Pernambuco researcher Maria Clara Müller became a global highlight when she won the competition for scientific images captured by a microscope at the International Microscopy Congress, in Liverpool, England. With a PhD in chemistry from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), she won the prize with a photo of a bacteria from a tooth decay.
The announcement of the award was made on Sunday (30), during the Young Scientists Assembly, one of the parallel events of the congress. The award was presented by Richard Hendersen, one of the winners of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, responsible for creating techniques that allowed the visualization of the structures of biomolecules, such as the Zika virus.
The image was produced during studies by a group developing technology to treat cavities without the use of a drill and will be on the cover of the scientific journal Journal of Microscopy. To g1, the scientist said that she did not expect to win first place and was gathering the courage to ask for a photo with Richard Henderson when the victory was announced.
"The event was already coming to an end. I was wondering if I would have the courage to approach Richard Henderson to ask for a photo, because I was a little embarrassed. It was precisely at that moment that they announced that my image had won. I went to the front and had the opportunity to take a photo without having to ask, and he even asked me to explain the image. It was a quick but unforgettable moment, which will remain in my memory forever", he said.
The Young Scientists Assembly is held every four years by the International Federation of Microscopy Societies (IFSM) and brings together early-career researchers from different countries, selected for their scientific achievements and the quality of the work presented at the congress.
Maria Clara said that the award-winning image was produced during her doctorate using the electron microscope available in the Laboratory of the Department of Fundamental Chemistry at UFPE.
"My research group at UFPE developed a technology to treat cavities without a drill, and my doctoral work focused on discovering how this technology works. To achieve this, I used many advanced microscopy techniques. The winning image of the competition shows the bacteria that cause cavities penetrating small channels that we have in our teeth, which are exposed when the tooth is decayed", he detailed.
Graduated in Chemical Engineering, with a master's degree and doctorate from UFPE, Maria Clara said that many scientific studies seem far from reality, but highlighted that the research she developed, as well as others presented at the event, has direct application to a problem common to the population.
"Sometimes, the work of scientists seems very distant. For example, this is a congress just about microscopy and brings together scientists from different areas who use advanced microscopy techniques on topics that people often have no idea what these scientists are studying. But this research is present in our reality, as is my case. I am using these cutting-edge techniques for a daily problem, which is tooth decay", he says.
Next month, the researcher will begin part of her post-doctorate in France, where she will continue research to understand how the technology developed by the UFPE group works to treat cavities.
"I will continue using advanced microscopy techniques. This time, I will use a microscope that is capable of seeing with very high resolution a single cell of a bacterium while it is alive, immersed in a liquid medium. And I can see how this bacterium responds over time to a treatment that I am applying. And in my studies I use this bacterium, which is the cause of cavities, and the treatment that I apply to it is this technology that was developed by my research group in Pernambuco", he detailed.
