appearance and without getting contaminated,” professor Navarro says.   

Based on these emulsions, then the researchers were able to make a powdered product for people who do not eat animal products.

“We dehydrated these high-protein emulsions because we wanted to offer a powdered ingredient that can be added to any type of food to enhance its properties,” professor Navarro adds. The powder includes a bioactive component which is rich in antioxidant and antihypertensive properties.

“In this way, we can offer two versions of the product as a functional and healthy food, even for people allergic to quinoa,” Dr Matiacevich says.

The product idea

In 1996, quinoa was classified by FAO as one of humanity’s most promising crops, not only for its beneficial properties and its many uses, but also considering it as an alternative to solve the problems of human nutrition.

Quinoa is mostly grown in the Bolivian and Peruvian Andes. In Chile, quinoa crops are expanding in the northern and central regions of the country.

These were the reasons why the researchers decided to carefully study the properties of this pseudo-cereal.

“Quinoa has high protein content. However, people still do not consume as much quinoa as one may expect, so we asked ourselves if quinoa’s proteins are as functional as the proteins of soya or milk,” professor Navarro says. The researchers focused their work on a product that could be put in the market as an alternative to dairy products (or even meat) for people who do not consume animal products, like vegans, for example.

Other professionals collaborating on the project are Dr Rommy Zúñiga (Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitana), Dr Javier Enrione (Universidad de Los Andes), and Dr Carolina Astudillo and Dr Fanny Guzmán (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso).

The project has been funded by means of contributions and Conicyt grants.



Translated by Marcela Contreras

• For the second consecutive year, our  University was positioned in the third place of the largest national patent requests prepared by the National Industrial Property Institute (INAPI,  in Spanish). Dr. Louis Magne,  director of the Department of Technology Management, attended the awards ceremony  and he highlighted the efforts of the University to generate technological innovations.

Our University has managed to gradually increase the protection of intellectual property of the technologies  generated through its research and development. In 2011 it presented a total of 28 requests  at national and  international levels and through the Cooperation Treaty about Patenting Matters (PCT, in Spanish).

The number of nine national patent records required in 2011, helped to put the University in third place, according to the "INAPI Report 2012". The leader of this ranking was Universidad de  Concepción and P. Pontificia Universidad Católica, with a total number of thirteen requests for inventions each.

The award ceremony for this important achievement was held last Thursday in the new premises of INAPI and was chaired by Tomás Flores the Vice Secretary of Economics, and Maximiliano Santa Cruz, INAPI director.  Dr. Louis Magne, director of the Department of Technology Management from the office of Research and Development attended the ceremony and  represented our University. He  noted that patenting is a priority for the institution.

"The University has an important increase of the research that has  potential for new businesses, and this has allowed  the  identification of the results that might get a patent and which are the basis of innovative technologies that could be transferred to the productive sector," he said.

Throughout its history, the  Universidad de Santiago de Chile has presented 63 requests  for national patents. At the international level, it has presented 50 requests  in various countries, mostly in the United States. Of the total applications, 28 patents have been given, eleven  in Chilean territory, three in the U.S. and the rest in other countries.

"We are currently working to achieve that these patents generate licenses and then royalties, meeting  the challenge that Chile has about becoming a generator of technology," Magne explained.

What is the meaning of patenting?

A patent is an exclusive right granted by the State for the protection of an invention, so it recognizes and guarantees the exclusive commercial exploitation for the holder of the invention, thus preventing others from appropriating the benefits involved in its exploitation.

Obtaining these patents in the University is paramount as it demonstrates the ability to generate appropriable knowledge, and states the basis of technological products that have a future to contribute to the country and become  part of  the national and international markets.

To achieve this, the Technology Management Department is responsible for encouraging researchers to conduct applied research projects whose results are evaluated in its appropriability and evaluated for their further development, until the patent is generated.

The patents that are requested belong to the University, with the recognition of the authorship  for the inventors. If the invention is commercialized, 50 percent is for the group of researchers that  generates the patent and the remaining 50 percent for the University.

