Ecuadorian scientists seeking scientific utility in Antarctic ice

Young researchers from the center of research for biotechnology of Ecuador (CIBE), graduates of the ­Escuela Superior Politecnica del Litoral (Espol) and through an agreement with the Ecuadorian Antarctic Institute (NAIS) traveled to Antarctica in search of land and water samples in 2010. The goal was to find microorganisms to analyze their functionality in the areas of agriculture, food, medicine and environment.

Through the project called ‘ Antarctic microorganisms: isolation, identification, preservation and evaluation of their biotechnological potential ‘, they have isolated 400 microorganisms that left the Antarctic icein refrigerated boxes in the laboratories of CIBE.

Biologist Lorena Monserrate, of 27 years, traveled to Antarctica from February to March 2013, to find bacteria and fungi that can be applied in environmental bioremediation. Previously, a study conducted by the Faculty of maritime engineering from Espol detected in Antarctica some points of pollution caused by heavy metals such as lead, mercury and selenium concentration. 18 samples that Monserrate extracted from the Antarctic now rest in Petri boxes, small circular plastic containers. There they expand, taking the most varied shapes and colors. All samples passed through DNA  and sequencing extraction – multiple copies of genetic material -.

 These tests are backed by the laboratories of the University of Florida, United States. Then, to encode them or identify them, they enter the results into a universal database.

Another young researcher is the engineer Jeffrey Vargas, 26-year-old, who detected a fungus that adheres to the plastic boxes. After eight months of work, he found that the fungus began to dilute the plastic. This discovery would help to reduce the pollution in a world that consumes more than 1 million plastic bags per minute.

Antarctica’s  general studies reveal that its ice kept more than 50,000 kinds of microorganisms.This project from the center of research for  biotechnology of Ecuador has the support of the Senescyt, which provided a budget of at least 200 000 USD.