COMUNICACIÓN

YUSTE FOUNDATION IS SADDENED BY THE DEATH OF SCIENTIST MARGARITA SALAS, ACADEMICIAN OF YUSTE

The Board of Trustees, the Academy and the staff of the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation are saddened by the death, at the age of 80, of the prestigious Asturian scientist, Margarita Salas, member of the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste since 2004, when she held the Isabella the Catholic Chair, during the Carlos V European Award ceremony, where King Juan Carlos I delivered the Award to Jorge Fernando Branco Sampaio.

The biochemist, who was a pupil of Severo Ochoa in New York during the sixties, introduced molecular genetic research in Spain. Her great discovery was the Phi29 polymerase DNA, an enzyme able to produce specific genetic copies from a single blood drop.

Salas was, furthermore, a scientist committed with the role of women in research till the very end.

Margarita Salas assumed charge as academician of Yuste on 13 October 2004 with sociologists Alain Touraine (France) and Zsuzsanna Sandorné Ferge (Hungary); the Swiss theologian, Hans Kung; the Dutch politician, Willem Frederik Duisenberg and the Polish historian, Bronislaw Geremek. The last two academicians have also passed away.

On the other hand, the Spanish scientist has also cooperated in two of Yuste Foundation’s publications; specifically in the fourth issue of the magazine Pliegos de Yuste, published in 2006, which dealt with ‘The Languages of Europe’ with an article entitled, “Mujer y conciencia: pasado, presente y futuro”: www.pliegosdeyuste.eu/n4pliegos/margaritasalas.pdf.

In 2007, Margarita Salas published the article “La difusion de virus por el mundo, una amenaza para Europa” in the book, El futuro de Europa: la Europa social y de los ciudadanos.