• Patricio Flores, PhD in Biotechnology, and Yu-Wen Tang, student at the Master´s program in Technology Management- Major in Biotechnology, both from the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, were awarded a grant to develop a strategy for marketing an enzyme that has multiple benefits for diagnosing diseases.

As a result of the work they did for a doctoral dissertation and after being granted funds through the “Go To Market, de la Idea al Mercado” Contest organized by Corfo (the Chilean Economic Development Agency), the researchers will get trained in Silicon Valley, in the context of the third stage of the project “Developing a strategy for marketing a highly stable glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH) enzyme.”

The project, which was developed under the guidance of Dr. Jenny Blamey, associate professor at Universidad de Santiago, proposes replacing the bovine GLDH enzyme with one from an Antarctic extremophilic microorganism (capable of resisting extreme conditions of temperature, pH, pressure, salinity, among others), which does not have the deficiencies of its predecessor. Its most common application is in the area of clinical laboratories where it is used for diagnosing hepatic and renal diseases

According to researcher Patricio Flores, “having discovered this new enzyme, glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH), improves the half-life of five different types of diagnostic kits, as its thermal stability is higher than the one of the enzyme used today.” The academic stresses that “what is most important is that it also solves the problem of low half-life of the “old” diagnostic kits, preventing from discarding expired kits that have not been used, improving result reliability, lowering costs, reducing losses for companies and enabling a stock available to give a quick answer to market requirements.”

“The new enzyme is much more stable. It can be stored at room temperature, keeping more than 85% of its activity for 50 days. On the other hand, the bovine enzyme completely loses its activity under the same conditions,” Dr. Flores explains, regarding the results of this project that involves Universidad de Santiago and Fundación Científica y Cultural Biocencia.

Go To Market

“Go To Market, de la Idea al Mercado” is an initiative that seeks to identify research studies conducted at universities, technological centers and Chilean companies that have generated technologies that could potentially benefit the global market.

“The application process for the Corfo’s Go to Market Contest coincided with the last steps to finish my doctoral dissertation in which I developed the product prototype, that is to say, the GLDH enzyme from an Antarctic thermophilic microorganism,” Dr, Flores says.

At present, the project is at its third stage, which involves getting training at the Standford Research Institute (SRI), scheduling meetings with investors and interested clients and developing a marketing strategy to position the product in the market. These will be the activities that the two researchers will have while they stay in USA.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• By means of a Regular Fondecyt Project, a research team at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology led by Dr. Manuel Azócar is currently working on the optimization of compounds derived from silver, by adding them anti-inflammatory properties and higher thermal stability and durability for their future use as antibacterial agents.

Besides being a metal used in jewelry, silver has varied applications and properties. One of them is its high electrical conductivity. Another distinctive feature of this element is that its particles are used in creams to treat burns and warts; water purification systems; anti-microbial paints and anti-bacterial compounds.

Regarding this last application, Dr. Manuel Azócar, researcher at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, is developing new silver-based anti-bacterial agents with anti-inflammatory properties, by means of a Regular Fondecyt Project.

The main objective of this research is to understand and enhance the essential features of these compounds for their future use as broad-spectrum bactericidal agents, with more air and light stability.

“We are interested in optimizing these metallo pharmaceutical agents by adding them higher anti-inflammatory properties, higher thermal stability under light conditions and also in identifying the elements that may have toxic effects on cells,” the researcher said.

Besides, one of the most novel aspects of this study is that it seeks to optimize these compounds to use them in lower doses and give them more air and light stability, because silver is a sensitive metal and gets oxidized easily, getting darker in a short period of time.

At a first stage, the work team has been able to prepare several compounds that have made possible to understand the conditions that allow obtaining more stable and durable products. They have also been able to evaluate these compounds as anti-bacterial agents.

“As of 2015, we have planned to assess the cytotoxicity of these compounds, verify our hypotheses regarding the reduction of toxic effects and make a more detailed analysis of their structural features,” the researcher finally said.

Translated by Marcela Contreras