The contribution of women in science

Since 2015, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science has been celebrated every February 11.. Proclaimed by the UN, the main objective of this day is to achieve greater participation and inclusion of women and girls in the world of science and technology and break the gender gap that exists in some countries.

This year’s motto: “Innovate. Demonstrate. Elevate. Advance. Sustain (I.D.E.A.S.).”

This is intended to highlight the critical role of women, girls and science in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a preamble to the upcoming High-Level Political Forum.

It also aims to connect the international community with women and girls in science, strengthening the links between science, politics and society, as well as the implementation of strategies, practices and solutions that will have an impact on the immediate future.

At OLIGOFASTX we are very proud of the large representation of women in our teams. Undoubtedly, the scientific field should not understand gender, but rather ideas, work and effort.

We do not want to waste this opportunity to compile and pay tribute to some women scientists, hoping that they will continue to be a source of inspiration for all of us.

Women scientists in history

There are many women who have played a very relevant role in the history of science in all its aspects, not always recognized. This is just a short list of those that have had the greatest influence in the field of biochemistry and molecular biology, which could be much longer.

  • Marie Curie: she was the first woman to be recognized for her work in the field of science and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics and Chemistry.
  • Margarita de Salas: Spanish scientist, who discovered through her work, important advances in human DNA.
  • Barbara McClintock: Discovered the process of transposition of genome elements and used it to explain how genes determine certain physical characteristics.
  • Dorothy Crowfoot-Hodgkin: She was a British chemist who developed protein crystallography, for which she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964. She proposed advances in the technique of X-ray crystallography, a method used to identify the three-dimensional structures of crystals.
  • Rita Levi-Montalcini: Italian neurologist. He discovered the first known growth factor in the nervous system, research for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1986,

And of course, we could not miss our dear Rosalind Elsie Franklin, to whom we will pay a fitting tribute in our blog for the influence she has had on our work and her innovative efforts.

We can all be part of this international day and support the role of these women by spreading campaign content and using on social networks the hashtags #WomenInScience #DayofWomenandGirlsInScience #WomenandGirlsInScience.