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María Alejandra Bravo de la Parra (born 29 April 1961) is a Mexican
biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...
who was laureated with the 2010 L'Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science
Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
for her work on a bacterial toxin that acts as a powerful
insecticide Insecticides are pesticides used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. The major use of insecticides is in agriculture, but they are also used in home and garden settings, i ...
. Bravo has co-authored multiple papers with her husband Mario Soberon.


Biography

Bravo holds bachelor (1985), master (1986) and doctoral (1989) degrees in Basic Biomedical Research from the
National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...
(UNAM). She did research residencies at the
Plant Genetic Systems Plant Genetic Systems (PGS), since 2002 part of Bayer CropScience, is a biotech company located in Ghent, Belgium. The focus of its activities is the genetic engineering of plants. The company is best known for its work in the development of inse ...
biotech Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists in the field are kn ...
company in Ghent, Belgium (1990-1991) and
Institut Pasteur The Pasteur Institute (, ) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines for anthrax and rabies. T ...
in Paris, France. Bravo is a researcher in the Institute of Molecular Microbiology at the
National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...
(UNAM) and member of the
Mexican Academy of Sciences The Mexican Academy of Sciences ''(Academia Mexicana de Ciencias)'' is a non-profit organization comprising over 1800 distinguished Mexico, Mexican scientists, attached to various institutions in the country, as well as a number of eminent forei ...
. Bravo has created four international
patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...
s, which are currently
UNAM The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countries. It also has 34 ...
industrial property Industrial property is one of two subsets of intellectual property (the other being copyright), it takes a range of forms, including patents for inventions, industrial designs (aesthetic creations related to the appearance of industrial produc ...
. In 2010, she was the laureate of the 2010 L'Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science
Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
.


Controversy of the studies on ''Bacillus thuringiensis''


Publications and separation of the Institute of Biotechnology of the UNAM

In September 2012, a group of researchers published a critical review on the action models of ''
Bacillus thuringiensis ''Bacillus thuringiensis'' (or Bt) is a gram-positive bacteria, gram-positive, soil-dwelling bacterium, the most commonly used biological pesticide worldwide. ''B. thuringiensis'' also occurs naturally in the gut of caterpillars of various types ...
'' insecticides in which it was concluded that the Mexican models were not replicable, based on the analysis of eleven publications by Alejandra Bravo and her husband Mario Soberon. Due to this, both scientists were removed from their positions, Bravo from the presidency of the Bioethics Commission and Soberón as the head of the Department of Molecular Microbiology. An evaluation commission was set up to analyze the facts, made up of Rubén Lisker, Rosario Muñoz and Jean Philippe Vielle Calzada. According to the investigation carried out by the commission, two of the eleven articles presented "clear and compelling evidence of inappropriate and categorically reprehensible manipulations." Some members of the Technical Council for Scientific Research indicated that manipulation "is not intended to change the results, but to improve an image to generate greater contrast." The two scientists then accepted their error, communicating that to the editors of the journals of those affected publications, who then did not request corrections or errata.


Claim and reinstatement

The fact of having "manipulated" the images in 2 of the publications caught the attention of the Office of Scientific Integrity (ORI) of the United States
National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...
(NIH), which reviewed the facts and concluded that this did not constitute wrongdoing but that it had been inappropriate to modify some images on the studies of the bacterium ''Bacillus thuringiensis'' (BT). ORI decided to continue supporting academically and financially the work of both researchers. Thus, in April 2013, the ORI stated that all reasonable and practical efforts should be made to restore and protect the reputation of Bravo and Soberón since there was no finding of breaches of research ethics. On the other hand, since January 2013, the Office of the Ombudsman for University Rights of the National Autonomous University of Mexico began an in-depth investigation of this case, to provide a definitive solution. They summoned various authorities and members of the university community: the director of the Institute of Biotechnology, some members of the Internal Council of the institute, the coordinator of Scientific Research of the UNAM and the affected researchers themselves. Finally, on September 27, 2013, the Ombudsman recommended to the Institute of Biotechnology to reinstate Bravo and Soberón to their academic activities with all their responsibilities and privileges. These agreements were already approved by the Internal Council of the IBt, which means that the two researchers are fully reintegrated into the academic life of their institution, without the burden of sanctions. According to the opinion of Juan Ramón de la Fuente, Bravo and Soberón saw their professional careers affected by excessive suspicion and distortion of the facts. He also commented: "It is not advisable to overemphasize the results obtained, but it is not a crime either." Jorge Ulises Carmona Tinoco - defender of University Rights - pointed out certain irregularities that existed during the investigation process of the investigating commission in 2012: a) one of the plaintiffs was part of the committee that evaluated the case and b) there was no opportunity for Bravo and Soberón to argue their position. He also commented in this regard that the punishment was too severe for the manipulation of the images, "it is not exoneration," said Carmona, his office simply concluded that the punishment had already been sufficient after a year.


