\n
\nDesafiando lo que generalmente es visto como un d\u00e9bil desempe\u00f1o de Chile en materia de innovaci\u00f3n, un invento chileno recientemente logr\u00f3 el primer lugar en un importante concurso tecnol\u00f3gico en Estados Unidos frente a rivales que contaban con un respaldo financiero mucho mayor.<\/b><\/i> <\/p>\n
Hace cinco a\u00f1os, Felipe Camposano, quien entonces ten\u00eda 23 a\u00f1os, invit\u00f3 a un amigo de su universidad, Andr\u00e9s Leschot, a quedarse en el campo de su familia durante la cosecha de manzanas. No lo sab\u00edan en ese entonces, pero la visita termin\u00f3 siendo el comienzo de un viaje que, a comienzos de este a\u00f1o, llev\u00f3 a los dos amigos y a un tercer chileno, \u00c1lvaro Olivera, a ocupar el primer lugar del World’s Best Technologies Showcase, evento que re\u00fane nuevas tecnolog\u00edas de importantes universidades con instituciones de investigaci\u00f3n de todo el mundo. <\/p>\n
En el 2001, la cosecha de manzanas en el fundo de los Camposano cerca de Curic\u00f3, en el sur de Chile, fue particularmente da\u00f1ada por el sol. La mayor\u00eda de la fruta tuvo que botarse debido a manchas caf\u00e9-amarillas en la c\u00e1scara de las manzanas causadas por la radiaci\u00f3n solar y una tarde de domingo, descansando en la piscina despu\u00e9s de la cosecha del sabado, Felipe le sugiri\u00f3 a Andr\u00e9s, estudiante de bioqu\u00edmica, que desarrollara una soluci\u00f3n cient\u00edfica para controlar el problema. <\/p>\n
Fue una sugerencia a la ligera que dif\u00edcilmente tom\u00f3 en cuenta que en todo el mundo numerosos investigadores estaban trabajando exactamente en el mismo tema. Pero los dos amigos se ocuparon del desaf\u00edo y pronto se les uni\u00f3 Olivera, un ingeniero qu\u00edmico. <\/p>\n
Para la pr\u00f3xima cosecha, hab\u00edan extra\u00eddo una sustancia de las propias manzanas que, al rociarla de nuevo como concentrado sobre la fruta, disminuir\u00eda el da\u00f1o, esperaban. Pero para su enorme sorpresa, no s\u00f3lo redujo el da\u00f1o del sol, sino que mejor\u00f3 adem\u00e1s el color de las manzanas, haci\u00e9ndolo m\u00e1s brillante y uniforme. \u201cNo pod\u00edamos creerlo\u201d, dice Leschot, \u201caunque hab\u00eda una explicaci\u00f3n bioqu\u00edmica l\u00f3gica\u201d. <\/p>\n
Su asombro inicial se acrecent\u00f3 al darse cuenta de que aparentemente nadie m\u00e1s hab\u00eda hecho el mismo descubrimiento. \u201cPensamos que ten\u00edamos una soluci\u00f3n\u201d, a\u00f1ade Olivera, \u201cpero tambi\u00e9n pensamos que alguien m\u00e1s deb\u00eda tenerla\u201d. Aventuraron una respuesta que otros investigadores hab\u00edan pasado por alto porque estaban muy ocupados buscando soluciones de ingenier\u00eda gen\u00e9tica m\u00e1s complejas.<\/p>\n
El control del da\u00f1o que produce el sol era en s\u00ed mismo un importante avance. En Chile, el 30% de las manzanas se queman por el sol, reduciendo su valor de mercado en hasta un 80%, pero una vez que los j\u00f3venes cient\u00edficos comprendieron que literalmente pod\u00edan instruir a las c\u00e9lulas de las plantas para que produjeran m\u00e1s mol\u00e9culas que protegieran la fruta contra la radiaci\u00f3n solar y m\u00e1s mol\u00e9culas que mejoraran el color, se dieron cuenta de que pod\u00edan hacer lo mismo con efectos beneficiosos para la salud, desarrollando fruta con -digamos- el doble de antioxidantes.<\/p>\n
\u201cEste tipo de alimentos con propiedades beneficiosos para la salud est\u00e1n creciendo r\u00e1pidamente hoy en d\u00eda\u201d, dice Camposano, que tiene una visi\u00f3n m\u00e1s comercial y ahora es ingeniero industrial. Los huevos con Omega-3 y los yoghurts biol\u00e1cteos son s\u00f3lo dos ejemplos de esta tendencia, destaca. <\/p>\n
\u201cB\u00e1sicamente, descubrimos que las plantas pueden responder a se\u00f1ales esparcidas sobre ellas desde el exterior\u201d, dice Olivera. Y los posibles usos para esta tecnolog\u00eda son casi interminables y abarcan no s\u00f3lo las manzanas, sino que todo tipo de frutas y verduras. <\/p>\n
\u201cFue por eso que ganamos en Estados Unidos\u201d, se\u00f1ala Leschot, \u201cdebido a las ramificaciones de lo que descubrimos\u201d.<\/p>\n
