{"id":6626,"date":"2024-03-01T21:10:17","date_gmt":"2024-03-02T00:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/solvefortomorrowlatam.com\/pratica\/creme-desenvolvido-por-alunas-age-como-protetor-solar-e-repelente-contra-insetos\/"},"modified":"2024-10-28T13:49:28","modified_gmt":"2024-10-28T16:49:28","slug":"cream-developed-students-acts-sunscreen-insect-repellent","status":"publish","type":"pratica","link":"https:\/\/solvefortomorrowlatam.com\/en\/case\/cream-developed-students-acts-sunscreen-insect-repellent\/","title":{"rendered":"Cream developed by students acts as sunscreen and insect repellent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Harnessing the pharmaceutical and medicinal properties of natural resources is a growing trend to promote sustainability around the world. In the Amazon region, home to the greatest biodiversity on the planet, it could not be different. From the union of a resin and a shrub plant, emerged Nanofotocream; a multifunctional cream developed by a team of four students and two teachers from the Federal Institute of Rond\u00f4nia (IFRO). The project won the 10th edition of Solve for Tomorrow Brazil and it proposes an innovative natural cosmetic with low production costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The product is based on crajiru extract, a medicinal shrub plant and rosin oil, a natural resin. Both are known for their anti-inflammatory function and can be easily found in the state of Rond\u00f4nia. Based on a series of chemical tests, the group managed to develop a cream capable of protecting the skin from sunlight, preventing diseases such as skin cancer, premature aging caused by free radicals, and also acting as a repellent tropical against disease-carrying insects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n Explaining! <\/h5>\n

One of the reasons that led the group to develop a sun protection cream is that Rond\u00f4nia is a state vulnerable to skin cancer, due to its geographic location, the profile of its residents (many light-skinned migrants), and the state\u2019s work (intense production in the field).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The team members are in the 1st year of high school (third to last year of compulsory schooling), are 15 years old, and are students of the technical vocational course in Chemistry. In Brazil, each state has a Federal Institute, where students can complete secondary education (the last three years of compulsory schooling) alongside technical training. In this way, the student has the subjects from the traditional high school curriculum and those specific to the chosen technical course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Minelly Azevedo, one of the responsible educators for the project, it all started in a subject in the first semester of the course, which teaches the fundamentals of chemical experimentation. \u201cAs soon as the course begins, the class needs to start thinking about developing products or providing services. And here in the Amazon, we have several social problems<\/a>, including public health. Discussing these topics, one of the students raised the issue of photoprotection\u201d, recalls the teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"NanoFotoCream\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

We saw that making sunscreen was something possible and important for our region. Therefore, we began to do a bibliographic survey and to observe the products available on the market for better understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of this project, explains Azevedo.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

One detail that caught the team\u2019s attention was realizing that the majority of sunscreens on sale highlighted the antioxidant function. \u201cSo we reflected on what it meant to be an antioxidant and how we could include this property in our cream. Then, a student suggested that the product could also be a repellent. Why not combine all these ideas?\u201d, the teacher says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n Eureka moment! <\/h5>\n

Combining several functionalities in a single cream makes the product even more valuable, but putting this into practice is challenging. \u201cWe thought about how we could combine different chemical characteristics without losing our base of Amazonian extracts and still maintain an attractive and economical product. In a conversation with another project that was being developed in the course, the solution came up: nanocapsules\u201d, highlights Azevedo. This was the key to creating the minimum viable product.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nanocapsules are, broadly speaking, capsules whose substances are manipulated on a small scale, called nanometric (at an atomic and molecular level, being invisible to the naked eye). \u201cThinking about our product, the nanocapsules will function as if they were a cap that will protect the active ingredients and preserve the product\u2019s formula. This is important because it promotes greater efficiency in this skin protection treatment\u201d, explains the professor.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Science for the Bioeconomy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In parallel with the decision on the adopted technique, the group decided on the necessary inputs. Tests were conducted with several plants, but some candidates were eliminated because they did not have a pleasant smell or color. Finally, crajiru was chosen, which is already commonly used in phytotherapy (treatment that uses plants or plant derivatives as medicines) for cases of anemia and ulcers. Additionally, we chose rosin oil, which is used as a healing, expectorant, and antimicrobial. \u201cWe are committed to investigate the fruits of our biodiversity and stimulate the local bioeconomy\u201d, she emphasizes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another aspect taken into consideration was ensuring that the components used in the formula did not generate water or soil contamination. \u201cIt could neither be harmful to people\u2019s skin nor generate polluting waste. That\u2019s why we work with biodegradable synthetic polymers\u201d, she informs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experimentation from an early age<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Every year, IFRO teachers make a voluntary call for students who want to develop extracurricular scientific initiation<\/a> projects. \u201cFor this type of project, we usually work with students from the 2nd year onwards, who already have a base of knowledge. We never imagined that 1st-year students could progress so much with this product\u201d, reveals Azevedo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She says it was a gamble to form this group at such an early age, but it was also a pleasant surprise to see the maturity of the teenagers. \u201cIt left a lesson for us that experimentation can come from the beginning, taking advantage of the energy and desire to participate in this younger group\u201d, she points out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For Azevedo, Solve for Tomorrow’s mentoring was crucial in this process. \u201cOur mentor was able to access these young women at all times, exchanging experiences and motivating them. It was incredible. And we, as educators, learned a lot\u201d, she highlights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part of the success is also due to family involvement: \u201cParental support was very important, encouraging the students and understanding that they sometimes needed to stay at school longer\u201d, she reinforces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the positive results, the idea now is to continue the project in the next academic years, conducting more elaborate tests, so that the prototyping is fully completed at the end of high school. The brand \u201cNanofotocream\u201d has already been registered and the goal is to formalize the patent at the end of the three years of study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n Partnerships were key to the project’s progress <\/h5>\n

To go further, the team relied on partners both inside and outside the institution. The work with nanoencapsulation developed from exchanges of ideas with other students who were already using this technique. To carry out the more elaborate tests, they relied on support from research institutions. For example, according to the teacher, IFRO doesn’t work with cells, so the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation carried out the cytotoxicity test [a substance’s ability to inhibit cell proliferation or cause damage and injury to cells] and repellency tests with mosquitoes in vitro (outside a living organism). This collaboration will continue for the next phase of the project: testing the product on human beings (in vivo trial). With the Federal University of Rond\u00f4nia, there was an “exchange” between undergraduate and postgraduate students, who visited the Institute to follow the research of the project’s students and vice-versa.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\n