On International Women’s Day, Izvestia collected information about outstanding projects and achievements of Russian researchers. So, under the leadership of archaeologist Elena Levanova, the first electronic file of ancient rock art in Russia is being created, employees of the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor managed to create a fast PCR test that can distinguish coronavirus genovariants in real time, cosmonaut Anna Kikina became the first person to work on a robotic arm ERA, and scientists from the Institute of Cytology of the Russian Academy of Sciences managed to shed light on the mechanisms of aging of the female reproductive system.
The mystery of the ancient “graffiti”
A group of Russian scientists led by archaeologist Elena Levanova is creating a unified database of ancient rock paintings – petroglyphs. A team from the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences undertook to preserve this heritage and digitize many monuments of ancient Russian painting. Work in progress supported by Russian Science Foundation. The team documents the ancient “graffiti” of Khakassia, Western Siberia, the Southern Urals, the Khabarovsk Territory and brings them into a single database.
Elena Levanova while working with geodetic equipment, obtaining coordinates
Photo: Elena Levanova
— One of my most important achievements this year, I consider the continuation of research in Chukotka (on the Pegtymel River) — on the northernmost rock art site in Asia, where we work in extreme conditions, — said Elena Levanova.
We are talking about hundreds of samples of ancient writing, practically unknown to the general public and very quickly collapsing and being destroyed. The team aims to make rock art known, popular, actively promote the idea of its preservation and respect. In the future, a group of scientists plans to organize exhibitions and publish albums with digitized petroglyphs.
- They think that the Mona Lisa is beautiful. But until we learn to think that running moose is also beautiful, we will not be able to preserve our heritage. I probably say this because I can’t draw, and I respect the people who knocked out these images for a long time,” the researcher said.
Photo: Elena Levanova
For three years of work, scientists from the team of Elena Levanova have collected information about the rock art sites of the Kemerovo Region, Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of Khakassia, the Khabarovsk Territory and the Urals, the most reliable of them have been digitized. Subsequently, the database will cover all the petroglyphs of Russia.
Space, “dragon”, girl
Anna Kikina became the sixth woman who flew into space from our country, and the fifth professional female cosmonaut after Valentina Tereshkova, Svetlana Savitskaya, Elena Kondakova and Elena Serova. She is also the first Russian cosmonaut to fly on the Crew Dragon spacecraft. Since October 5, 2022, she has been on the ISS. Like all future members of the crew of the domestic segment, she passed the correspondence, and then the internal selection at the Cosmonaut Training Center.
Cosmonaut Anna Kikina
Photo: TASS/Gagarin TsPK/Andrey Shelepin
“I was in the mood to pass the selection as well as possible, to show myself,” said Anna Kikina. “I wanted to do this so that I wouldn’t regret the missed opportunities later. It can be compared to sports. Here a person goes to a distance or track – he does not know how it will end, but simply works with all his might, gives all the best.
According to her, the tight schedule of study at the MCC came as a surprise to her, but she coped with it. Anna Kikina trained as a flight engineer. Prior to being selected for the cosmonaut corps, she received a certificate as a rescuer and instructor in teaching the basics of first aid to the population. She defended her diploma on the topic “Economics and Management at Enterprises” and proved that the specialty in no way interferes with developing in a completely different area.
Enrolling in the squad of candidates for astronauts, Anna Kikina in 2014 passed the state exam with a grade of “4.5”. The qualification “test cosmonaut” was not awarded to her, but the girl was left as a candidate cosmonaut with the condition of passing an annual course of additional classes. Some time later, after the general space training program was completed in full and the state exam was passed, the commission awarded Kikina the qualification of “test cosmonaut”, and she was transferred to the detachment of the cosmonaut training center.
Thus began her career in space and science. In 2017, as the first flight engineer, she participated in the SIRIUS international isolation experiment, which simulates a flight to the Moon – the crew was isolated for 120 days. There she was engaged in training on simulating the docking of the promising Russian Federation spacecraft in Earth orbit and simulating the remote control of the lunar rover using a virtual reality helmet, testing the suit for the crew.
Later, Anna Kikina took part in the training on conducting visual and instrumental observations of the Earth from the aircraft laboratory of the TsPK Tu-134LK as part of the scientific research program on the ISS.
On board the ISS, the astronaut spends a lot of time conducting experiments. For example, during her stay at the station, Kikina became the only person who worked on the ERA robotic arm in the Russian segment.
COVID differences
Women scientists have made a huge contribution to the fight against the pandemic. Thus, Anna Esman, Svetlana Salamaykina and Anna Golubeva, researchers at the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor, were awarded the Moscow Government Prize at the beginning of this year for developing a unique laboratory method for determining Delta and Omicron coronavirus genovariants circulating in the Russian Federation.
At the end of 2021, with the appearance of the Omicron variant, there was a sharp increase in the incidence of the population. It was not clear whether vaccination would be effective against this variant, how the disease would proceed, what its severity would be compared to the already known variants of SARS-CoV-2 on our territory,” Anna Yesman, a researcher at the Laboratory of Molecular Methods for Studying Genetic Polymorphisms, told Izvestia. . “It was at this moment that, on behalf of the head of the Rospotrebnadzor service, our research institute developed a laboratory technique based on real-time PCR to identify SARS-CoV-2 variants for six mutations.
The sets of reagents for the method, prepared on the basis of the research and production laboratory of the Central Research Institute of Experimental Engineering, were sent to all subjects of the Russian Federation for 150,000 studies. Ease of use and availability have significantly reduced the economic and time costs of laboratory research, and also made the development a convenient tool for screening and routine virological monitoring.
In addition, the technique of young scientists of the Central Research Institute of Experimental Engineering makes it possible to adjust the range of targets depending on the circulating variants and produce an up-to-date set of reagents, thus promptly responding to changes in the epidemiological situation.
turn back time
Head of the Cellular Aging Mechanisms Group at the Institute of Cytology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, laureate of the L’Oreal-UNESCO competition “For Women in Science”, grant recipient of the Russian Science Foundation Alexandra Borodkina is working on one of the most important problems of women’s health. She studies methods to combat the aging of the reproductive system, which will allow treating and diagnosing infertility, as well as increasing the effectiveness of the IVF procedure.
To begin with, my current scientific interest lies at the intersection of two areas — aging biology and reproductive science. In one of the experimental works, we were the first to establish the role of senescent cells in the functioning of the endometrium (the tissue that lines the internal cavity of the uterus) and to discover the mechanism of the negative effect of such cells on embryo implantation. In addition, we have experimentally proven the feasibility of gene therapy approaches (the use of compounds that affect aging cells) to increase the efficiency of in vitro fertilization,” the biologist told Izvestia.
Another experimental article revealed the negative role of reactive oxygen species, which are produced by aging endometrial cells, on the functional state of embryonic cells and directly on implantation. This led to the suggestion of the use of antioxidants to increase the effectiveness of IVF.
In 2023, the researchers also reviewed nearly 100 scientific studies over the past few decades that focus on the biology of the endometrium, the phenomenon of aging, and ways to estimate epigenetic age. Combining this knowledge together, the researchers demonstrated the possibility of using the epigenetic clock to assess age-related changes in endometrial tissue and were able to prove the aging of uterine tissue, which until now was doubtful by many clinicians.
Young employees of the scientific group of Alexandra Borodkina
“And finally, I have the most important personal achievement over the past year – I became a mother for the first time,” Alexandra Borodkina shared with Izvestia.
Now scientists are actively working on the creation of a clinical indicator that would demonstrate the need to prescribe gene therapy treatment to a particular patient.
