MINSK, 10 January (BelTA) – Belarus has plans to develop new drugs to treat cancer and communicable diseases, BelTA learned from researcher at the molecular diagnostics and biotechnology laboratory of the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry at the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB) Andrei Gilep.
“Our goal is to provide scientific support for developing new-generation drugs to treat cancer and infectious diseases. We need to find new targets for these drugs. The number of targets is very big, and we are studying the most important of them step by step. This requires comprehensive research of molecular identification and structural and functional analysis of enzymes,” Andrei Gilep said. A grant of the Belarusian president was provided to support this project in 2019.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko awarded grants to 103 scientists, workers of education, healthcare and culture. The funds will be used to finance research in physics, mathematics, engineering, medicine, biology, chemistry, agricultural science and economics. One of them will be used to cut down waste produced by Belaruskali and to reduce the area where the waste is kept. “It is a grave environmental problem, which has been getting increasingly relevant in recent years. There are two types of waste: solid and liquid waste. Liquid waste is represented by a highly concentrated salt solution. It is kept in special storages. Out task was to come up with a technology of comprehensive waste treatment. We have done a lot of work and we have come up with a resource-saving technology to tackle this issue. This technology will be tested,” head of the laboratory for polymer-containing dispersion of the Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry at the NASB Elena Vorobyova said.
A grant will be awarded to the project aimed to upgrade mechanical engineering products and electronic devices. “We are simulating certain complex processes of self-organization. The project is aimed at studying theoretical basis for chaotic wave processes in planetary systems, aerohydrodynamic devices and electronic systems. However, this project also has practical applications; for example, it can be used to improve grain and fodder harvesters, and to increase the efficiency factor of turbines. In particular, we are collaborating with Gomselmash in this regard,” head of the laboratory of self-organization systems of the United Institute of Informatics Problems at the NASB Alexander Krot said.
Apart from that, a grant will be provided to deputy director for research at the Stepanov Institute of Physics Maxim Bogdanovich. His project is designed to create powerful solid-state impulse lasers with transverse diode pumping and an unstable resonator rod with a space filter. These lasers will boast great emission properties and will be used in technological systems and special-purpose systems.
Grants will also support projects related to laser optics systems, drones, optoelectronic devices and microelectronics. The NASB noted that the presidential grants are designed to support and encourage talented researchers to carry out important research projects the country needs.
