A sample to discover Milstein and his great legacy

By Mario Minervino / mminervino@lanueva.com

It often happens that many times the name is known more than the man, a surname rather than a work. This may be in part the case of César Milstein from Bahia, winner of the 1984 Nobel Prize in Medicine for a discovery that has continued to revolutionize the history of medicine ever since and whose scope is still in full development and research.

The Ministry of Culture of the Nation has declared 2021 as the year of tribute to Milstein. His hometown could not be left out of such a statement.

That is why a proposal from Dr. Esteban Brignole, (CONICET senior researcher and member of FUNDASUR) and the Bahía Blanca Biochemical Research Institute (INIBIBB-CONICET-UNS) to offer a sample that graphs life is being made concrete. and the work of this scientist, organized by a team of Assistant Researchers and INIBIBB staff, with the support of FUNDASUR and the Coleman House.

The exhibition will feature videos and photographs of Milstein, in particular referring to his visit to our city in 1987. There will also be a timeline with his training and the milestones of his scientific career.

The details

Natalia Alza, doctor in chemistry and researcher at CONICET, is one of those in charge of organizing the exhibition.

He explained that it will be organized in a graphic and audiovisual way and continuously, so that visitors can visit it at any time and independently.

“The material we present has been obtained from different sources. A video was provided by the Encuentro channel, summarizing MIlstein’s academic life. Another is of his own production and focuses on why Milstein wins the Nobel, what is his discovery and the impact of it so many years later. There is also a more familiar tint video, on loan from his great-niece. The photographs were provided by La Nueva and by Cristina Braschi, referring to Milstein’s visit in 1987 ”, the doctor summarized.

Asked about the impact of the discovery made by Milstein, the generation of monoclonal antibodies, Alza mentioned that this is precisely what the sample is intended to convey.

“There are treatments that today depend on these antibodies, such as cancer therapy, but we also find it in everyday things like a pregnancy test. We will also show the impact it had on the fight against Covid. Milstein’s discovery spans chemistry, therapy, testing, and diagnostics. When he made his work known in 1975, he did not imagine its implication so many years later ”.

There is also a will in the exhibition to know the man behind the scientist.

“Milstein has a very interesting and rich life, a way of acting and thinking that many of us would like to emulate. I think that the new generations are going to love discovering this person who lived his childhood and adolescence in Bahía Blanca. We want them to discover their life from different points of view and to understand the impact of their discovery on medicine, many of them even almost unexpected ”.

The exhibition will be at Casa Coleman, Avenida Alem 41, today and tomorrow and Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 December, from 5 to 8 p.m.