Entrevistamos a Margarita Salas, investigadora y ex compañera de Severo Ochoa

Today on 'Buenos Días' we interview Margarita, a leading researcher in the field of chemistry, professor, and former colleague of Nobel Prize winner Severo Ochoa. Margarita tells us how she decided to dedicate herself to chemistry, a university degree primarily chosen by men today, even more so when she began her higher education. She says she hesitated between chemistry and medicine, but ultimately it was the hours spent in the laboratory that led her to choose the specialty she now pursues, which she shares with her husband. It was with him that she traveled to New York, where she would work with Severo Ochoa, at a time when women were considered unsuitable for research. Although the circumstances for acceptance in the field of research are now more open, Margarita believes that further progress is needed for women to achieve the status they deserve in relation to their abilities and their work, without their gender in any way influencing their professional evaluation. This chemist, however, does not support quota policies that require a certain percentage of women on a work team. For her, the important thing is not that women are given privileges simply for being women, but that they are not taken away. We also spoke about the honor of having trained so many researchers in Spain that they have come to be known as 'the Margaritos'. She says she transmits to her students the same knowledge she acquired from Severo Ochoa and, like him, defends 'basic research' based on the belief that it can yield unforeseen benefits for society. For Margarita, the great unfinished task of science is the study of the brain. However, it is unlikely that the next generation of Spanish scientists will discover its secrets. Because, according to this researcher, and due to recent policies in the field of research, it is most likely that the next generation of Spanish scientists will, unfortunately, be lost. Follow us on... http://www.terra.es/   / terranoticiases     / terraespana