Barcelona, 1956. It is the mother science of the first test-tube baby Spanish and an expert european in the matter. Director of the Bank of Cell Lines of Barcelona and director of R & D of Medicine of the Reproduction of Dexeus Woman.
how to Investigate in Spain is still crying?Research in Spain is still a little cry. There was a time when things were better, but the crisis returned us back. Thirty-three years after the birth of Victoria Anna, the first test-tube baby in Spanish, how many children do you have?Children, children I have one… But for us to make an idea, in all the world there are around seven million children born thanks to in vitro fertilization. What do you know about your daughter’s test-tube?With Victoria I have a fantastic relationship. Since I was very small, both with her parents as with her we have maintained a close relationship. When I was little came a couple of times a year to see Barcelona. Now is different: it is all a woman of 33 years old and lives in Madrid. What do you remember of that day?It was 1984. It was like a movie. What I am very engraved in the mind.I was 27 years old. I remember a lot of emotion. I remember the face of the mother of Dolors, a face of happiness and immense peace of mind. I have a very nice photo that made me a companion biológa: I with Victoria in her arms. Weighing little more than two and a half kilos. We were all fascinated with this girl. Explain what you’re doing now. With words that will be understood.I try to understand why certain cells -made in a laboratory from cells of the people – become the other. That’s what we do to know what the cells will get sick. And also to try to create cells that can replace those that fail. Is the idea of the transplant; only, instead of transplanting a kidney, transplanted a few cells to that organ. What red lines do you see in surrogate motherhood?More than red lines to me there are aspects that I squeak: the business matter, pay a woman to rent her uterus, just because you earn a living with that. There are women in India who are dedicating a season to rent out your uterus. For western couples. I asked about this in a documentary. They said that they did not them has been lifted from his the possibility to do that. Because it was the way of being able to feed their children. Are there things science fiction that is not what will be in 50 years?Probably. We are moving forward at a tremendous speed. A rate which ever is greater. In the field of genomics are going to see a lot of progress. In a few years it will be common that all of us have a passport that is genetic and we know what the altered genes that we have. Naceremos knowing if we have more chances of having cancer or not. It will help us to change life-styles and to take preventive measures. If the cloning is used for saving species in danger of extinction, could we do this with the man?Technically yes. The technique is being applied in non-human primates. There would be No complication. What I don’t know is what would make sense. Why would we want to clone a person? I do not say that we have not had a request, myself. A mother, with your partner, asked us to clonásemos to your child. After his death. Through the hair of the child. Which was to make him understand this couple is that, although clonáramos to that child, would not be the same. It would appear to be a lot. But we are not the genetic material and nothing more. We are 50% of genetic material and the other 50% of the environment: how to we educate, the weather, what we eat… Told Goya that the sleep of reason generates monsters. I wanted to know if the sleep genetics too…Every time we know more of the genes. And to manipulate them. Can be very short-sighted is bad? Yes. But how should we intervene there? Oh… there Was a striking case. In a community of deaf from birth, a couple had a deaf child. They were going to have another child. They wanted to make genetic modifications that he was born… oh, deaf! They argued that for a child, in that community, it was much better to be deaf. The thing ended up with that no one wanted to ask a deaf child to this couple. What do you think when someone calls him “a killer of embryos”?Are ignorant people, groups that have not understood what we do. An embryo is not a person. It is a cellular structure that deserves all the respect, but you can not kill. These groups continue to exist. And their families with párkinson or alzheimer’s disease will benefit from these investigations. And not call into question the origin of these developments. Could we clone Puigdemont and Rajoy?Ehhhhh. Yes. What would be good?Let me not to answer [laughs widely]. We are in a topic absolutely terrible… there Should be a different solution to the cloning of these two characters. Why we go abroad for our young scientists and not politicians? That is a very good question. And timely… it Is good that young scientists go abroad, but not that they have to go. For the formation of the cientfiico is very good the stay abroad for a time.