Young nano scientist scoops €10,000 DSM award

Alexandra Teleki, PhD, yesterday won the southern section of DSM’s annual science awards for young European scientists, claiming a €10,000 prize above 11 other finalists for her nanotechnology research.

Shane Starling was at the ceremony in Lucern, Switzerland, and spoke with the 28-year-old Zurich-based Hungarian about the award and the potential of nanotechnology to assist healthy food formulation.

Improving the fortification potential and bioavailability of zinc and iron in foods such as rice was one area of research Teleki said she hopes to pursue in future projects that may or may not be at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH in Zurich where she did her current work.

“We are able to make functional particles with specific surfaces and this may be of interest for nutritional applications,” she said. “But we still have to do many years of research before such a product is on the market.”

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