La Paz, Baja California Sur — Armed with academic training and driven by a personal experience, Daniela Nachón Guzmán, a Bioengineering in Aquaculture student at the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur (UABCS), is working on a groundbreaking research project to extract collagen from fishing waste—with potential medical applications, particularly in treating skin burns.
The university student shared that the project was inspired by a personal tragedy during her fourth semester, when a close relative suffered severe burns. “Thanks to what I’ve learned in my degree, I started thinking about how to apply this knowledge not just in aquaculture and fishing, but also in medicine,” she explained.
Now, Daniela collects fish waste donated by local fisheries and processes it in the lab. Using an alkaline hydrolysis procedure, she separates collagen fibers, fats, and lipids, employing techniques like centrifugation and microscopic analysis to classify different types of collagen found in marine species.
Nachón Guzmán emphasized that this collagen could revolutionize burn treatment by speeding up healing and reducing painful procedures like manual bandage removal. She also highlighted its potential uses in cosmetics and other biotechnology fields.
“This could help so many people—patients, doctors, firefighters, military personnel, anyone who needs rapid medical care after an injury. Collagen can be utilized in many ways,” she stressed.
Throughout the process, Nachón Guzmán has received crucial support from Dr. Erika Torres Ochoa, a research professor in the Department of Fisheries Engineering, who believed in her vision from the start. “Her guidance has been essential to moving this project forward,” Daniela acknowledged.
For the young researcher, this work reflects her commitment as a student dedicated to scientific innovation and applied research—tackling real-world problems through sustainable and creative solutions.
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