Científicos universitarios comparan en desastre de Aznalcóllar con el cretácico

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Científicos universitarios comparan en desastre de Aznalcóllar con el cretácico

Hace 65 millones de años se produjo una de las mayores extinciones masivas de la que tenemos constancia, al final del periodo Cretácico, acabando, entre otras muchas especies, con los dinosuarios. No ha sido la única, aún peor fue la del Pérmico-Triásico, que acabó con casi la totalidad de la vida marina hace 251 millones de años.

Y el 25 de abril de 1998, hace menos de doce, cuatro millones de metros cúbicos de materiales tóxico fueron a parar de una mina de pirita en la localidad de a los ríos Agrio y Guadiamar y tierra colindantes, en pleno Parque Nacional de Doñana. Para los científicos de la Universidad de Granada, ambos eventos son comparables en la medida en que permiten comprender cómo se recupera el ecosistema de choques tan brutales.

«La comparación con lo que ocurrió hace 65 millones de años podría ayudar a la mejor interpretación del evento del pasado», explica Francisco Rodríguez-Tovar, uno de los autores del estudio publicado por la revista Geobiology e investigador del Departamento de Estratigrafía y Paleontología de la Universidad de Granada.

Para Rodríguez-Tovar y su coautor, Francisco Matín peinado «las similitudes son obvias: impacto súbito, altos niveles de componentes tóxicos, y existencia de una capa contaminada que cubrió el área afectada». Sin embargo, también hay «diferencias importantes» como la recuperación mucho en Aznalcóllar, y el área implicada, que fue «de escala mundial en lo que respecta al evento del Cretácico-Terciario», explicaa Rodríguez-Tovar.

Gracias a las capas de lodo que no se habían retirado de Doñana, los científicos pudieron hacer diversos experimentos. Menos de diez años después del desastre, los científicos reconocieron rastros y hormigueros realizados por Tapinoma nigérrima, una especie con un carácter agresivo y un «comportamiento oportunista», claro signo de recuperación.

Así, a partir de los datos sobre trazas fósiles y de la comparación con desastres actuales como el de Aznalcóllar, los científicos han podido demostrar que «el inicio de la recuperación de la comunidad tras la extinción en masa debido al impacto ocurrido hace 65 millones de años fue comparativamente rápido, posiblemente en el orden de los centenares o miles de años», concluye el paleontólogo.
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Aznalcóllar disaster compared with Cretaceous mass extinction

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Aznalcóllar disaster compared with Cretaceous mass extinction

Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) have compared the disaster caused by the Aznalcóllar spillage in the Doñana National Park in Andalusia 11 years ago with the biggest species extinction known to date. What do these two disasters have in common? The scientists say that carrying out comparisons of this kind will make it possible to find out how ecosystems recover following mass extinctions.

Until now, scientists used to study the fossil record in order to analyse how organisms responded to major environmental changes in the past, such as the mass extinction of species during the Cretaceous period (65 million years ago) and their subsequent recovery.

Now a team of scientists from the UGR has proposed a different methodology: «Another way of looking at this issue is to compare present day disasters that have also caused an abrupt ecological change, and which have therefore also had a major impact on organisms», Francisco Javier Rodríguez-Tovar, lead author of the study and a researcher at the UGR\’s Department of Stratigraphy and Palaeontology, tells SINC.

The study, published recently in the journal Geobiology, was based on «one of the worst environmental disasters to have happened in Spain over recent decades».

The pyrite mine at Aznalcóllar, in the Doñana National Park, burst on 25 April 1988, spilling four million cubic metres of acidic water and one million cubic metres of waste material containing high levels of toxic compounds, which affected more than 4,500 hectares of the rivers Agrio and Guadiamar and the land around them.

The researchers carried out a detailed analysis of how the pollution from Aznalcóllar evolved, and how the local plant and animal communities responded following the event, by studying the affected soil. «Comparing this with what happened 65 million years ago could help to better interpret this past event», explains Rodríguez-Tovar.

The similarities are obvious — sudden impact, high levels of toxic compounds, and the existence of a polluted layer covering the affected area. However, the scientist also points out some of the most significant differences, such as recovery following the impact, which was «much faster after the disaster at Aznalcóllar», and in terms of the area affected, which was «global for the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary event», says Rodríguez-Tovar.

