5 Discoveries Made by Chilean Scientists You May Not Know About

This Sunday, February 11, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science . This date was declared by the United Nations (UN) as a day “in recognition of the key role that women play in the scientific and technological community”, due to the great disparities between the sexes in this field.

You only need to look at general figures, such as the number of scientific Nobel Prizes awarded so far, to see the differences between the participation of men and women in this field. Among the more than 950 awards awarded during the history of this recognition, Only three Nobel Prizes in physics have been awarded to women, five in chemistry and twelve in medicine.

In Chile, the presence of women STEM Careers (Science, technology, engineering and mathematics, for its acronym in English) also remains very low. According to the National Council of Education (CNED) , In 2022, only 24.3% of career registrations in these fields were women.

According to this Council, this percentage has remained similar, or even lower, over the past 20 years. This means that on average, only 2 in 10 students who pursue careers in these fields are women . Therefore, the UN believes it is important to dedicate a day to “supporting women scientists and promoting women and girls’ access to STEM education, training and research”.

Below we present to you 5 discoveries made by Chilean women that you may not know about.

Since childhood, Daniela felt a penchant for biology, but she did not know, until she entered university, how much she would love it. research dinosaurs and “appreciate what we currently see in nature with an evolutionary eye” , comments for Qué Pasa. It was at this time in his life that he became interested in school trips, in one of those where they later found the fossils of the new Chilean dinosaur.

Gonkoken Nanoi is the scientific name of the enormous prehistoric animal discovered in Patagonia in 2023 by the Paleontological Network of the University of Chile. Daniela Flores paleontologist and doctor in ecology and evolutionary biology UCile, was one of the scientists who He actively participated in expeditions and research.

It is a curious dinosaur which had “duck-billed” and lived about 72 million years ago in the extreme south of the continent. It was estimated to be around four meters long and had strong social behavior when caring for its young, unlike other prehistoric animals.

“These expeditions fascinate me but are also very difficult. They require a lot of logistics, they are carried out for weeks in totally isolated places, and with complex climates (cold, very strong winds, snow, etc.). This involves a lot of walking, climbing hills, prospecting and sleeping in tents for weeks,” explains the scientist.

Although it is a field in which we still find a majority of men, Daniela invites women and girls to dare to embark on careers like this. Under your perception “In the field and in the lab, we do difficult and arduous work, and I have met some incredibly powerful women. I used heavy tools myself, transported large fossils, and at the same time performed microinjections into cells and worked with super delicate tools at the microscopic level. I think we can all do anything.

There mycology or mycetology is the branch of biology dedicated to the study of fungi. For years, it was unclear whether these organisms should be classified as plants or animals. After the expansion of this discipline, it is now proposed to integrate a new “F” into the dictionary of nature: Flora, fauna and mushrooms.

Giuliana Furci He was one of the first to be interested in explore this branch of living beings in Chile, and She is the country’s first female mycologist. He discovered different species of mushrooms in the national territory, such as Galactic Amanita in 2014, contributing to the understanding of biodiversity.

With this mission in mind, Giuliana created the Fungi Foundation last year 2012 , organization that has expanded globally with offices even in the United States. The scientist also had a major role in Netflix’s hit documentary Fantastic Fungi, which was nominated for Critics Choice’s Awards for Best Nature/Science Documentary.

In addition, she published two books entitled “Mushrooms of Chile” in which more than 200 species of endemic and indigenous mushrooms from the Atacama region to Tierra del Fuego are collected, with original photos taken by herself.

Susan Bueno She has become a leading professional in the study of infectious diseases and their treatments. She is one of the youngest academics at the Catholic University to be tenured and incorporated into the Chilean Academy of Sciences. A fact as important as The first vaccine developed and then approved in Chile against Covid-19 was under his leadership during the pandemic work that he shared with close collaborators.

The biomedicine doctor says that His interest in this field was born from the questions that “we always ask ourselves, whether we are a boy or a girl. . My curiosity has always been oriented towards health and why diseases occur in humans, plants or animals,” he tells Qué Pasa. Hence his research work which has made it possible to generate new treatments against various viruses, mainly respiratory, such as the coronavirus, the syncytial virus or the metapneumovirus.

Recently, the researcher conducted a study in which A new treatment has been discovered that could stop diseases caused by bacteria such as salmonella and pneumococcus. . This involves an intervention on certain proteins to prevent their spread, with a molecule that the human body produces itself and which can be used to fight against these invaders.

“I have had the privilege of seeing that more and more researchers are successfully leading laboratories and lines of research. It is very important that in all areas, but especially in research, there are diverse visions. And there is something in the vision of women that is unique and very important to generate an integral, rigorous and diverse environment,” comments the full professor at UC and researcher at III and BMRC.

How are planets formed? This has been one of the great unknowns in space for thousands of years, and it was recently solved by Laura Pérez of the ALMA radio telescope, located in northern Chile.

The astronomer from the University of Chile, he was recognized in 2023 with an “Oscar of science” for his discovery of “dust traps” . This is an astrophysical phenomenon in which disks of dust form around young stars and, over millions of years, this material transforms into new planets.

Graduated from Carmela Carvajal High School, Laura Pérez holds a doctorate in astrophysics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), academic in the Department of Astronomy of the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the University of Chile and one of the principal researchers at the Center of Excellence in Astrophysics, CATA.

Additionally, she inspired other women’s foray into the study of astronomy and scientific dissemination, such as the prominent astronomer Thérèse Panèque, author of educational works such as “The Universe according to Carlota” . Both have collaborated on important scientific research and conferences on research into the Universe.

Studying marine biology almost came as a surprise to Karla Pozo. His curiosity was born when he was still a high school student and he saw a sea lion having a child in Puerto Saavedra, where he spent the summer with his grandparents. He tells Qué Pasa that before this experience he wanted to study design or something more artistic, but the connection he felt was such that he decided to dedicate himself to the study of living things.

Today she returned to Puerto Saavedra and other Chilean beaches as a researcher, to check for high levels of microplastics in our coastal waters and animals. Over the past ten years, he has studied the large-scale transport processes of this waste and the impacts of plastic pollution on ecosystems. Recently, he led the scientific expedition aboard Centinela I, where he analyzed the presence of microplastics in the surface waters of Puerto Montt in Concepción.

Next to SPACH a network of more than 80 scientists from across Chile specializing in plastic, microplastics and nanoplastics and their effects on ecosystems, They have presented different reports and surveys to national and international organizations to take measures to regulate the use of materials harmful to the environment.

Moreover, they are not that far from their initial career intention, since Today she is a researcher at the Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Design (FIAD) of the University of San Sebastián (USS). . In this area, he warns the students of the faculty against environmental pollution by plastic and other materials.