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El Origen De Syntex, Una Enseñanza Hist¶Orica En La Ciencia Mexicana

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El Origen De Syntex, Una Enseñanza Hist¶Orica En La Ciencia Mexicana El origen de Syntex, una ensen~anza hist¶orica en la ciencia mexicana M. e n C. Fe lip e L e ¶o n Oliva r e s . E s c u e la N a c io n a l P r e p a r a t o r ia P la n t e l \ Ga b in o B a r r e d a " . A v. D e la s To r r e s . S / N . y P r o lo n g a c i¶o n A ld a m a programa de becas. As¶³ fue, que el qu¶³mico Rus- I. Re s u me n . La pre se nte inv e stig a c i¶o n tra ta de la e mpre sa fa r- sell E. Marker de la Universidad Estatal de Pennsyl- ma c ¶e utic a Sy nte x funda da e n M ¶e x ic o , q ue re a - vania, inici¶o sus estudios sobre las hormonas esteroi- liz ¶o una v e rda de ra re v o luc i¶o n mundia l e n e l c a m- des (Lehmann et al., 1973:196). po de la s¶³nte sis o rg ¶a nic a de la s ho rmo na s e ste ro i- Marker plante¶o que el punto clave en la industria de s, a l se r la prime ra e n lo g ra r la s¶³nte sis de pro - g e ste ro na , c o rtiso na y la ba se de l prime r a ntic o n- de las hormonas esteroides estaba en la materia pri- c e ptiv o , utiliz a ndo pa ra e llo la dio sg e nina o bte ni- ma, con esta hip¶otesis, prest¶o atenci¶on a las plan- da de la \ c a be z a de ne g ro " , (Dios corea mex icana) y , lue - tas como fuente barata y abundante de hormonas. g o , de l \ ba rba sc o " (Dios corea compos ita); una e spe - As¶³, Marker inici¶o sus investigaciones en una sapoge- c ie e nd¶e mic a de M ¶e x ic o ; de bido a la s inv e stig a c io - nina aislada de la zarzaparrilla (Smilax aristolochiae- ne s bo t¶a nic a s y e n q u¶³mic a o rg ¶a nic a de Russe ll E. M a r- folia, Mill), conocida como zarzasapogenina. Poste- k e r. riormente, Marker transform¶o ¶esta u¶ltima en preg- D e spu¶e s de un a n¶a lisis hist¶o ric o de la e mpre sa , e n e l c o n- nanediol. De la misma manera, emple¶o dicho pro- te x to na c io na l e inte rna c io na l, se inte nta da r una e x - cedimiento para obtener la diosgenina a partir de plic a c i¶o n de lo s dife re nte s fa c to re s q ue in°uy e ro n pa ra un extracto de Dioscorea tokoro. Ahora bien, la eta- q ue dic ha e mpre sa ¯g ura ra c o mo un v e rda de ro mo no po - pa de transformaci¶on a progesterona, que constituy¶o lio me x ic a no . Po ste rio me nte , c ua le s fue ro n la s c a usa s pa - toda una revoluci¶on en la s¶³ntesis org¶anica de hor- ra la p¶e rdida de una e mpre sa ta n impo rta nte e n e l de - monas esteroides, fue la \Degradaci¶on de Marker" sa rro llo industria l inde pe ndie nte de M ¶e x ic o y sus re pe r- (Marker y Rohrmann, 1940a: 518, Marker et al., c usio ne s, pa ra una po l¶³tic a a de c ua da de c ie nc ia y te c no - 1940b: 2525), que mejor¶o el rendimiento del proce- lo g ¶³a . so a un costo de 18 d¶olares el gramo. F ina lme nte , se ha c e una re °e x i¶o n de lo s fa c to re s m¶a s re - III. El origen de Syntex. le v a nte s e n e l c o nte x to de C ie nc ia , T e c no lo g ¶³a y So c ie - Con el inter¶es comercial, Marker lleg¶o a M¶exico en da d, q ue v ie ne a se r una v e rda de ra e nse n~ a nz a hist¶o ric a 1941, para obtener una especie de Dioscorea que q ue no se de be pe rde r e n la s nue v a s g e ne ra c io ne s de e s- tudia nte s e inv e stig a do re s e n nue stro pa ¶³s. Sin impo r- crec¶³a en Veracruz, en donde encontr¶o el material ve- ta r la bre c ha te c no l¶o g ic a y e l re z a g o hist¶o ric o , e x iste una getal conocido como \cabeza de negro" (Dioscorea tra dic i¶o n de la c ie nc ia me x ic a na pa ra la s pr¶o x ima s g e ne - mexicana). Posteriormente, en las siguientes