Margarita Salas is, without a doubt, one of the most relevant scientists of the 20th century, and one of the most prominent female referents.
It has happened that on November 7, 2019, (the same day of the birth of Marie Curie), Margarita Salas died at the age of 80 after not having survived an operation, carried out to treat a digestive problem. With his departure, there is an irreparable loss for science nationally and internationally.
Margarita Salas dedicated her entire life to research . He was born on November 30, 1938 in Canero, Asturias. His scientific vocation was probably influenced by his father, who was a doctor. At the age of 16, he decided to enter the Faculty of Chemistry, and moved to Madrid. There she met the Nobel Prize in Medicine Severo Ochoa, a famous scientist who was the main inspiration for her career, and who influenced her towards biochemistry.
She was a brilliant student. He graduated in Chemical Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid in 1960 with the qualification of Outstanding. Three years later, he obtained a doctorate in Science from the Complutense University of Madrid with the qualification of Outstanding Cum Laude.
In 1964 he traveled to New York, where he completed his postdoctoral thesis Direction of reading the genetic message and mechanisms of initiation of protein biosynthesis under the tutelage of Ochoa himself.
His predoctoral work was titled: Carbohydrate metabolism , in the Enzymology Department of the Gregorio Marañón Institute, directed by Alberto Sols.
Margarita Salas patented the DNA polymerase phi29 method between 1967 and 1977, which allows the DNA to be amplified millions of times in order to be analyzed. This patent continues to be the most profitable that the CSIC has presented. Since the patent expired in 2009, the Salas team continues to work on improvements that have already been patented and are exploited by various companies, in areas such as forensics, oncology and archeology.
Since 2012, Margarita Salas worked as an Ad Honorem professor linked to the Higher Council for Scientific Research, at the Severo Ochoa Molecular Biology Center.
The death of Margarita Salas shocked the national and international scientific community, and she will be remembered as one of the most brilliant minds in the history of science in Spain, and as one of the most inspiring female figures.
Margarita Salas always vindicated the search and dissemination of knowledge. “The important thing is to do quality basic research, and from this, applicable results can come out that are not predictable at first sight. And yet they come out and can be profitable. ” That is, without basic research, there is no science.
