looking for Zika, dengue and SARS-CoV-2

In this photo, I’m looking through a digital microscope to observe the structural damage SARS-CoV-2 causes to the cells of an African green monkey (Chlorocebus sabaeus). I’m inside NB3, the maximum biosafety lab here at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil, wearing protective gear. In this room, we look like astronauts.

Today, we can observe molecular mutations as they occur, using advanced software and laboratory techniques. We can detect the viruses that cause respiratory illnesses in just 15 minutes.

I dreamed of being a researcher since I was a teenager. Like most of the inhabitants of Belém (the city in northern Brazil where I grew up), my family comes from an ethnic mix of Europeans and Natives. I wanted to research the genetic impact of this, so for my undergraduate degree I studied genetics at the Federal University of Pará in Belém.

After that, I found out that I had to wait six months to apply for a PhD in Genetics at USP. But the microbiology program took people, and I had useful experience in molecular biology from my first degree.

At USP, I met my husband, a virologist who also works at the university. For us, viruses are almost part of our family. When my daughter was younger she said she knew some viruses better than her brothers.

Our laboratory works with seven hospitals of the Brazilian public health system. We inspect samples for 18 respiratory viruses, including H1N1 and SARS-CoV-2 influenza viruses; for viruses transmitted by insects, such as dengue, Zika and yellow fever; and for viruses, such as measles, mumps and rubella, which mainly cause illness in children.

This pandemic is not the first time that my laboratory has worked on a public health crisis. In 2019, we developed a test for the Zika virus. The kit, created in partnership with a private Brazilian company, is free for public hospitals.