Project summary

Xally Montserrat Valencia-Guerrero at the lifETIME CDT Student event

Xally Montserrat Valencia-Guerrero, a lifETIME CDT PhD student at the University of Glasgow is developing an innovative, animal-free way to study bone diseases.

Our bones are full of holes or spaces known as pores, which bone cells grow inside. The structure and size of these pores varies as we grow and age, but this can be hard to replicate in the lab, making it difficult to grow cells for the study of bone diseases.

To solve this problem, Xally is testing natural fibres taken from fruit and vegetables to use as scaffolds for growing human bone cells. She has found that apples are an ideal material for this, as they are not only cheap and readily available, but they have similar porous structures to those found in human bone, making them a promising scaffold to support the growth of bone cells.

Xally’s system provides an innovative and ethical alternative to current research that is often carried out using animals, helping to accelerate new research into bone diseases and the development of new drugs.

Why is animal-free research important to you? 

First, because it represents a more ethical option to make science. Currently, most of the materials and techniques used in biomedical research involve the use of animals where the avoidance of their suffering is not always guaranteed. Here is where I find the works that Animal Free Research UK support very valuable, because even if we are not on a stage where science can be done completely animal-free, the effort being done towards it will eventually lead us there.  

Additionally, from a scientific point of view, the results obtained from animals are not always representative of what happens in the human body, hence developing human-based systems will be more useful for researchers. Moving towards animal-free scientific research will be beneficial for both animals and humans.  

What impact could your research have on replacing animals in medical research? 

We are looking for providing a bone tissue model that can substitute the animal ones that are currently used. This approach uses human derived cells, aiming for the construction of a human-derived system which we expect to assist researchers to obtain data more applicable to human bodies, than the one that animal experiements provide.  

What have you enjoyed the most as part of the lifETIME CDT programme?  

The interdisciplinary of my project. I’ve had the opportunity to work with specialists in different scientific areas, which has allowed me to gather different perspectives of the same problem to shape them into a solution. It has been riveting to meet these people and to learn from them. Additionally, I enjoy the integral formation that we get, we are not only trained to learn different scientific techniques. We are also trained to develop soft skills that allow us to better develop in our professional career. 

What are you most proud of so far? 

My academic career. I am proud of having completed a master’s degree in Germany and being accepted to start a PhD degree in Glasgow. These have been both an academic and personal achievement since it has allowed me to improve my professional formation but also to grow as a person.  

What are your future career goals? 

I would like to keep working in research. I am interested on translational biomedical research since it involves the application of science to solve a healthcare problem which I see as a contribution to society and helping people to improve their living conditions. 

What do you like doing outside of the lab?

Usually when I’m not in the lab I enjoy cooking and baking at home. In a way I think these activities are very similar to what we do in the lab, it’s following instructions and mixing different ingredients to get a result, but one that you can eat and share with your loved ones. I also enjoy listening to podcast specially those about history and true crime. Travelling is also one of my biggest interests, knowing new places and learning about their culture and history is something that I enjoy.