Laura Lechuga facts for kids

Laura M. Lechuga Gómez (born in Seville, Spain, in 1962) is a Spanish scientist. She is a top researcher who studies and develops biosensors. She is also a full professor.

Currently, she leads the Nanobiosensors and Bioanalytical Application Group. This group works at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2). She has written over 250 important scientific papers. She also holds 8 patents, which means she owns the rights to her inventions. Some of these inventions have been used by companies.

Laura Lechuga has been part of almost 85 research projects. Many of these were international projects. She is very active in promoting science. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she helped create a simple, fast, and affordable test for the virus.

Becoming a Scientist

Laura Lechuga was born in Seville, Andalusia, in 1962. When she was in high school, she became very interested in molecular biology. This is the study of how living things work at a tiny level.

She went to the Universidad de Cádiz in Andalusia to study chemistry. There, she felt inspired to become a researcher. She completed her PhD research at the Complutense University of Madrid. After getting her PhD in 1992, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher. This means she continued her research after her PhD. She worked at the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology.

Her Research and Career

In 1995, Laura Lechuga came back to Spain. She became the head of the biosensor group. This group was part of the Microelectronics National Center. It belonged to the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).

In 2008, she moved to the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) in Barcelona. She also became a professor at other universities. In 2012, she joined the University of Tromsø as an adjunct professor. In 2013, she became a visiting professor at the University of Campinas.

What are Biosensors?

Laura Lechuga creates special biosensors that use silicon. These sensors can be built into a tiny device called a lab-on-a-chip. Imagine a whole lab, but super small!

She has developed many kinds of sensors. These include photonic biosensors and Mach–Zehnder interferometers. She also works with opto-nano-mechanical sensors and magnetoplasmonic sensors.

How Biosensors Help People

Her goal is to use these sensors in hospitals and clinics. They can help doctors diagnose diseases like cancer. They can also be used for environmental monitoring. This means checking for pollution in the environment.

In 2018, she showed a device that could quickly find Escherichia coli (a type of bacteria). This device was easy to use, even for people who weren't experts. It used tiny patterns printed on special surfaces.

Developing a COVID-19 Test

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Laura Lechuga helped create a new way to test for the virus. Her idea was simple, low-cost, and fast. The European Commission offered grants to quickly find ways to fight the pandemic. Laura Lechuga developed her idea in just ten days. She used her knowledge of optical biosensors.

The test uses a tiny optical sensor. This sensor has a special protein (an antibody) that can find the coronavirus. The sensor itself is a waveguide interferometer. It works by taking a sample of saliva or sputum (spit). If the sample has the SARS-CoV-2 virus, it sticks to the antibodies. This changes how a beam of light passes through the sensor.

The light is then analyzed. The results are sent to a smartphone or tablet in less than 30 minutes. This test can find the virus's RNA without needing a Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machine.

Awards and Recognitions

Laura Lechuga has received several important awards for her work:

• 2014: She was chosen as a Fellow of The Optical Society.
• 2016: She received the Real Sociedad Española de Física (RSEF) – BBVA Physics, Innovation and Technology Award.
• 2017: She was added to AcademiaNet. This is a special list of excellent women academics.

Selected Publications

See also

In Spanish: Laura Lechuga para niños