In search of signs of life

The scientists were able to carry out a range of experiments on the layers of mud that have not been removed from Doñana. Geochemical analysis showed that «there is still significant contamination, with high concentrations of toxic elements, and high acidity levels», stresses the palaeontologist. However, less than 10 years after the disaster, the scientists could identify trails and nests made by Tapinoma nigérrima, an aggressive and opportunistic species of ant. «We even found this ant\’s larvae just below the layer of highly-contaminated mud», explains the expert.

This ant\’s opportunism, aggressiveness and high levels of independence were compared with the organism that created Chondrites, a trace fossil that scientists have recorded near the red layer associated with the Chixulub crater in Mexico, generated by the impact of the meteorite that caused the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction. Previous ichnological studies (on trace fossils) have shown that «the Chondrites-generating organism was able to inhabit the substrate immediately after the event, due to its opportunistic and independent nature», says Rodríguez-Tovar.

Using the data on trace fossils and on comparisons with present day disasters, the scientists were able to prove that «the community started to recover fairly rapidly following the mass extinction caused by the impact 65 million years ago, possibly within hundreds or thousands of years», concludes the palaeontologist.
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Spanish scientists cooperate to fight against child trafficking in Haiti

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Spanish scientists cooperate to fight against child trafficking in Haiti

Spain\’s Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Soraya Rodríguez, has presented today a new cooperation program aimed at helping the human tragedy in Haiti.

The project called DNA-Prokids in Haiti will enable to initially take 6.000 samples of genetic data from adults who have reported missing children, immediate relatives with blood relationship, and from children with no family or doubtful relatives. The aim is to deter human trafficking of children and help reunite abducted and homeless children with their parents after the devastating earthquake, a problem which UNICEF and other organizations are warning of.

The Haitian Ambassador in Spain, Yollete Azor-Charles, have thanked the Spanish authorities for the initiative and have reported that she will do the best to offer the structure and means of the Haitian Government for the project.

The program DNA-Prokids in Haiti will be developed by the Spanish Government thanks to the collaboration by the University of Granada, which has being working in DNA-Prokids since 2004, through its Laboratory of Genetic Identification. DNA – Prokids also cooperate with the University of North Texas and is supported by the Andalusian Regional Government and the Life Technologies Foundation, as well as financial institutions such as BBVA or Fundación Botín/Santander, and laboratories and authorities from American and Asian countries.

Immediate start

The collaboration offer to the Haitian Government will start immediately and is scheduled in five stages, the director of the program Dr. José A. Lorente said: «On site training on sample collection; sample collection kits distribution (saliva, blood) for children under 18 with unknown family; sample collection kits distribution (saliva, blood) for parents (or relatives, if needed) who report their children disappearance; DNA analysis of the cases and design and development of ad hoc databases; and, finally, data delivery to competent Haitian authorities. Data interchange will make family reunification possible in same cases, it will force to continue searching in other cases, but it will save the children from abuse and organized crime in all cases».

The whole process will fulfil all warranties and quality requirements in sample chain of custody and data analysis and delivery. In case the Laboratory in Granada is overwhelmed by the number of cases, other national and international laboratories are planned to make the data analysis, according to DNA – Prokids strategy.

Andalusian Regional Government, represented by the Councillor for Justice, Begoña Álvarez, and the University of Granada, represented by the Vice-rector for Development Cooperation, Miguel Gómez Oliver, have committed their institutions to develop the Project in Spain and Haiti, following the support they have already provided to DNA – Prokids.

About DNA-Prokids

DNA–PROKIDS is an international humanitarian project using DNA testing to deter human trafficking of children and help reunite abducted and homeless children with their parents. The program started in 2004 in the Legal Medicine Department of the University of Granada. In 2009 the Health Sciences Center of the University of North Texas (Center of Human Identification, USA) joined the project. DNA – Prokids is supported by financial institutions such as BBVA, Fundación Botín (Banco Santander) and CajaGRANADA. Collaboration with the UNT, a 500000 USD grant from the Life Technologies Foundation, and cooperation with laboratories and authorities from other countries helped the Project to increase its activity during last year (Philippines, Thailand, Mexico or Guatemala, among others), which enable DNA-Prokids with Haiti to be developed with best warranties.
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Aznalcóllar disaster compared with Cretaceous mass extinction

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Aznalcóllar disaster compared with Cretaceous mass extinction

Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) have compared the disaster caused by the Aznalcóllar spillage in the Doñana National Park in Andalusia 11 years ago with the biggest species extinction known to date.

