The equipment will strengthen the established and upcoming lines of research associated to the Scientific and Technological Bioresource Nucleus and will increase the scientific productivity and the value they give to associativity. The investment is more than 220 million Chilean pesos.

Matrix Assisted Lazer Desorption/Ionization Time-Of-Fligth Mass Spectrometr is the name of the latest generation equipment that has just been installed in the Scientific and Technological Bioresource Nucleus (BIOREN) at the Universidad de La Frontera. This acquisition is also known as MALDI-TOD MS/MS and is unique in Chile. Apart from that, the UFRO has other equipment that positioned it as one of the strongest technological platforms in the south of Chile.

SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTIVITY AND ASSOCIATIVITY

In 2016, Dr. Cledir Santos presented his proposal for the V. FONDEQUIP competition which was accepted and now, the MALDI-TOF is already installed, operative and ready for the first structural analyses and for identifying cellular compounds in biological processes that occur for example in soil-plant-microorganism systems.

It is also used in the analysis of macro and micro molecules that are involved in the processes of food and environmental contamination. “It is contemplated to provide services for studies associated with biomedicine, specially the quick identification of microorganisms and the study of peptides and proteins associated with microbial pathogenicity in clinical samples or the analysis of proteins that are involved in diseases such as Alzheimer´s or image protein sequencing.”

All of that would increase the scientific productivity of the institution and strengthen the associativity in and out of the university.

“We want to create a partnership with the “Hernán Henríquez Aravena Hospital” in Temuco, Chile, for the identification of human pathogenic microorganisms; to collaborate with researchers who need to use the MALDI-TOF; and to strengthen the scientific and technological cooperation with other centers in the Regions Araukanía, Los Río and Tarapacá through joint work, which the UFRO is already carrying out with the Universities Universidad Austral de Chile and Universidad Arturo Prat,” Santos added.

Therefore, the UFRO has already hired the expert in proteomics and mass spectrometry, Clécio Fernando Klitzke, who holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the State University of Campinas, in Brazil.