Michelle Natalie Vega Parra, student of the School of Biology of the Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS), had an outstanding participation in the 52nd National Congress of the Colombian Society of Entomology (SOCOLEN), held at the Universidad del Magdalena, in Santa Marta, from June 25 to 27, 2025. In this event she presented significant advances in her graduate work, contributing to the development of molecular bioinformatics applied to entomology.
The student, attached to the Semillero de Computación en Biología, Ingeniería, Física y Matemática Aplicada (CoBIFMAp), of the Cómputo Avanzado y a Gran Escala Research Group, participated in the poster session with her project entitled “Characterization of the secondary structure of the 18S rRNA of the Apinae subfamily for phylogenetic applications”.
This work focuses on the 18S ribosomal RNA gene, a molecule present in all living organisms and essential for protein synthesis. This gene, widely used for the identification of biological species, was analyzed by Vega Parra with the support of his director, Professor Francisco José Martínez Pérez, and his co-director, Yordy Stiven Cangrejo Useda, a student of the Master’s program in Biology.
The research team examined a total of 316 18S rRNA gene sequences from species in the Apinae subfamily – a group that includes bees and bumblebees – collected from the public GenBank database as of April 2025. The sequences were organized and grouped according to characteristics established by international principles. From these data, representative secondary structures were constructed for each group, based on the structure of Apis mellifera 18S rRNA.
The analysis allowed the identification for the first time of universal 18S rRNA structures and key regions that facilitate differentiation between species, which constitutes an important advance in the use of genomic and bioinformatics tools applied to pollinator conservation and the study of biodiversity.
At the end of her participation, Michelle Natalie Vega sent an inspiring message to the UIS academic community: “Although sometimes we think that a degree project is something small, in reality it can contribute a lot to science and society. A degree project is not only a requirement for graduation, but a real opportunity to generate knowledge that can have an impact. At the UIS we have teachers and tutors who know how to guide both academically and humanly, and that makes our projects can go far, even to conferences or publications. This motivates us to continue in scientific research and to believe that our ideas can provide concrete solutions”.
This achievement reflects the commitment of the UIS with the integral formation of its students, strengthening their research capabilities and promoting their active participation in national and international scientific scenarios.
