For a second consecutive year CPSBB was a partner and host of the Plovdiv Science Festival, organized by the “Beautiful Science” Foundation. The four-day event attracted thousands of students, teachers and parents from Plovdiv and the region, as well as speakers from Bulgaria and abroad. Public lectures, workshops, educational games and demonstrations were among the highlights of the festival program, precisely selected to be appropriate for all age groups.
The festival officially started with welcome speeches of the Director of CPSBB, prof. Dr. Tsanko Gechev and the organizers of the festival – Ivaylo Slavov and Lyubov Kostova. They highlighted the mission of the festival, which is to present science in an attractive way and prove its influence on every sphere of human life, as well as to motivate the young generation to be interested in scientific achievements, inspiring them with research knowledge and scientific achievements.
Among the guest speakers at the festival was Prof. Dr. Milen Georgiev – Head of the “Plant Cell Biotechnology” department of CPSBB, a four-time winner of the Bulgarian “Pythagoras” prize for science and among the top 2% of the most cited scientists in the world. Within a one-hour public lecture, he summarized the main directions in the scientific research of the department – photoaging, longevity and obesity, as well as the integrative scientific approach for determination of the biological activity of natural products, incl. biotechnology, metabolomics and molecular pharmacology.
A highlight of the presentation were some of the developments of the scientific team, headed by prof. Georgiev, which demonstrate a potential for improving the quality of human life. Among these developments is the prototype of human epidermis, which eliminates the use of animals in scientific experiments. Using this 3D model, the scientists explore and identify plant molecules to protect the skin from the influence of UV rays and the so-called blue light emitted by the digital devices that humanity today uses incessantly.
Prof. Georgiev also presented some of the model organisms, used in the laboratory experiments – the resurrection plant Rhodope silivryak (Haberlea rhodopensis) and C. elegans – a microscopic nematode (worm), which has homology (similarity) to the human genome and is extremely useful for scientific developments worldwide.
The aging process and its potential retardation with the help of natural substances are of major research interest. Prof. Georgiev summarized some of the mechanisms of aging and how the signaling pathways of longevity could be influenced by factors such as nutrition, physical activity and lifestyle The scientific team has already identified several molecules of plant and food origin, isolated from traditional Bulgarian foods and endemic Bulgarian plant species, which exhibit properties to influence photoaging processes on the prototype human epidermis and extend the lifespan of the model organism C.elegans. These molecules are pending patents for the production of a natural sun protection cosmetic product and a longevity food supplement.
In the future, the ambition of the scientists at the CPSBB is to develop a 3D organotypic model (organoid) for exploring organic substances which could potentially stimulate the fibroblasts of elderly individuals to produce higher levels of collagen.
