Ivan Molina Garcia, a student from the Carles Vallbona Institute in Granollers, has won the 13th PRBB Award for his research work “Spice as a disinfectant. Preparing an antimicrobial product with capsaicin as an active ingredient”. This student has come to the conclusion that capsaicin, the substance that gives peppers their kick, can be used as an active ingredient for eliminating microorganisms, as well as being a possible antiseptic for wounds, as it combines antimicrobial and analgesic action. Even though the process of extracting capsaicin is costly and it is an irritant, he concludes that it could be the seed for future research, which should first check how this substance affects wounds and human skin.
Since 2005, the UPF Faculty of Health and Life Sciences and the Biomedical Research Park of Barcelona (PRBB) have been holding the PRBB Award for research work in the field of biomedicine and life sciences. In this edition, 288 high school students from all over Catalonia presented 257 research works. The other four finalists were from Igualada, Bescanó, Barcelona, and Badalona, and presented works on deodorants, transgenics, the microbiota of breast milk, and resistance to antibiotics.
On April 27th, the same day as the PRBB Award was awarded, 263 other young students and their teachers, from 9 high schools, also came to the PRBB to participate in the fourth edition of BioJunior, organised by the PRBB centres.
