Juan Luis Fernández: «We can never ignore the great truth that ‘you learn by doing’»
Sharing the invaluable knowledge that is generated every day in the university environment is something that should be an inalienable fact in a society that wants to be open to progress. However, it is not always an easy task.
Struggling against limited resources such as time or funding often means that this task is relegated to the background. For this reason, all efforts to establish effective and accessible channels of communication, as well as to build bridges between academia and the general public, should be recognized and celebrated.
And even more so if they are done from a perspective that relies on the power of the hand. That rescues the value of materiality and practical education. Something that Juan Luis Fernández Lorenzo, our interviewee today, defends tooth and nail.
Doctor of Biology from the University of Santiago de Compostela, Professor in the Department of Plant Production and Engineering Projects at the Higher Polytechnic Engineering School on the Campus Terra, member of the XuvenCiencia Teaching Innovation Group and the AGROFORECOL Competitive Reference Research Group...
Juan Luis Fernández's extensive curriculum is nothing more than a reflection of a consolidated career that has revolved around a unique micro-universe for more than three decades: the in vitro cultivation of plant species. The possibilities that this technique seems to offer at a scientific, environmental and economic level seem endless. But they are also endless at an educational and informative level.
Today, we talk to him so that he can open the doors to his particular world for us...
-Your scientific activity, broadly speaking, revolves around the in vitro cultivation of species of agroforestry and ecological interest. What advantages does this way of working offer with respect to traditional techniques?
-The in vitro cultivation of plant tissue is a biotechnology that can respond to multiple objectives.
Suppose the aim is the mass cloning of selected plants, compared to traditional methods such as staking, grafting or layering. In that case, it has the advantage of allowing multiplication in controlled and aseptic conditions, in very small spaces and in a very short time.
But it can also be used for other purposes that traditional techniques do not allow, such as the elimination of viruses in plants through the isolation of meristems (tissues responsible for plant growth) or micrografting.
-What role can in vitro plant propagation play in the fight against climate change? And in the protection of biodiversity?
-In vitro cultivation is a very useful tool in both areas. For example, in vitro conditions can be used to study and select plant material that is more resistant to drought, flooding, cold, high temperatures or pests and diseases that may become more frequent as a result of climate change.
As for the conservation of plant biodiversity, in vitro cultivation allows us to create collections of materials of ecological, economic or scientific interest, both by maintaining active crops and by preserving plant material at extremely low temperatures through cryopreservation in liquid nitrogen.
-You also work on the rejuvenation of plant species through in vitro micrografts. How is this technique carried out? What are its most immediate applications?
-There are two things that scientists specializing in in vitro plant cultivation have known for decades.
Firstly, the smaller the fragment of meristem (the point of growth from which new shoots emerge in the buds) that can be isolated in vitro from adult material, the more rejuvenated the plants obtained from it will be.
Secondly, if we micrograft that meristem onto a young rootstock, the latter will favor the rejuvenation of the meristem. Therefore, the micrografting of meristems is one of the most promising ways of rejuvenating adult trees, and by rejuvenating the trees, they can be cloned more easily.
-You are in charge of the Micropropagation Laboratory on our campus. What work is carried out in these facilities? Can you tell us about any projects currently being developed in the Laboratory?
-For more than two decades, our Laboratory has been dedicated to both teaching and research. Students from the Degree in Forestry Engineering and the Master's Degrees in Agronomy and Forestry pass through it. Secondary school students from various schools in Galicia also carry out their STEM projects there.
In the scientific field, we develop micropropagation protocols for a large number of species of ecological and economic interest, including the chestnut tree (both Galician varieties that produce certified chestnuts and hybrids resistant to the 'tinta' disease, which can be used directly for timber production or as rootstocks for the varieties). We are currently conducting research in the context of an Industrial Doctorate related to this subject.
But we also produce selected mulberry clones to be used as livestock feed, ornamental varieties demanded by horticulturalists, such as hybrid holly, or plants for medicinal use, such as Arnica montana, among others.
Recently, we participated in a project for the conservation and reintroduction of the endemic species Centaurea ultra, which is present in a very small area of the municipalities of Carballo and Coristanco, to protect the species from the impact of the installation of wind turbines in the territory where it is present.
Another line of work in which we are involved, with a certain degree of altruism, as we are working on it with relatively little funding, is the creation of an in vitro collection of clones of unique trees. At the moment, we have in vitro clones of the chestnut trees of “Val da Fonte” (Courel) and “Ramil” (Triacastela), which are estimated to be around 500 years old, and also a clone of the cypress of “A Capela do Salvador” (Samos), which is about the same age. In this case, the scientific (genetic, ecological...) interest is complemented by the social and cultural interest.
-France, Germany, China, Italy, Bosnia-Herzegovina... You have a CV that includes a large number of international stays, both as a researcher and as a teacher. What role do these types of experiences play in the professional and personal development of research staff? What do you take away from these experiences abroad?
-The professional importance is evident. Knowing first-hand how research is carried out in other countries and establishing scientific exchanges and collaborations in common fields of work is essential. The teaching experience abroad is a plus that cannot be underestimated. I am convinced that all this accumulated experience in more or less distant places and cultures has a very important and positive influence on the teaching approach at our University.
But I have to be honest and admit that, above all, this exchange is tremendously enriching on a personal level. Getting out of the bubble of your everyday life and immersing yourself with people from distant places and cultures at work and in other daily activities gives you a much broader and richer perspective on everything around you.
-As part of XuvenCiencia and XuvenLab, you designed a research kit so that secondary school pupils could learn first-hand about the particular universe of in vitro cultivation of tree species. What activities can be carried out thanks to this kit? How important can this type of resource be in the education of future generations?
-For almost 15 years now, the teachers who make up the XuvenCiencia Teaching Innovation Group have been dedicated body and soul to the task of making research at the University transparent to society, and especially to the girls and boys who study in non-university educational centres, to open up the world of science to them actively and collaboratively and to awaken in them a scientific vocation, an interest in knowing and doing, or at least to provide them with a scientific point of view of the world around them in a clear and friendly way.
Among the tools that help us achieve these objectives are the scientific kits that we have been developing over the years and that we now provide through XuvenLab.
Specifically, the current Vitroplant Kit allows secondary schools to carry out at least eight activities related to the in vitro cultivation of plants throughout the academic year, such as the preparation of culture media, the establishment and in vitro multiplication of explants, in vitro or in vivo rooting, and even the acclimatization of Vitro plants so that they can develop in nature.
We believe that in today's world, in which ICTs play a central role as a resource for study, we cannot ever ignore the great truth of “learning by doing,” and our Kits are designed under that philosophy. Girls and boys touch science with their own hands.