Awarded Study on the Impact of Glyphosate in Fish

This study, completed by Diana Milena Ochoa, MS student of Animal Health at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, ranked third on the 5th of May, by the Alltech Young Scientist Award. The study was completed on tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum) and yamú (Brycon), two Colombian native species from the eastern Llanos.

Glyphosate induces a reduction of antioxidant properties, which constitute the body"s ability to reply the attack of oxidative stress, due to imbalance between oxidants and antioxidant defense mechanisms.

For this reason, oxidative stress could induce alterations in various macromolecules, both proteins and lipids. Lipids, for instance, are very important because they are located in cell membranes. "If the membranes are damaged, the cells die, and lead to several chain reactions that could be deadly," points out Ochoa.

She added that this modality of oxidative stress could affect humans. "As with fish, someone exposed to glyphosate could suffer from similar affections. Maybe they would not be lethal, but there could be long term consequences, such as hepatic affections," said the researcher.
These results ranked Diana Ochoa among the award winners. She insists that the award is also due to the work of the Aquatic and Environmental Toxicology Team.