The biochemist Margarita Salas (Canero, Asturias, 1938), one of the greatest scientists in Spain died on the 7th November in Madrid at the age of 80. Margarita Salas has been one of the most important researchers in Spain, where she worked for years on Molecular Biology.
Among her career achievements, Salas has the discovery of the DNA polymerase of the bacteriophage phi29 virus, which has a crucial application in biotechnology: it allows amplifying DNA in a simple, fast and reliable way. This technique allows oncologists to expand small populations of cells that could lead to tumors.
He earned a doctorate in biochemistry in 1963 from the Complutense University of Madrid and subsequently worked for three years with the Nobel Prize in Biochemistry Severo Ochoa at the University of New York. Later he returned to Spain and founded the first molecular genetics research group in 1967 in the CSIC.
Happy to be a woman and have references like her.