What do these two disasters have in common? The scientists say that carrying out comparisons of this kind will make it possible to find out how ecosystems recover following mass extinctions. Until now, scientists used to study the fossil record in order to analyse how organisms responded to major environmental changes in the past, such as the mass extinction of species during the Cretaceous period (65 million years ago) and their subsequent recovery.

Now a team of scientists from the UGR has proposed a different methodology: «Another way of looking at this issue is to compare present day disasters that have also caused an abrupt ecological change, and which have therefore also had a major impact on organisms», Francisco Javier Rodríguez-Tovar, lead author of the study and a researcher at the UGR\’s Department of Stratigraphy and Palaeontology, tells SINC.

The study, published recently in the journal Geobiology, was based on «one of the worst environmental disasters to have happened in Spain over recent decades».

The pyrite mine at Aznalcóllar, in the Doñana National Park, burst on 25 April 1988, spilling four million cubic metres of acidic water and one million cubic metres of waste material containing high levels of toxic compounds, which affected more than 4,500 hectares of the rivers Agrio and Guadiamar and the land around them.

The researchers carried out a detailed analysis of how the pollution from Aznalcóllar evolved, and how the local plant and animal communities responded following the event, by studying the affected soil. «Comparing this with what happened 65 million years ago could help to better interpret this past event», explains Rodríguez-Tovar.

The similarities are obvious – sudden impact, high levels of toxic compounds, and the existence of a polluted layer covering the affected area. However, the scientist also points out some of the most significant differences, such as recovery following the impact, which was «much faster after the disaster at Aznalcóllar», and in terms of the area affected, which was «global for the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary event», says Rodríguez-Tovar.

In search of signs of life

The scientists were able to carry out a range of experiments on the layers of mud that have not been removed from Doñana. Geochemical analysis showed that «there is still significant contamination, with high concentrations of toxic elements, and high acidity levels», stresses the palaeontologist. However, less than 10 years after the disaster, the scientists could identify trails and nests made by Tapinoma nigérrima, an aggressive and opportunistic species of ant. «We even found this ant\’s larvae just below the layer of highly-contaminated mud», explains the expert.

This ant\’s opportunism, aggressiveness and high levels of independence were compared with the organism that created Chondrites, a trace fossil that scientists have recorded near the red layer associated with the Chixulub crater in Mexico, generated by the impact of the meteorite that caused the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction. Previous ichnological studies (on trace fossils) have shown that «the Chondrites-generating organism was able to inhabit the substrate immediately after the event, due to its opportunistic and independent nature», says Rodríguez-Tovar.

Using the data on trace fossils and on comparisons with present day disasters, the scientists were able to prove that «the community started to recover fairly rapidly following the mass extinction caused by the impact 65 million years ago, possibly within hundreds or thousands of years», concludes the palaeontologist.
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Spanish scientists cooperate to fight against child trafficking in Haiti

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Spanish scientists cooperate to fight against child trafficking in Haiti

Spain\’s Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Soraya Rodríguez, has presented today a new cooperation program aimed at helping the human tragedy in Haiti.

The project called DNA-Prokids in Haiti will enable to initially take 6.000 samples of genetic data from adults who have reported missing children, immediate relatives with blood relationship, and from children with no family or doubtful relatives. The aim is to deter human trafficking of children and help reunite abducted and homeless children with their parents after the devastating earthquake, a problem which UNICEF and other organizations are warning of.

The Haitian Ambassador in Spain, Yollete Azor-Charles, have thanked the Spanish authorities for the initiative and have reported that she will do the best to offer the structure and means of the Haitian Government for the project.

The program DNA-Prokids in Haiti will be developed by the Spanish Government thanks to the collaboration by the University of Granada, which has being working in DNA-Prokids since 2004, through its Laboratory of Genetic Identification. DNA – Prokids also cooperate with the University of North Texas and is supported by the Andalusian Regional Government and the Life Technologies Foundation, as well as financial institutions such as BBVA or Fundación Botín/Santander, and laboratories and authorities from American and Asian countries.

Immediate start

The collaboration offer to the Haitian Government will start immediately and is scheduled in five stages, the director of the program Dr. José A. Lorente said: «On site training on sample collection; sample collection kits distribution (saliva, blood) for children under 18 with unknown family; sample collection kits distribution (saliva, blood) for parents (or relatives, if needed) who report their children disappearance; DNA analysis of the cases and design and development of ad hoc databases; and, finally, data delivery to competent Haitian authorities. Data interchange will make family reunification possible in same cases, it will force to continue searching in other cases, but it will save the children from abuse and organized crime in all cases».

