In the new scientific unit, DNA extraction and conventional PCR techniques will be carried out. In addition, it will be a space for research and undergraduate and postgraduate teaching.
Carolina González Teneo, Journalist UACh.- Within the framework of the FONDECYT project «Parasite burden in the Los Ríos Region, Chile: Unraveling the host-environment-parasite interaction»led by the academic Daniel Sanhueza, Director of the Institute of Parasitology of the Faculty of Medicine of the Austral University of Chile, Doctor in Parasitology and Microbiology and postdoctoral fellow in Ecology and Evolution of Parasitic Diseases, it was possible to install this new laboratory that will allow the identification of parasites of human, animal and environmental samples.
“When I started working at the University we did not have our own laboratory that allowed us to do molecular biology. So, when we obtained financing like the FONDECYT project, a part of those resources were allocated to equipment that would allow us to carry out this type of technique, which opens a door for us to develop another type of diagnosis and identification. At the moment, what we are going to do is extract DNA and conventional PCR techniques, and associated with AUSTRAL-omics we are going to do massive DNA sequencing techniques”, said the professional from the Faculty of Medicine.
Within the framework of the FONDECYT project «Parasite burden in the Los Ríos Region, Chile: Unraveling the host-environment-parasite interaction»led by the academic Daniel Sanhueza, Director of the Institute of Parasitology of the Faculty of Medicine of the Austral University of Chile, Doctor in Parasitology and Microbiology and postdoctoral fellow in Ecology and Evolution of Parasitic Diseases, it was possible to install this new laboratory that will allow the identification of parasites of human, animal and environmental samples.
“When I started working at the University we did not have our own laboratory that allowed us to do molecular biology. So, when we obtained financing like the FONDECYT project, a part of those resources were allocated to equipment that would allow us to carry out this type of technique, which opens a door for us to develop another type of diagnosis and identification. At the moment, what we are going to do is extract DNA and conventional PCR techniques, and associated with AUSTRAL-omics we are going to do massive DNA sequencing techniques”, said the professional from the Faculty of Medicine.
The specialized biotechnological innovation laboratory AUSTRAL-omics has collaborated and advised in the implementation and training process for the start-up of this new unit.
“In our project we are doing genotyping, which is sequencing the DNA in samples in which we identify parasites by light microscopy. Thus, one of the objectives of the study is to know the subtypes of the parasite species present in the region, because there are parasites that are transmitted between humans and there are parasites that are transmitted from animal to human, and that depends on the subtype. Also knowing which ones have more virulence, for example, there are some for which some association has been raised between some subtypes with irritable bowel syndrome, this is the case of Blastocystis sp.. To the best of our knowledge, no studies on parasite subtypes had been carried out in the region and we are trying to advance in this line to better understand the link between parasite and host, always related to the environment, which is what interests us. That the parasite-host-environment relationship be taken into account as a whole”, added Dr. Sanhueza.
research training
This laboratory is the first stage of the Parasitology Institute, which is expected to continue implementing new techniques and equipment in the long term. It should also be noted that the Molecular Biology Laboratory will be used for undergraduate and postgraduate research and teaching, permanently including students for the reinforcement or learning of specific techniques.
In the current state of the research, Francisca Videla and Tamara Venegas -fourth-year students of Medical Technology with a mention in Clinical Laboratory, Hematology and Blood Bank- are learning and collaborating in the development of the initiative.
“In this project we are studying the prevalence of parasites in the Los Ríos Region, we look for parasites in stool samples from humans and their pets and we study two parasites through serology samples from people. In the first place, with the FAP technique, parasites in the stool samples and from the sample that we obtained positive results, we are now going to extract DNA and do PCR to confirm the presence of the parasites to subsequently perform massive sequencing to identify the subtypes of parasites”, commented Francisca Videla.
And he added: “I have always liked the area of parasitology and since I started looking for theses I saw that this FONDECYT project was super complete, because they were going to see routine laboratory techniques as well as other things that we see very superficially in the career, which is area of molecular biology. So, this thesis included things that I like in the area of parasitology and it was also going to give me a lot of knowledge. My undergraduate thesis is like the first part of this project, I started in August of last year analyzing samples during the summer and in March we did the serology part that is ready and now we will start the molecular biology part”.
Meanwhile, Tamara Venegas highlighted: “Since I entered the career, I have been interested in the area of microorganisms, parasitology, everything that has to do with these forms of life, and since the opportunity to work on this project arose, I was interested in . Fortunately I stayed and I was very happy when that happened. The techniques that we have been able to perfect, because they are techniques that we have learned during the race and that we are now perfecting. During the past year and part of this year we have been looking at the microscope a lot, refining our eyes and now the new molecular biology techniques that we have seen little of during our degree and that we are now beginning to learn and how this is going to be a contribution to understand how it works and how the parasites are behaving in the community, that is very interesting, to learn if these parasites are zoonotic in transmission or if people are acquiring them in another way.”
Francisca Videla and Tamara Venegas are currently working on determining the subtypes of parasites present in humans and dogs (with owners) in the Los Ríos Region. For the next study process, the students María Paz Medina and Javiera Manzano will also join, who will study the environmental factors that intervene in the spatial distribution of parasites in the region.
