Today’s seminar was led by Lara, Irene and Federico, former students of the German Pestalozzi School, who participated in an important scientific competition in Germany with a project on the effect of microplastics on the brain.
This afternoon we welcomed Lara Fodino, Irene Garff Ropero and Federico Fernández Brudny, former students of the Pestalozzi School who, with the mentoring of IBioBA researchers, entered the Jugend Forscht (“Young people do research”) competition and won first place in the regional instance and second place in the Biology category of the provincial stage.
In front of a seminar room full of researchers and fellows, Lara, Irene and Federico presented their project Microplastics: a problem in our heads? “The aim of our project was to examine the potential effects of microplastics on the brain”, said Federico. The idea for their work came from a TikTok viral where they said they had found microplastics in breast milk. “In addition to the fact that it is a current issue, we found it very ‘shocking’ to think about the possible harmful effects on babies”, said Lara. From there, they began to think about how microplastics could reach and affect neurons.
In 2022, during his last year of high school, and the summer of 2023, and guided by researchers Sebastián Giusti from the Molecular Neurobiology group, and Patricio Yankilevich from the Bioinformatics Platform, they outlined the project and performed experiments in the laboratory, which included the use of different complex methodologies such as immunofluorescence, fluorescence microscopy, programming and statistics.
“Having been here gave me an idea of what it is to be a scientist, it gives you a contact with the scientific community that is difficult to obtain in any other way”, said Federico Brudny, who is now studying Biotechnology. “This experience changed my life”, expressed Lara, “it is very different the science you learn in high school and science in practice, because it implies asking new questions, understanding something that is not yet understood, it is to be in the line of knowledge: to discover it”, she added.
“At IBioBA I learned to work in a team and for a relatively long time on a project; but I also realized that I was there solely because of my interest in biology and that all the people around me were also there because they were interested in what I was doing. All the work we put in was entirely because we enjoyed it and that made me learn a lot about myself. It was a very nice experience and a unique opportunity”, Irene commented.
Regarding their experience at the Institute, the three agreed that “having been here and having learned things that unfortunately very few can learn at our age, was great. Actually, a first or second place prize does not even surpass what we experienced here. Winning was like an excess of good things, we had already won with the simple fact of being able to be there and present it”.
A relationship of more than a decade
This activity is carried out within the framework of an agreement signed in 2012 between the German school Pestalozzi and IBioBA, and represents one of the pillars of the Institute, which seeks to complement its basic research work with actions aimed at science communication and the promotion of scientific vocations.
The preparation of student groups by IBioBA researchers to participate in the competitions began in 2016 and since then they obtained third place in the Frankfurt regional competition (2017), first place in the Düsseldorf regional (2018), second place in the Hessen-Mitte regional (2019) and third place in the Giessen regional (2020). This is the first time they passed the first regional round and took second place at the stage held at the provincial level.