The whole process will fulfil all warranties and quality requirements in sample chain of custody and data analysis and delivery. In case the Laboratory in Granada is overwhelmed by the number of cases, other national and international laboratories are planned to make the data analysis, according to DNA – Prokids strategy.

Andalusian Regional Government, represented by the Councillor for Justice, Begoña Álvarez, and the University of Granada, represented by the Vice-rector for Development Cooperation, Miguel Gómez Oliver, have committed their institutions to develop the Project in Spain and Haiti, following the support they have already provided to DNA – Prokids.
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Spain supports genetic research to prevent illegal Haitian Children Traffic

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Spain supports genetic research to prevent illegal Haitian Children Traffic

To stop the illegal traffic of Haitian children, Spanish experts will analyze 5,000 genetic samples of Haitian children, who remained defenceless and alone after the devastating earthquake in this Caribbean island.

Spain offered Haiti the DNA-Prokids program of the University of Granada, Spain, through which 200 children in 12 countries were identified since 2006, the start of the program.

Besides trying to avoid the kidnapping of children, the Spanish experts will analyse the samples of children looking for their parents, and whose families denounced their loss after the quake.

Soraya Rodriguez, Cooperation Secretary, said that the initiative will allow experts making 5,000 genetic analyses in a first stage.

Data from the United Nations Children\’s Fund (UNICEF) said between 800,000 and 1,000 000 children under 18 are victims of illegal traffic every year.

Rodriguez placed in more than 40 million euros the Spanish help destined to Haiti during January.

With the collaboration of the Haitian police places like hospitals, orphanages and camps will be inspected.

The Spanish Cooperation Secretary said she would send a letter to her counterparts from the European Union to tell them about the project.
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Aznalcollar disaster compared with Cretaceous mass extinction

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Aznalcollar disaster compared with Cretaceous mass extinction

Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) have compared the disaster caused by the Aznalcóllar spillage in the Doñana National Park in Andalusia 11 years ago with the biggest species extinction known to date. What do these two disasters have in common? The scientists say that carrying out comparisons of this kind will make it possible to find out how ecosystems recover following mass extinctions.

Until now, scientists used to study the fossil record in order to analyse how organisms responded to major environmental changes in the past, such as the mass extinction of species during the Cretaceous period (65 million years ago) and their subsequent recovery.

Now a team of scientists from the UGR has proposed a different methodology: «Another way of looking at this issue is to compare present day disasters that have also caused an abrupt ecological change, and which have therefore also had a major impact on organisms», Francisco Javier Rodríguez-Tovar, lead author of the study and a researcher at the UGR\’s Department of Stratigraphy and Palaeontology, tells SINC.

The study, published recently in the journal Geobiology, was based on «one of the worst environmental disasters to have happened in Spain over recent decades».

The pyrite mine at Aznalcóllar, in the Doñana National Park, burst on 25 April 1988, spilling four million cubic metres of acidic water and one million cubic metres of waste material containing high levels of toxic compounds, which affected more than 4,500 hectares of the rivers Agrio and Guadiamar and the land around them.

The researchers carried out a detailed analysis of how the pollution from Aznalcóllar evolved, and how the local plant and animal communities responded following the event, by studying the affected soil. «Comparing this with what happened 65 million years ago could help to better interpret this past event», explains Rodríguez-Tovar.

The similarities are obvious – sudden impact, high levels of toxic compounds, and the existence of a polluted layer covering the affected area. However, the scientist also points out some of the most significant differences, such as recovery following the impact, which was «much faster after the disaster at Aznalcóllar», and in terms of the area affected, which was «global for the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary event», says Rodríguez-Tovar.

In search of signs of life

The scientists were able to carry out a range of experiments on the layers of mud that have not been removed from Doñana. Geochemical analysis showed that «there is still significant contamination, with high concentrations of toxic elements, and high acidity levels», stresses the palaeontologist. However, less than 10 years after the disaster, the scientists could identify trails and nests made by Tapinoma nigérrima, an aggressive and opportunistic species of ant. «We even found this ant\’s larvae just below the layer of highly-contaminated mud», explains the expert.

This ant\’s opportunism, aggressiveness and high levels of independence were compared with the organism that created Chondrites, a trace fossil that scientists have recorded near the red layer associated with the Chixulub crater in Mexico, generated by the impact of the meteorite that caused the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction. Previous ichnological studies (on trace fossils) have shown that «the Chondrites-generating organism was able to inhabit the substrate immediately after the event, due to its opportunistic and independent nature», says Rodríguez-Tovar.