Selected publications

* M. Soberon, L. Pardo, C. Muñoz-Garay, J. Sánchez, I. Gómez, H. Porta, A. Bravo. 2010. ''Pore Formation by Cry Toxins''. En: Lakey, J. ''Proteins: Membrane Binding and Pore Formation'' (serie Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology volume 677). Austin, TX. Landes Bioscience y Springer. pp. 127–142 * A. Bravo, S.S. Gill, M. Soberon. 2010. ''Bacillus thuringiensis Mechanisms and Use with addendum 2010''. En: Gill, S.S. ''Insect Control Biological and Synthetic Agents''. Elsevier. pp. 247–282 * M. Soberon, A. Bravo. 2008. ''Las toxinas Cry de Bacillus thuringiensis: modo de acción y consecuencias de su aplicación''. En: Lopez-Munguia, A. ''Una ventana al quehacer científico''. Instituto de Biotecnología de la UNAM 25º aniversario, capítulo 27. México, D.F. UNAM. pp. 303–314 * L. Masson, J. Letowski, A. Bravo, R. Brousseau. 2007. ''Using DNA Microarrays for Assessing Crystal Protein Genes in Bacillus thuringiensis''. En: Proceedings of the 6th Pacific Rim Conference on the Biotechnology of Bacillus thuringiensis and its Environmental Impact. pp. 28–30 * L. Pardo, I. Gómez, C. Muñoz-Garay, N. Jiménez-Juárez, J. Sánchez, C. Pérez, M. Soberon, A. Bravo. 2007. ''Oligomer Formation of Different Cry Toxins Indicates that a Pre-Pore is an Essential Intermediate in the Mode of Action of the Three-Domain Cry Family''. En: Proceedings of the 6th Pacific Rim Conference on the Biotechnology of Bacillus thuringiensis and its Environmental Impact. pp. 7–8 * C. Pérez, L.E. Fernández, J.G. Sun, J.L. Folch, S.S. Gill, M. Soberon, A. Bravo. 2007. ''Cyt1Aa from Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis Synergizes Cry11Aa Toxin Activity by Functioning as a Membrane-Bound Receptor''. En: Proceedings of the sixth Pacific Rim Conference on the Biotechnology of Bacillus thuringiensis and its Environmental Impact. pp. 9–11 * M. Soberon, I. Gómez, L. Pardo, C. Muñoz, L.E. Fernández, C. Pérez, S.S. Gill, A. Bravo. 2007. ''Important Interactions with membrane Receptors in the Mode of Action of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry toxins''. En: Vincent, C. 6th Pacific Rim Conference on the biotechnology of Bacillus thuringiensis and its Environmental Impact, capítulo 1. MontreaL. Erudit. pp. 1–6 * I. Gómez, J. Miranda-Ríos, I. Arenas, R. Grande, B. Becerril, A. Bravo, M. Soberon. 2007. ''Identification of scFv Molecules that Recognize Loop 3 of Domain II and Domain III of Cry1Ab Toxin from Bacillus thuringiensis''. En: Vincent, C. 6th Pacific Rim Conference on the biotechnology of Bacillus thuringiensis and its Environmental Impact. MontreaL. Erudit. pp. 12–14


Distinctions and awards

* 1990-1991: Research residency at the
Plant Genetic Systems Plant Genetic Systems (PGS), since 2002 part of Bayer CropScience, is a biotech company located in Ghent, Belgium. The focus of its activities is the genetic engineering of plants. The company is best known for its work in the development of inse ...
biotech Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists in the field are kn ...
company in Ghent, Belgium. * 1998: Prize from the
Mexican Academy of Sciences The Mexican Academy of Sciences ''(Academia Mexicana de Ciencias)'' is a non-profit organization comprising over 1800 distinguished Mexico, Mexican scientists, attached to various institutions in the country, as well as a number of eminent forei ...
in the natural sciences field. * 2000: Young academic distinction in natural sciences from the
National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...
(UNAM). * 2002: Fellow of the Mexican Academy of Sciences. * 2003: Best agricultural biotechnology research from AgroBIO-Mexico. * Since 2003 she has been part of the biosafety expert committee from the
Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity is an international agreement on biosafety as a supplement to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) effective since 2003. The Biosafety Protocol seeks to prot ...
and the
Convention on Biological Diversity The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), known informally as the Biodiversity Convention, is a multilateral treaty. The Convention has three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity); the sustainable use of its ...
. * 2010: L'Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science
Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
.


See also

*
List of people from Morelos, Mexico The following are people who were born, raised, or who gained significant prominence for living in the Mexican state of Morelos: ''This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by exp ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bravo, Alejandra L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science laureates 21st-century women scientists Academic staff of the National Autonomous University of Mexico National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni Mexican biochemists Mexican women chemists Women biologists 1961 births Living people Women biochemists Members of the Mexican Academy of Sciences 21st-century Mexican scientists 20th-century Mexican scientists 21st-century Mexican women scientists 20th-century Mexican women scientists