De Curic\u00f3 a Texas<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n Desde el a\u00f1o 2001 en adelante, los amigos volvieron al fundo de los Camposano en la \u00e9poca de la cosecha para probar nuevas f\u00f3rmulas. Era una \u00e9poca reservada y emocionante en la que recuerdan haber vivido sobre manzanas, comiendo todos los productos sobre los que hab\u00edan experimentado; no le dijeron a nadie en qu\u00e9 estaban trabajando. <\/p>\n Luego, el a\u00f1o pasado, decidieron ingresar a ChileInventa 2005, un concurso para patentar invenciones organizado por la Pontificia Universidad Cat\u00f3lica en Santiago y patrocinado por el Gobierno de Chile como parte de su Programa Bicentenario de Ciencia y Tecnolog\u00eda. El primer premio en ese concurso -adem\u00e1s de ayudar en el financiamiento del proceso de obtenci\u00f3n de patentes y asesor\u00eda sobre los planes de negocios y comercializaci\u00f3n- era la oportunidad de competir en el World\u2019s Best Technologies Showcase que se realizar\u00eda en marzo del 2006 en Arlington, Texas.<\/p>\n Tras ocupar el primer lugar entre 25 finalistas de ChileInventa, el tr\u00edo se puso a trabajar en su solicitud de patentes. La tarea dur\u00f3 seis meses y -finalmente- presentaron su solicitud justo dos d\u00edas antes de viajar a Arlington. <\/p>\n \u201c\u00c9sta fue la primera vez que realmente vimos el mercado que ten\u00edamos y quedamos impresionados\u201d, dice Olivera. \u201cEra casi demasiado grande para nuestra imaginaci\u00f3n\u201d. Fue tambi\u00e9n un tiempo agitado durante el cual, recuerdan, AmCham -auspiciador de ChileInventa- ayud\u00f3 a Leschot a obtener su visa para Estados Unidos. <\/p>\n A su llegada a Arlington, se encontraron con tecnolog\u00edas de punta de todo tipo participando en una competencia dise\u00f1ada como muestra para inversionistas de capital de riesgo y buscadores de nuevas patentes tecnol\u00f3gicas de empresas pertenecientes al Fortune 500. Muchos proyectos, tales como los auspiciados por la NASA o el Departamento de Defensa de Estados Unidos, ten\u00edan presupuestos de millones de d\u00f3lares detr\u00e1s. <\/p>\n La mayor\u00eda de los participantes proven\u00eda de Estados Unidos y otros de pa\u00edses como Canad\u00e1, Israel, Espa\u00f1a, China y Jap\u00f3n. De las 75 tecnolog\u00edas seleccionadas para participar del concurso, s\u00f3lo a un tercio tuvo la oportunidad de realizar una presentaci\u00f3n de 10 minutos. \u201cEstaba optimista\u201d, dice Leschot, \u201cpero era un sue\u00f1o\u201d.<\/p>\n En general, los tres chilenos, con su reci\u00e9n bautizada empresa Lucien Biotechnologies, estaban contentos con s\u00f3lo estar ah\u00ed. Hab\u00eda oportunidades para mostrar su tecnolog\u00eda y conversar con inversionistas, aunque se mantuvieron cautamente vagos sobre los detalles de su invenci\u00f3n.<\/p>\n Camposano, con un mejor ingl\u00e9s y una visi\u00f3n m\u00e1s comercial, fue escogido para hacer la presentaci\u00f3n. Desde el momento en que termin\u00f3, su \u201ccabina\u201d fue visitada por gente de una ecl\u00e9ctica gama de campos interesada en su descubrimiento.<\/p>\n La entrega de premios inclu\u00eda una cena formal y sobres cerrados. El tercer lugar fue para un software para im\u00e1genes computacionales en tres dimensiones y el segundo, para un invento de purificaci\u00f3n de agua. Ambas eran tecnolog\u00edas impresionantes, recuerdan los chilenos.<\/p>\n \u201cCuando comenzaron a describir nuestra empresa y nos dimos cuenta que hab\u00edamos ganado, simplemente nos quedamos sin palabras\u201d, dice Olivera. \u201cNo pod\u00edamos reaccionar\u201d.<\/p>\n Incluso hoy, el momento de la victoria sigue siendo una nebulosa para los tres: ninguno es capaz de recordar los detalles del discurso espont\u00e1neo en que recibieron el premio y que pronunci\u00f3 Camposano. <\/p>\n Pero ahora, de vuelta en Chile, los desaf\u00edos que enfrentan son mayores que nunca. \u201cTenemos que comercializar el producto\u201d, sostiene Camposano. \u201cTenemos que producirlo de manera masiva a un bajo costo\u201d. <\/p>\n Con este objetivo, se unieron a un gran exportador chileno de frutas y est\u00e1n evaluando ofertas de capital de riesgo. \u201cTenemos que ver si podemos financiar la pr\u00f3xima etapa por nuestra cuenta y as\u00ed asumir el control total\u201d, dice Camposano. Hasta ahora, ninguno de los tres socios est\u00e1 trabajando tiempo completo en Lucien Biotechnologies.