Using the data on trace fossils and on comparisons with present day disasters, the scientists were able to prove that «the community started to recover fairly rapidly following the mass extinction caused by the impact 65 million years ago, possibly within hundreds or thousands of years», concludes the palaeontologist.
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Spain to try to reunite families in Haiti

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Spain to try to reunite families in Haiti

Spain says it will perform DNA tests on children in Haiti to try to reunite them with their parents and protect them from traffickers.

Secretary of State for International Cooperation Soraya Rodriguez says Spain will send genetic testing kits and technicians to the quake-ravaged nation in the coming days.

The initial goal of the program is to take saliva or blood samples from up to 6,000 Haitian children and adults and create a DNA data base for Haitian authorities to use in reuniting families.

The genetic identification program was developed by the University of Granada in southern Spain.

Rodriguez spoke Monday at a ceremony with the Haitian ambassador to Spain, who said there are now an estimated 400,000 unaccompanied children in Haiti.
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LA UMH COORDINA EL PROYECTO ‘MICROGEN’, FINANCIADO CON 3,8 MILLONES DE EUROS POR EL PROGRAMA CONSOLIDER

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LA UMH COORDINA EL PROYECTO ‘MICROGEN’, FINANCIADO CON 3,8 MILLONES DE EUROS POR EL PROGRAMA CONSOLIDER

El investigador de la Universidad Miguel Hernández (UMH) de Elche Francisco Rodríguez Valera coordinará durante los próximos cinco años el proyecto ‘Microgen’, incluido por el Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación dentro de la última convocatoria del programa Consolider y financiado con 3,8 millones de euros. El objetivo de este trabajo es secuenciar los genomas de muchas bacterias, algunas implicadas en la producción de caries, lo que permitirá detectar genes que puedan tener aplicaciones prácticas, como vacunas.

Otros de los genomas que se secuenciarán son los de bacterias responsables de la fijación de nitrógeno en plantas, del desarrollo de enfermedades humanas y de animales de granja o de la producción de hidrógeno. También, se van a secuenciar metagenomas, es decir, el ADN de muchas bacterias distintas que se encuentran en un determinado hábitat y que van desde la placa dental (también importante para prevenir las enfermedades de la boca) hasta el Mar Mediterráneo y el Amazonas. Esto permitirá detectar genes que puedan tener aplicaciones prácticas, como antibióticos o antitumorales y otras utilidades a nivel industrial.

Según el investigador de la UMH Rodríguez Valera, ‘estamos entrando en la era del genoma humano individual en la que la determinación de la secuencia de todos nuestros genes será factible y probablemente tan habitual como lo es ahora el análisis bioquímico de la sangre’. ‘Las repercusiones que esto tendrá en la medicina preventiva y en la sociedad en general son difíciles de prever’, ha matizado.

El proyecto ‘Microgen’ aplica la secuenciación de alto rendimiento a las bacterias, que son organismos fundamentales para el funcionamiento del planeta y sus ecosistemas, además de tener un papel esencial en la economía y la salud humana. Otro de los retos de ‘Microgen’ es trabajar en el desarrollo de una generación de nuevos biólogos que permitan a España competir en la Biomedicina del siglo XXI.

El profesor Rodríguez Valera ha asegurado que ‘el tipo de laboratorio científico que requiere esta nueva biología es diferente. Como ya ocurre en la Física, el ordenador se transforma en la principal herramienta y el biólogo de bata y tubo de ensayo se transforma en bioinformático que realiza casi todo su trabajo frente a un teclado de ordenador’.

Además de la UMH, en el proyecto participan el Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología (IRNAS-CSIC) de Sevilla, el Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Animal (CITA-IVIA) de Segorbe, la Universidad de Granada, la Universidad de Valencia, la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, la Universidad del País Vasco, la Universitat de les Illes Balears, la Estación Experimental del Zaidín (EEZ-CSIC) de Granada y el Centro Superior de Investigación en Salud Pública de Valencia.

