{"id":35894,"date":"2023-05-20T20:15:51","date_gmt":"2023-05-20T13:15:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uns.ac.id\/en\/?p=35894"},"modified":"2023-05-22T20:23:04","modified_gmt":"2023-05-22T13:23:04","slug":"uns-students-win-5-concurrent-prizes-in-el-bajo-essay-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uns.ac.id\/en\/uns-students-win-5-concurrent-prizes-in-el-bajo-essay-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"UNS Students Win 5 Concurrent Prizes in El Bajo Essay Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

UNS<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Another proud achievement was made by students of Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta. This achievement was presented by Citra Apriliana, Denis Octareta Amelia Putri, and Qosrul Karimah, all three of whom are students of the Chemistry Study Program, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA) UNS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citra and the team made a poster with the title \u201cMaterial Cerdas Penghantar Obat Kanker Tertarget pH Berbasis Carbon Nanotube Terfungsionalisasi Kitosan dari Limbah Kulit Udang\u201d<\/em> (Intelligent Material for Conducting pH-Targeted Cancer Drugs Based on Chitosan Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes from Shrimp Shell Waste). This idea led them to win five prizes at the same time in the El Bajo Essay Competition in the Poster Presentation category organized by the Rizki Prima Sentosa Foundation in collaboration with the Office of Education, Youth and Sports of West Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The winners won by Citra and the team were the third-place Winner Poster (3rd highest final score on all themes), the Best Poster (highest poster score), the Silver Medal (2nd highest score on the health theme), the Favorite Poster (with the most likes), and the General Champion (accumulation of the most wins from the combined teams from UNS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When contacted by the uns.ac.id team on Tuesday (17\/5\/2023), Citra as the Team Leader said that the idea in the poster was motivated because the most commonly used cancer treatment is chemotherapy. However, the chemotherapy that is commonly used still causes several side effects such as hair loss, digestive disorders, and anemia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, it is necessary to have a drug system that selectively treats cancer cells without damaging normal cells to minimize side effects. Curcumin as an anticancer agent is embedded in chitosan-functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNT). Chitosan can expand due to protonation at a more acidic pH which is the pH of cancer cells, while at a normal cell pH chitosan will shrink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This can be used so that curcumin can only be released on cancer cells and not on normal cells. “Simply, it can be analogized as a person who is going to his or her destination more accurately and efficiently, namely by taking a car that has a GPS. Where people are curcumin, cars are CNT, and GPS (directors) are chitosan,” Citra explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n