<\/p>\n El segundo desaf\u00edo implica mayor investigaci\u00f3n cient\u00edfica de la tecnolog\u00eda, en especial, trabajo continuo para mejorar el valor nutricional de la fruta y m\u00e1s investigaci\u00f3n sobre otras frutas, como uvas y berries, en un comienzo. <\/p>\n No obstante, el triunfo en Texas sirvi\u00f3 para aumentar tanto la ansiedad como las expectativas, dicen los empresarios. Despu\u00e9s de todo, demostr\u00f3 cu\u00e1n masivo pod\u00eda ser su descubrimiento y -si todo sale bien- cu\u00e1n lejos podr\u00eda llevarlos desde la cosecha de manzanas de hace cinco a\u00f1os en Curic\u00f3. <\/p>\n Sophie Harrison trabaja como periodista freelance en Santiago. Five years ago, Felipe Camposano, then aged 23, invited a university friend, Andr\u00e9s Leschot, to stay at his family\u2019s farm during the apple harvest. They didn\u2019t know it then but the visit was to prove the start of a journey that, earlier this year, took the two friends and a third Chilean, Alvaro Olivera, to first place in the World’s Best Technologies Showcase, an event that brings together new technologies from top universities and research institutions around the world. <\/p>\n In 2001, the apple harvest on the Camposano\u2019s farm near Curic\u00f3 in southern Chile suffered particularly bad sun damage. Much of the fruit was wasted because of yellow-brown spots on the apples\u2019 skin caused by solar radiation and, one Sunday afternoon, relaxing by the pool after Saturday\u2019s harvest, Felipe suggested that Andr\u00e9s, a biochemistry student, develop a scientific potion to control the problem. <\/p>\n It was a light-hearted suggestion which hardly considered the fact that around the world numerous researchers were working on the very same issue. But the two friends busied themselves with the challenge and were soon joined by Olivera, a chemical engineer. <\/p>\n By the next harvest, they had extracted a substance from the apples themselves which, when sprayed back on to the fruit in concentrated form, would – they hoped – lessen the damage. But to their considerable surprise, not only was the sun damage reduced but the color of the apples also improved, becoming brighter and more uniform. \u201cWe just couldn\u2019t believe it,\u201d says Leschot, \u201calthough there was a logical biochemical explanation.\u201d <\/p>\n Their initial astonishment was magnified as it became apparent that nobody else had made the same discovery. \u201cWe thought we had a solution,\u201d adds Olivera, \u201cbut we also thought someone else must already have it.\u201d They hazard a guess that other researchers missed it because they were too busy looking for more complex genetic-engineering solutions. <\/p>\n Controlling sun damage was in itself an important advance. In Chile, 30% of apples are burnt by the sun, reducing their market value by as much as 80%, but once the young scientists understood they could literally instruct the plant cells to produce more molecules to protect the fruit against solar radiation and more molecules to improve color, they found they could do the same with health-giving effects, developing fruit with, say, double the usual amount of antioxidants.<\/p>\n \u201cThese types of health-giving functional foods are growing so fast today,\u201d says the more commercially-minded Camposano, now an industrial engineer. Omega-3 eggs and bio-yoghurts are, he points out, just two examples of this trend. <\/p>\n \u201cBasically, we discovered that plants can respond to signals spread on them from the outside,\u201d says Olivera. And the possible uses for this technology are almost endless, encompassing not just apples but all types of fruit and vegetables. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is why we won in the United States,\u201d says Leschot, \u201cbecause of the ramifications of what we had discovered.\u201d<\/p>\n From Curic\u00f3 to Texas<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n Each year from 2001 onwards, the friends returned to the Camposano\u2019s farm at harvest time to try out new formulas. It was a secretive, exciting time – during which they recall living on apples, consuming all the produce they had experimented on – and they told nobody what they were working on. <\/p>\n Then, last year, they decided to enter ChileInventa 2005, a patenting competition organized by the Catholic University in Santiago and supported by the Chilean government as part of its bicentenary science and technology program. The first prize in this contest – along with help financing the patenting process and advice on marketing and business plans – was the opportunity to compete in the World\u2019s Best Technologies Showcase competition to be held in March 2006 in Arlington, Texas.