Margarita Salas

Hello, my name is Margarita Salas, and I was a scientist from Spain. I was born on November 30th, 1938, in a small town called Canero. Ever since I was a little girl, my mind was buzzing with questions. I was always looking at the world around me and wondering how everything worked. I wanted to understand the tiny, invisible things that make life possible. This curiosity was like a little spark inside of me, and it guided me on a wonderful journey of discovery that I want to share with you.

When it was time for college in the 1950s, I decided to study chemistry. This was not a common choice for women back then, but I was determined to follow my passion. A very important day for me was in 1956, when I had the chance to meet a famous scientist named Severo Ochoa. He was so brilliant that he had won a Nobel Prize for his work. Listening to him speak about science was incredible. His passion for discovery was contagious, meaning his excitement spread to me and made me even more excited. It was in that moment that I knew I wanted to dedicate my life to biochemistry, which is the study of the tiny building blocks that make up all living things.

My scientific journey took me on a great adventure. In 1964, my husband, Eladio Viñuela, who was also a scientist, and I moved all the way from Spain to New York City. We went there for an amazing opportunity: to work in the laboratory of the very same scientist who had inspired me, Severo Ochoa. It was thrilling to be in a world-class lab, surrounded by so much knowledge. However, it was also a challenge. At that time, there were very few women working as scientists in big labs like this one. Seeing this didn't discourage me; instead, it made me even more determined to work hard and prove that women could be brilliant researchers.

After our time in America, we returned to Spain in 1967, and this is when I began my most important work. I became fascinated by a very, very tiny virus called phi29. I wanted to understand how this little virus could make copies of its DNA. You can think of DNA as the recipe book for all living things; it holds all the instructions. After many years of careful experiments, my team and I found something amazing inside the virus. It was a special tool called phi29 DNA polymerase. This tool worked like a super-fast copy machine for DNA. It was so powerful that it could make millions of copies from just one tiny piece. This was a huge breakthrough. We filed a patent for our discovery in 1989, and this little 'copy machine' changed science forever.

My discovery was exciting, but just as important to me was sharing my passion with others. I loved my work as a professor and mentor in my lab in Madrid. It brought me so much joy to teach new generations of scientists and watch their own curiosity grow. I always made sure to encourage them, especially young girls, to follow their dreams in science, no matter the challenges. A very proud moment came for me in 2007, when I became the first Spanish woman to be invited into the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. This is a very special club for top scientists from around the world, and it was a great honor.

I lived a very full and exciting life of discovery. I was 80 years old when I passed away on November 7th, 2019. I am remembered as a pioneer who never gave up, even when things were difficult. The DNA 'copy machine' my team and I discovered is still used today by scientists all over the world. It helps them study diseases, solve crimes by looking at tiny clues, and even understand history by examining ancient DNA. I hope my story shows you that with curiosity and hard work, you too can uncover the amazing secrets of our world.