Credit: Karen Toro
Sarah Briceño’s lab is investigating the magnetic properties of black sand from Ecuador’s coast for industrial applications.
One technology for speeding up PCR test processing involves adopting a preliminary RNA extraction from test samples using functionalized magnetic nanoparticles. While this technique makes it possible to process 10,000 tests per day, compared with 3,500 without the technology, the nanoparticles were unaffordable for Ecuador. So Briceño and her colleagues at Yachay Tech developed a low-cost method for synthesizing the necessary nanoparticles (Sci. Rep. 2020, DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-75798-9).
“We produced a liter of magnetic nanoparticles that facilitated thousands of tests,” Briceño says. It was a tremendously rewarding experience. Briceño and her colleagues estimated that, in just 2 days, they could make enough nanoparticles for about 50,000 accelerated COVID-19 tests.
Briceño is a role model for her students at Yachay Tech. Amauta Quilumbango, an undergraduate in the School of Physical Sciences and Nanotechnology, says the experiences that he has had with Briceño are etched in his memory.
Briceño guided him as he prepared for his thesis presentation. “She taught me that in order to talk about my research, I need to tell a story,” he says. That instruction helped him change his focus on science and approach his dissertation defense in a more confident way. Inspired by Briceño’s mentorship, Quilumbango aspires to earn a PhD in nanotechnology.
Ultimately, Briceño hopes to return to Venezuela. “My dream is to return to my country and rescue the laboratories where I was trained. I want to educate the people and make their laboratories what they have always been meant to be,” she says. Fueled by this dream, she wants to apply everything she’s learned in her career to advance her country.
Chemical & Engineering News
ISSN 0009-2347
Copyright © 2024 American Chemical Society
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Publish date : 2024-09-19 13:00:00
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