<\/p>\n After taking first place out of the 25 finalists in ChileInventa, the threesome set to work on their patent application. It was a job that took six months and they finally filed the application just two days before their departure to Arlington. <\/p>\n \u201cThis was the first time that we really saw the market we had and we were astonished,\u201d says Olivera. \u201cIt was almost too big for our imagination.\u201d It was also a hectic time during which, they recall, AmCham, a sponsor of ChileInventa, helped by assisting Leschot to obtain his U.S. visa. <\/p>\n On arrival in Arlington, they found cutting-edge technologies of all types taking part in a competition designed as a showcase for venture capital investors and licensing scouts from Fortune 500 companies. Many projects, such as those sponsored by NASA or the U.S. Defense Department, had million-dollar budgets behind them. <\/p>\n The majority of entrants came from the United States and others from countries that included Canada, Israel, Spain, China and Japan. Of the 75 technologies selected to take part in the contest, only one third were given the opportunity to make a ten-minute presentation. \u201cI was always optimistic,\u201d says Leschot, \u201cbut it was a dream.\u201d<\/p>\n On the whole, the three Chileans, with their recently named Lucien Biotechnologies company, were happy just to be there. There were opportunities to show off their technology and talk to investors, although they remained cautiously vague about the details of the invention. <\/p>\n Camposano, with better English and a more commercial approach, was chosen to make the presentation. From the moment he finished, their \u201cbooth\u201d was besieged by people from an eclectic range of fields interested in their achievement.<\/p>\n The prize-giving itself involved a formal dinner and sealed envelopes. Third place went to a software invention for three-dimensional computer images and second place to a water purification invention. Both, the Chileans remember, were impressive technologies.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen they started to describe our company and we realized we had won, we were just speechless,\u201d says Olivera. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t react.\u201d<\/p>\n Even today, the moment of victory remains a blur for all three – none are able to remember details of the spur-of-the-moment acceptance speech made by Camposano. <\/p>\n But now, back home in Chile, the challenges they face are bigger than ever. \u201cWe have to commercialize the product,\u201d says Camposano. \u201cWe have to produce it massively in a low-cost way.\u201d <\/p>\n With this aim, they have linked up with a big Chilean fruit exporter and are considering offers of venture capital. \u201cWe have to see if we can fund the next stage ourselves and so take full control,\u201d says Camposano. As yet, none of the three partners are working full-time for Lucien Biotechnologies.<\/p>\n The second challenge involves further scientific investigation of the technology, especially continued work on increasing the fruit\u2019s nutritional value and more research into other fruits – initially grapes and berries. <\/p>\n The triumph in Texas has, however, served to heighten anxiety as well as expectations, say the entrepreneurs. It has, after all, demonstrated just how massive their discovery could be and – if all goes well – how far it could take them from the apple harvest in Curic\u00f3 five years ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Desafiando lo que generalmente es visto como un d\u00e9bil desempe\u00f1o de Chile en materia de innovaci\u00f3n, un invento chileno recientemente logr\u00f3 el primer lugar en un importante concurso tecnol\u00f3gico en Estados Unidos frente a rivales que contaban con un respaldo financiero mucho mayor.Defying what is generally seen as Chile\u2019s weak performance on innovation, a Chilean invention recently took first place in an important U.S. technology contest against rivals with far more substantial financial backing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","news_tax":[],"user_type":[],"class_list":["post-3663","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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\nDefying what is generally seen as Chile\u2019s weak performance on innovation, a Chilean invention recently took first place in an important U.S. technology contest against rivals with far more substantial financial backing.<\/b><\/i> <\/p>\n