Mexican world Esperanza Martinez Romero, laureate last week in Paris, FranceAs for his studies on beneficial bacteria that promote plant growth, he sees a promising outlook for science in the coming years, but for this, he considered it imperative that young people receive a solid education because success, he asserted, is based on “genius plus hours of work.” .
In an interview with MillenniumBefore receiving the award Prize “For Women in Science” from the L’Oréal Foundation and UNESCO In Paris, France, he noted that governments need to be conscious and find mechanisms to include young people who want to pursue science and Develop it in Mexico, because “it is not worth wanting to excite people who have no future.”
He emphasized that in science, “I see a very promising future, science is getting very powerful. The scope and power of scientific research is expected to be very strong in the future“.
He began the conversation with a brief account of his work with beneficial bacteria that promote plant growth because they supply them with fertilizer.
“These fertilizers are called bio-fertilizers and they have been used for a long time, because their effect on plants is very clear. They save farmers a huge amount of money because they don’t have to buy chemical nitrogen fertilizers.s,” he explained.
– What benefit can be given to these investigations on a large scale?
Widely used in agricultural fields. In crops such as soybeans, it has been used commercially for many years, 100 years. In fact, it’s really old knowledge and what we’ve done is extend it to the legumes we consume in Mexico, like beans. We very much like that grains like corn benefit from nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
Can this be used to improve nutrition?
It’s more productive But it’s also good for food because bacteria promote plant health. Not only growth, but also pathogen competition. These are the big problems in agriculture: Plants are infected with fungi. Many of these bacteria can produce fungicides.
Tell us, what was the moment that inspired you? How does a girl become what you are now?
In fact when I was a kid I had no idea there was research. Instead, when I was young, when I was in the Faculty of Sciences and Humanities at UNAM, I read an interview with a researcher who was working in immunology, an immunologist at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences. In that interview, she was talking about a research degree. A very new BA degree at UNAM called BA in Basic Biomedical Research which was intended to teach students to conduct research by doing research. From day one they put us in the lab, and we had to work on research projects and design alternatives, so it was very rich.
It is about promoting women to women. You are inspired by a world and now you are also an inspiration.
I hope that all this effort of speaking with the media, giving interviews, writing and speaking will inspire young people, Not only women but men as well.
Photo: Daniel Venegas
– What do you see 20 years in the future? Just as you have been inspired years ago?
I see a very promising future. Science has become very powerful. There is already a lot of information out there, so people with the ability to absorb all of this information will have a real wealth of knowledge: it can be very overwhelming. Sometimes I talk about genomics, which started slowly and is now a tsunami. A tsunami of gigantic proportions, and this is the information in genome science now.
Do you see a panorama of opportunities in Mexico for the future?
Yes true then. I think governments should be aware and find the mechanisms To include young people who want to do science and make room for them, because we can’t say: “Yes, there are a lot of people interested.” And then: Well, who knows where, go to Norway or the United States or Asia for work. It’s not worth getting excited about people who don’t have a future.
What would you say to women who are looking for an opportunity to get to where you are?
Give yourself a chance because There are really talented girls and boys who have very good imagination The ability to integrate and question.
I’ve met many newer generations that I work with firsthand who are BS Genomes, really They are brilliant young men with the ability to do new sciences that far surpasses us. Keep studying. Yes, vigorous training is required; Then nothing more, ah I’m so cool: you have to work. It’s genius plus hours of work.”
JLMR
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