Three Unicamp projects were winners of the 6th edition of the Fleury Group Innovation Award. The competition recognizes innovative projects in the health sector and, this year, awarded ideas for overcoming the coronavirus pandemic, both in combating and preventing Covid-19, and in the need to adapt everyday life. The winners were awarded in three categories and the results were announced in early December in an online ceremony. Each project was presented in video format.
The project "CoronaYeast: an inexpensive and sensitive yeast-based diagnostic model for SARS-CoV-2", developed by the Laboratory of Genomics and Bioenergy (LGE) from Unicamp, in partnership with the University's daughter company BIOinFOOD, was placed first in the "Detection and Diagnosis" category. First place in the "Treatment and Prevention" category was the project "Antiviral coating for the functionalization of surfaces of personal protective equipment", from the Product Engineering and Chemistry Laboratory (LEQUIP). A Unicamp Task Force against Covid-19 came second in the “Adaptation to the Pandemic” category.
The project developed by LEQUIP at Unicamp consists of creating SprayCov, a liquid spray capable of eliminating the coronavirus from surfaces such as personal protective equipment (PPE), used by healthcare professionals, and also cotton masks. The idea is that it serves as extra protection to physically block the virus, forming an active barrier that destroys SARS-CoV-2, which increases the safety and durability of PPE. In tests carried out by the laboratory, the product remained effective for 3 days, preventing the virus from replicating. Read more about the properties of SprayCov here.
The recognition obtained through the award serves as an incentive for students and young researchers who worked on the development of the product. "For the students it was very exciting, because they had the opportunity to apply that knowledge accumulated over time in a very specific target. It was an example of how knowledge, in a time of need, comes to bring a solution. At the same time time, it was interesting to see how the targeting of a certain problem caused several groups at the university to come together to provide solutions", says Marisa Beppu, professor at the Faculty of Chemical Engineering (FEQ) at Unicamp and founder of LEQUIP. She also adds that the creation of SprayCov paves the way for other innovations in the development of virucides, with even more specific, safe and effective products in combating agents that cause new diseases.
Marisa also assesses that the experience of working together in different areas, due to the emergency that the coronavirus imposed on researchers, brought positive learning that should guide science in the future: "It is a clear lesson of very important synergy. A lesson that Having a knowledge framework is important. We did not direct this research towards viruses. We, specifically, studied these coatings for tumor cells. We did not leave this aside, but the emergence of the pandemic made us flexible in order to provide some solution targeted".
CoronaYeast is a prototype test for detecting coronavirus that uses a type of yeast that changes color when it comes into contact with SARS-CoV-s found in saliva samples, for example. This occurs thanks to a biosensor included in the yeast cells. The project is developed by post-doctoral student Fellipe Bezerra de Mello and master's student Carla Maneira da Silva, researchers linked to LGE, in partnership with Unicamp's daughter company BIOinFOOD. The team also has funding from Finep.
According to Gonçalo Guimarães Pereira, coordinator of the LGE, the objective is for the test to be a faster, cheaper and more accessible alternative for people, helping in decision-making and controlling the disease. "Our motivation was to see that there is no test that would really be like a 'dream test', that would indicate whether or not you are infected and that could be done at home, for example. If we have a test of this type, we can organize , knowing where the infections are, people can be safe to move around, to work. And this is unlikely to be the last virus of its kind to emerge", he explains.
The CoronaYeast project is still ongoing, but the patent for the technology has already been requested. The expectation is that in the first half of 2021, studies will show the effectiveness of the technique developed. "It's a frontier science, an innovative strategy, which could be revolutionary if it works. The world needs to think outside the box, with testing strategies that don't require laboratories, which can be taken to very poor regions, for example", highlights Gonçalo . See more details about the research here.
Created at the University in response to the need to combat the coronavirus pandemic, the Unicamp Task Force against Covid-19 brings together experts from different areas who work together. It has ten fronts of action, from carrying out biological research on the coronavirus, through expanding the population's testing capacity, contributing to the public health system, to working with analyzes of the human and social impact caused by the pandemic and economic crisis resulting from it.
"I was quite surprised to learn that, independently, two groups from Unicamp registered in two other categories. For me, this already demonstrates the importance of an organization like the task force, of providing the possibility for students to organize themselves, because the teachers catalyzed it, but those who really got involved in this were the students. This makes me very satisfied", celebrates Marcelo Mori, coordinator of the Unicamp Task Force.
The importance of the work carried out by the group, combined with the success of the interdisciplinary work developed, now motivates Unicamp to make the Task Force permanent, expanding the University's ability to organize itself in the face of emergency situations that may arise in the future. "What we want now is to have an organization that makes it easier for us to respond to emerging diseases and diseases whose prevalence has been increasing over time. To achieve this, we realized with the Task Force that we need coordination, interdisciplinarity, that different groups talk and look for joint solutions", explains Mori.
