Our country could add a new country soon Nobel Prize although this time connected to science.
This, since the Chilean scientist Ricardo Maccioni has two nominations for it Nobel Prize in Medicine 2021 for their contributions to the knowledge of the disease Alzheimer’s.
The Doctor of Science is an academic from the University of Chile and has led the International Center for Biomedicine for over 30 years, dedicated to the search for a cure for this neurodegenerative disease.
The renowned researcher took the time to talk BioBioChile of various subjects, in which of course the pandemic could not be missed. While he claims it has been a rough patch for everyone, he acknowledges that it has been productive times for him and his team.
“Last year, during the pandemic, we made seven scientific publications, a record when it comes to publishing scientific articles in impactful journals. It means that there was a very coordinated approach during the pandemic. Now I have been working in my office since 7 AM and just turned 76 “, he began to point.
The arrival of the first vaccines in our country makes the Chilean scientist look optimistically to the future. “A pandemic is something that has unfortunately happened, but pandemics have occurred in humanity on many occasions,” he says.
“The problem is that in the future, if people are vaccinated, it will be possible to slow the progression of the disease. It’s like driving a car downhill and you brake and brake until you reach the bottom and everything is under control, ”he said.
In this sense, Dr. Maccioni emphasizes that the recommendation is to get vaccinated. “And hopefully all facilities will be available so that people have access to the vaccine. I’ve seen some confusion in people “, Add.
“It is not justified not to wear masks. You have to use them and keep a social distance, that’s clear. I am afraid when I see crowded people in supermarkets, that is not possible. Now, if a vaccination policy is made, it has been scientifically proven to work, ”he continues.
In this regard, the researcher emphasizes that “all vaccines work”, citing the case of diseases controlled by vaccination, such as measles or smallpox.
‘All these great advancements have been made for vaccines. There is no medical reason to believe that vaccines don’t work. This unfounded fear that vaccines can lead to autism is unfounded. They are somehow crazy that come from somewhere and have no scientific basis “, expresses.
“The government is taking the right measures. They are people who have to use them properly in some way. If they say there is a capacity of people in supermarkets that can go in, they cannot be full. It cannot be that because it is summer, all the people end up on the beach, that there are thousands of people in a small area without any kind of control, ”he says.
“You have to be more aware. It is not a matter of government or regulations. Maybe it would be necessary to be a bit firmer, like in countries like New Zealand, where they practically extinguished the virus. It is slightly smaller than Chile, but it is comparable, it is isolated just like us, ”he says.
Doctor Maccioni was interested in studying the disease from an early age Alzheimer’s, “When nothing or very little was known. It’s a topic that interested me early on, ”he explains.
After completing his higher studies in biochemistry at the University of Chile, he graduated as a biochemist in 1969, after which he continued his postgraduate degree in biomedical sciences at the same university, from which he graduated in 1975. It was there when he became his research fellow at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, United States.
Among other important advancements, the scientist led the development of a test that uses the Alzheimer’s with a blood sample.
“It’s called a non-invasive test Alz Tau, which will be available to the entire Chilean population in one or two months, from Arica to Punta Arenas, ”he said. All this on the basis of the detection of the behavior of a key molecule in the development of the disease: the TAU protein.
In concrete terms, it is a system that consists of two sets. The first is to prepare the platelet protein, while the second kit is the assay that indicates the value of these variants of the TAU protein.
This scientific proposal is thus positioned as a unique alternative in the world that enables accurate and predictive information with simple technology, not only for diagnosis but also for early detention, up to 10 years in advance.
The assay is based on the presence of a high or low molecular weight of this protein, all hand in hand with algorithms. In this sense, the biomarker consists of calculating species with a high molecular weight and a low molecular weight of the TAU protein, indicating that in the cases of Alzheimer’s, the large species dominates, and that has a correlation of about 90%.
The biochemist is currently continuing his research work. It will be published in the magazine Journal Alzheimer’s Disease called his new studio New Frontiers in the Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease, which proposes an integrated approach that includes preventive factors and pharmacological approaches for the future management of the disease.
The academic has set his expectations in the sense that through a multi-target therapeutic approach, moving towards different objectives, the disease can be controlled.
“But not with a simple medicine, I have said that many times. If you are trying to cure Alzheimer’s with a drug against some brain enzymeYou will never control it, because it is an event within the ten events that take place in the brain that have been changed by the disease. So you can control some, but not all. The idea is to control at different levels, ”he says.
A third Chilean Nobel?
Dr. Maccioni admits that any scientist would be delighted to be a candidate for a Nobel Prize. “Ultimately it is a recognition of the many years of work. Scientists have little recognition, but when they arrive, they are logically welcome, ”he acknowledges.
“It would be a great honor for me and my research team, because I don’t work alone. And on the other hand it would be an honor for Chile, because it would be a unique event for our country, which has never had a Nobel Prize in medicine, has never had an award in hard science. That would put Chile in the global sphere, in an important position.
Finally he sent a message to those young people starting out in the world of science. “First of all, they have to assume that doing science in Chile is not easy, we have to redouble our efforts compared to what scientists are doing in countries like the United States,” he says. “You have to be restrained, that is, have a very strong mind to face the attacks,” he adds.
In addition, it emphasizes the importance of perseverance and hard work. “I came to this by working 20 hours a day for a long time. Now I am 76 years old and I work not 20 but 16 hours. I legally have my one-month vacation, but I’m working at the bottom of the canyon, ”he said.
In the meantime, he explained that you have to be honest and think big. “You never have to shrink. Projects can be done. Everyone trained in my laboratory has that stamp “, concludes.