A Portuguese scientist wins a grant to study the relationship between nutrition and fertility

A Portuguese scientist wins a grant to study the relationship between nutrition and fertility

What is the relationship between nutrients used by cells in the process of reproduction? The question seems simple, but science is still looking for answers. One thing is already known: “There is a direct link between nutrition and fertility.” Now, how nutrients function in human physiology, how they develop and influence the functioning of organs that are involved in the process of reproduction is still unknown. But this is exactly what the Portuguese scientist Zita Santos, a 38-year-old biologist, proposes to investigate, having recently received a “start-up” grant from the European Research Council, in the amount of 1.5 million euros, to set up her own laboratory and develop her activity.

Embarking on this journey, which will begin in January 2023 at the Joao Lobo Antunes Institute of Molecular Medicine (iMM), in Lisbon, Zeta Santos, who until now is a postdoctoral researcher at the Champalimaud Foundation, knows that the journey will be long. “I imagine that in the next five years, still in the research scope with fruit flies, we will be able to identify and answer the first questions we asked: what cellular processes are affected by different nutrients and what are the molecules produced by the germline that carry the signal to the brain to improve reproduction.” ?”, he explains to DN. And only from here will the research be able to move to mice and then to humans.

By Andrea Hargraves

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