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Discover how a student from Imperatriz developed an innovative and low-cost synthetic skin that became an international highlight.
In May 2025, in the city of Ohio, United States, a pioneering scientific research developed in Maranhão captured the spotlight of the international medical community. The student Sofia Mota Nunes, only 15 years old and in her first year of high school in Imperatriz, conceived a low-cost synthetic skin to alleviate the sequelae of severe burns.
The creation recently achieved enormous digital repercussion for reducing the risks of biological rejection and lowering the recovery costs for patients who are victims of thermal trauma.
The use of buriti in the creation of the innovative synthetic skin
The strategy to obtain a financially viable input involved a deep analysis of traditional skin grafts and tissue substitutes already marketed by pharmaceutical megacorporations. Thus, the Maranhão native understood which properties were essential to structure a competitive biomaterial that is much cheaper than those existing in the market.
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The great methodological breakthrough occurred when Sofia sought inspiration from the phytotherapeutic customs of the Tocantina region. Knowing that the residents of Imperatriz usually apply the oil extracted from the buriti fruit to heal wounds caused by fire, she decided to test the input in a laboratory environment.
The young woman explained that her passion for medicine dictated the fusion between science and the habits of her homeland.
“Besides, I have always been very interested in the health area and in research involving the laboratory and the development of new products. Here in Imperatriz, the population already uses buriti oil to treat burns, so I found it interesting to bring this aspect to the research,” Sofia declared to the Imirante portal.
Global recognition and the journey towards the United States
To showcase her discovery abroad, the young scientist joined a select delegation of 13 Brazilian students.
This group reached the grand final of the Mostra Internacional de Ciência e Tecnologia Liberato (Mostratec-Liberato), held in the city of Novo Hamburgo, in Rio Grande do Sul. Thus, the students secured the passport to present their ideas on American soil.
The research was shared at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (Isef), considered one of the main showcases of engineering and sciences for the pre-university public worldwide.
Annually, the event attracts brilliant minds from approximately 60 countries. In the 2025 edition, competitors vied for significant prizes totaling around US$ 9 million, including financial aid for studies, field internships, and academic trips.
Human motivations and failures in the graft market
The desire to change the reality of accident victims arose early in the student’s journey.
By evaluating the clinical treatments currently available in hospital networks, she identified various distribution failures, biological vulnerabilities, and abusive prices that prevent the less privileged classes from accessing dignified rehabilitation.
She reported that these problems identified in conventional medicine spurred the birth of the study. “I realized that the treatments currently used have many limitations and risks, so much so that it was by observing this that the project proposal emerged,” the researcher pointed out.
Besides the purely financial aspect, the emotional suffering of thermal accident victims deeply touched the student’s sensitivity. Sofia had already witnessed firsthand the scars left by severe burn episodes throughout her life.
According to the scientist, the humanitarian focus has always been at the core of her academic experiments.
“The idea itself arose both because I was already aware and had witnessed some extreme cases of patients with burns, and I saw that these injuries greatly affected both their physical and psychological aspects, and I had in my mind that this synthetic skin could help these people recover,” she recalled.
Sofia concluded by warning about the urgent need for the true expansion of academic opportunities.
“When visiting science fairs in my city, in Maranhão, I noticed that this is still not a topic treated with due seriousness. Often, students conduct research just to get a grade or fulfill a school activity, without understanding the true impact that science can have,” she argued.
Finally, she added: “I believe that one of the main problems is precisely the lack of encouragement for research and the little awareness about the opportunities and futures it can provide.”
Burn Statistics and Challenges in Scientific Education
The social relevance of the research gains even more strength when confronted with the national epidemiological panorama.
Preliminary reports and data provided by the Ministry of Health detail the severe impact of these injuries on Brazil’s public health ecosystem:
- National level deaths: The country recorded 509 deaths caused by burns between January and November 2025.
- Most affected region: The Southeast had the highest volume of fatalities, totaling 230 deaths, of which 115 occurred in the state of São Paulo.
- Critical age group: Citizens aged between 40 and 49 years represented the highest mortality rate, accumulating 77 deaths.
- Total assistance volume: There were 6.7 thousand outpatient procedures cataloged and almost 20 thousand hospital admissions recorded across the country (remembering that the indicator measures occurrences and not unique individuals).
To achieve success in this complex scenario, Sofia relied on the unconditional support of her relatives and her educational institution. She was introduced to the scientific world mandatorily during elementary school and decided to continue voluntarily in high school.
The young woman emphasized that the pedagogical foundation was indispensable for her growth. “My school and family always encouraged me a lot, in elementary school it’s mandatory to do research to develop this academic part, but I liked it so much that I ended up continuing in high school and delved deeply into scientific research,” she commented.
On the other hand, the student regrets that laboratory research still does not receive the necessary attention in Maranhão. She noted that most young people develop scientific projects only due to school obligations to obtain grades, without understanding the social transformation power that technology possesses.
With information from Imirante