El Programa Consolider forma parte de la estrategia Ingenio 2010 y financia actuaciones de carácter estratégico basadas en actividades científicas que promuevan un avance significativo en el estado del conocimiento o que establezcan líneas de investigación originales situadas en lo que se denomina frontera del conocimiento. Este programa está dirigido a equipos de investigadores españoles de máximo nivel de calidad y reconocimiento internacional.
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Comparan el desastre de Aznalcóllar con la extinción masiva del Cretácico

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Comparan el desastre de Aznalcóllar con la extinción masiva del Cretácico

Investigadores de la Universidad de Granada (UGR) han comparado el desastre del vertido de Aznalcóllar en el Parque Nacional de Doñana (Andalucía), hace 11 años, con la mayor extinción de especies conocida hasta ahora. ¿Qué tienen en común estos dos desastres? Según los científicos, este tipo de comparaciones permitiría averiguar cómo se recuperan los ecosistemas después de una extinción masiva.

Tradicionalmente, los científicos han estudiado el registro fósil para analizar la respuesta de los organismos a los grandes cambios ambientales del pasado, como la extinción masiva de especies en el Cretácico (hace 65 millones de años) y su posterior recuperación.

Ahora, los científicos de la UGR proponen una metodología diferente para conocer esta recuperación: comparar las situaciones del pasado remoto con catástrofes actuales que hayan implicado un cambio brusco en el medio ecológico, con gran incidencia en los organismos.

Así, se ha revelado, por ejemplo, que la extinción masiva de hace 65 millones de años conllevo una posterior recuperación ecológica relativamente rápida, del orden de centenares o miles de años”.
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UGR contribuye a la agrupación familiar en Haití

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UGR contribuye a la agrupación familiar en Haití

La secretaria de Estado de Cooperación Internacional del Gobierno español, Soraya Rodríguez, ha presentado el programa DNA-Prokids, dirigido a evitar el tráfico de niños y a contribuir a la reunificación de las familias afectadas por el terremoto. El programa permitirá analizar hasta 6.000 muestras de datos genéticos de adultos que hayan denunciado la desaparición de un menor que sea familiar directo, así como de niños sin familia conocida o de la que existan dudas de parentesco. El programa se ha desarrollado gracias al Laboratorio de Identificación Genética de la Universidad de Granada.
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Una fibra prebiótica combate el síndrome metabólico

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Una fibra prebiótica combate el síndrome metabólico

El grupo de investigación de Farmacología de Productos Naturales de la Universidad de Granada (UGR) ha demostrado que la adición de determinadas fibras prebióticas (unas sustancias que estimulan el crecimiento y la actividad de bacterias beneficiosas para la flora intestinal) a la dieta mejora los síntomas del síndrome metabólico (SM).

En una nota, Andalucía Innova explicó que este estudio incide en el SM, una enfermedad caracterizada por la obesidad abdominal unida a dolencias cardiovasculares, dislipemia o diabetes, y que supone además un trastorno habitual, especialmente entre los varones.

Los primeros resultados de este estudio, calificado de excelencia e incentivado con 146.527 euros por la Consejería de Innovación, Ciencia y Empresa, se han publicado ya en las revistas especializadas \’Biochemical Pharmacology\’ y \’Clinical Nutrition\’.

El responsable de este estudio, Antonio Zarzuelo, explicó que la fibra (habitual en frutas, verduras o legumbres) se hincha en contacto con elementos líquidos, lo que produce una sensación de saciedad en el individuo y crea en su intestino «una especie de malla que retiene la glucosa y las grasas, evitando que se absorban». «Durante el estudio observamos que la fibra soluble y de fermentación rápida es la más adecuada para este tipo de enfermedad», aclaró.

En este marco, pretenden incluir el prebiótico en un alimento funcional, para lo que buscan «otras sustancias que unidas al prebiótico funcionen contra el SM». «El objetivo es asociar la sustancia prebiótica con probióticos (microorganismos vivos que se adicionan a un alimento que permanecen activos en el intestino y ejercen importantes efectos fisiológicos) que ayudará a que la fermentación sea más rápida y mejorar la efectividad del producto», matizó.

Para Zarzuelo, esta sustancia prebiótica tendría como objetivo constituir un alimento funcional, pero «nunca un fármaco». El investigador insistió en que los efectos positivos del prebiótico unido a un alimento «serán mayores, ya que sumará los beneficios de estas sustancias a la de una dieta saludable».

Así, apuntó como alimento funcional a aquellos que llevan incorporado \’omega 3\’ y recordó que desde hace varios años su grupo mantienen una «estrecha relación» con la empresa Puleva Biotech, colaborando en la búsqueda de alimentos funcionales útiles en patologías como la enfermedad de Crohn, la colitis ulcerosa o la obesidad.
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