Residency period: August 1, 2018 to July 31, 2019
Resident at IEAT, Professor Santuza Maria Ribeiro Teixeira holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the Universite de Lausanne, Switzerland (1990). She holds a degree in Biological Sciences (1982) and a Master’s degree in Biological Sciences (Molecular Biology, 1985) from the University of Brasília. She held a postdoctoral internship at the University of Iowa (1991-1996) and a sabbatical at the University of Maryland (2008), in the United States. She is a Full Professor at the Department of Biochemistry and Immunology at the Federal University of Minas Gerais and a member of the INCT Vacinas. She was a researcher at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (International Research Scholar), Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Immunology at UFMG and President of the Brazilian Society of Protozoology. She is currently the Coordinator of the Vaccine Technology Center (CT-Vacinas), at the Belo Horizonte Technological Park (BH-Tec). He has research experience in Molecular Biology, working mainly on the following topics: Molecular Parasitology and Genomics of parasites, with emphasis on studies on regulation of gene expression, parasite-host interactions, antigen discovery, genetic variability and DNA repair in protozoa of the genera Trypanosoma and Leishmania. She supervised 26 master’s students and 26 doctoral students (including co-supervisions) in the postgraduate programs in Biochemistry and Immunology and in Bioinformatics at UFMG (both with Capes grade 7). CNPq level 1B productivity scholarship holder.
PROJECT: EDITING GENOMES AND THE CONTROL OF DISEASES IN HUMANS: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE DEBATE ON ETHICAL ASPECTS AND THE LIMITS OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES
The project seeks to develop genome editing strategies aimed at obtaining attenuated strains of the protozoan parasite Leishmania braziliensis to be used in vaccine tests against leishmaniasis. CRISPR/Cas9 technology will be used as a method capable of producing specific modifications in the genomes of this parasite with high efficiency and safety. In view of the great potential that this technology offers to be used in research in the health area, with different objectives, including those involving genetic modifications in human cells and embryos, the use of CRISPR/Cas9 will also be the subject of discussions with researchers from different areas. of knowledge. The discussions proposed here about CRISPR/Cas9 will be very useful not only for the dissemination, among the UFMG community, of knowledge about this new and promising technology in order to show the benefits it can bring to society, but also to foster discussions that can contribute to the debate on ethical and legal issues that are associated with its use.