expe- ra c io ne s. diciones colect¶o otra dioscorea conocida como \bar- II. Russell E. Marker y la revoluci¶on en la basco" (Dioscorea composita, Hemsl), de mayor im- s¶³ntesis de las hormonas esteroides. portancia comercial por su contenido en diosgenina En la d¶ecada de los treinta del siglo XX, el costo de la (Marker et al., 1947: 2167). Proces¶o la muestra \ca- progesterona era de 80 d¶olares el gramo, el hecho de beza de negro" en los laboratorios Parke-Davis, su- no disponer de hormonas en cantidad y calidad su¯- giri¶endole a la empresa que se patentara y explota- ciente, <generaba un problema! ya que la producci¶on se comercialmente esta nueva t¶ecnica de producci¶on era limitada y los precios muy elevados, en gran me- en M¶exico, como se muestra en la ¯gura 1. Sin em- dida por los procesos complejos con rendimientos ba- bargo, el presidente de la compan~¶³a se mostr¶o re- jos que usaban las compan~¶³as europeas. A pesar de nuente por el inicio de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. esta situaci¶on, manten¶³an el control tecnol¶ogico do- Para ¯nes de 1942, Marker decidi¶o explotar el pro- minando el mercado internacional de estos produc- ceso personalmente. Finalmente, en 1943, puso ¯n a tos. Por su parte, las sucursales europeas en Esta- todos sus proyectos con la Universidad de Pennsyl- dos Unidos tuvieron un especial ¶exito comercial mo- vania (Lehmann et al., 1973: 198). tivando a ¶estas a una mayor actividad de investiga- ci¶on. Por ejemplo, la Upjohn y la Parke-Davis, fo- mentaron una extensa investigaci¶on a trav¶es de un 5 6 ContactoS 38, 5{9 (2000) F ig ura 1 . M a rk e r E. Russe ll, pio ne ro de la industria de lo s e ste ro ide s, (Le hma nn, 1 9 7 0 : 1 9 7 ) Para 1943, se present¶o en una compan~¶³a mexica- gunos investigadores mexicanos como Jesu¶s Romo y na llamada Laboratorios Hormona, S.A., que tra- Octavio Mancera, entre otros, que posteriormente se bajaba extractos glandulares de hormonas de fuen- incorporaron al grupo de investigadores, como: En- tes animales. Los directivos de dicha empresa, Som- rique Batres, Juan Berlin, Jos¶e Iriarte, Carlos Ca- lo y Lehmann, de inmediato reconocieron la im- sas Campillo y Luis Miramontes, como se muestra portancia del descubrimiento de Marker y lo con- en la ¯gura 2. Syntex tambi¶en mantuvo una estre- vencieron de que se les uniera para establecer una cha colaboraci¶on con el Instituto de Qu¶³mica de la compan~¶³a que industrializara la hormona. La nue- UNAM reci¶en formado (Syntex,1967:34). va compan~¶³a se llam¶o Syntex, S.A., fundada en la ciudad de M¶exico el 21 de enero de 1944, acordan- En 1945, se restableci¶o la producci¶on y las exporta- do que Somlo y Lehmann contribuir¶³an con el capi- ciones de Syntex, alcanzando el primer lugar en pro- tal inicial, las instalaciones y la organizaci¶on de ven- ductos farmac¶euticos del ramo, por tanto, el gobier- ta y que la contribuci¶on de Marker ser¶³a la tecno- no mexicano empez¶o a establecer medidas de con- log¶³a (ACS y SQM,1999:2). trol para la exportaci¶on de cualquier materia pri- ma vegetal con sapogeninas esteroides. Por su par- Durante este an~o, Marker, produjo algunos kilogra- te, Rosenkranz desarroll¶o un proceso qu¶³mico seme- mos de progesterona, su¯cientes para empezar a in- jante al de Marker para producir otras hormonas co- °uir en el mercado mundial. Un an~o m¶as tarde, mo la testosterona y la desoxicorticosterona. As¶³ Marker abandon¶o la empresa, despu¶es de un desa- fue que varios descubrimientos produjeron el pun- cuerdo sobre pagos, dejando tras ¶el una sustancia to decisivo para que la industria de las hormonas que har¶³a famoso el nombre de Syntex.
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