Present Status of Science in Cuba: Focus on Chemistry

News and Notices from Other Societies and Unions

Present Status of Science in Cuba: Focus on Chemistry

Dr. Alberto J. Nuñez Sellés, President of the Cuban Chemical Society (Ave 21 & 200, Atabey, Apdo. 16042, CP 11600 Havana, Cuba; e-mail: cqf@infomed.sld.cu, Fax: 537 336 471), furnished the following article (edited below for space considerations), based on his Opening Lecture at the Third International Congress in Chemistry, which was held in Havana from 1-4 December 1998.

Origins of Cuban Science

Nineteenth Century Scientific Development in Cuba

Early Twentieth Century Obstacles for Cuban Science

Post-Revolutionary Development of Cuban Science

Present Status of Chemistry in Cuba

Success of the Third International Congress in Chemistry

Future of Chemistry in Cuba

Origins of Cuban Science

In Cuba, chemistry has played a key role since the nineteenth century. The beginning of Cuban science is linked to the appearance of Cuban creoles (criollo) from Spanish parents or people of mixed heritage from Spanish settlers and African slaves (mulato) in the eighteenth century. The present Universidad de La Habana (University of Havana) was founded in 1728, with strong Spanish, French, and Italian influences. The first Cuban scientific society, Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País (Economic Society of Country Friends), established in 1793, aimed to contribute to the social and economic development of the country through the application of scientific knowledge; it is the oldest Cuban scientific society still active today.

Nineteenth Century Scientific Development in Cuba

The nineteenth century was decisive for scientific development in Cuba. Reverend Felix Varela introduced experimental teaching of physics and chemistry in Seminario San Carlos (1812), and his work was continued by Professor José Antonio Saco and José de la Luz Caballero. Tomás Romay developed concepts of immunization and tested his smallpox vaccine on himself and his family with success at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Carlos J. Finlay discovered the Aedes aegypti mosquito as the yellow fever transmitter (1881), thereby introducing this new concept of disease transmission. The first institution for scientific research in Cuba, the Instituto de Investigaciones Químicas (Institute of Chemical Research), was founded on 18 November 1848 by a Spanish professor, José Luis Casaseca, who served as its director until 1858. The Institute's first efforts were devoted to the study of Cuban natural products and soils applied to hygiene, industry, agriculture, and medicine. Professor Alvaro Reynoso, Institute Director from 1859-1868, developed the most comprehensive study at that time about sugar cane cultivation (1862), Ensayo sobre el cultivo de la cana de azœcar (Essay about Sugar Cane Cultivation), from a chemical point of view considering soil composition and nutrients, fertilizer composition, and water intake. His book was translated into many foreign languages, and led to a true scientific revolution in the development of sugar cane crops. Professor Reynoso's work demonstrated how much chemistry was supporting Cuban agriculture and led to the creation of the Cuban Chemical Society in 1865.

The first national Academy of Sciences in America, Real Academia de Ciencias Médicas, Físicas y Naturales de La Habana (Royal Academy of Medical, Physics, and Natural Sciences), was founded in Cuba in 1861; thus, the present Academia de Ciencias de Cuba (Academy of Sciences of Cuba) has a history of 138 years. The development of Cuban science and chemistry in the nineteenth century is closely intertwined with the struggle against Spain, which began in 1868, seven years after creation of the Academy. Several Academy founders served in the Liberation Army, and some died on the battlefield. The highest exponent of Cuban social, literary, political, and scientific knowledge in the nineteenth century was José Martí, who died fighting against Spanish troops in 1895 and is considered Cuba's National Apostle.

Early Twentieth Century Obstacles for Cuban Science

The intervention of the U.S. Army in the war between Cuba and Spain (1898-1902) heralded the beginning of the twentieth century for Cuban society, including science. After 30 years of war, the Cuban population, comprising mostly farmers and people living in the countryside, was reconcentrated in the cities by the Spanish regime (1896-1898) to dilute Liberation Army support, but without proper housing or food. This oppression led to an extended famine within the whole population, more than 300,000 deaths, and the migration of most prominent university graduates to the United States or Europe. Cuban scientific activity also declined severely at the beginning of the twentieth century as part of the whole social breakdown.

Weak official support from the Government for the development of science in Cuba in the first half of the twentieth century, after official proclamation of the Republic (1902), led to a stagnation of scientific activity at the lowest level since the eighteenth century. For example, in 1958, the Academy of Sciences of Cuba was attached to the Ministry of Justice as an association, the National Geographic Society belonged to the Ministry of State, and the National Weather Observatory was part of the Cuban navy; all had minimal budgets, and some were sponsored by individuals or foundations. Educational status, as a basis for scientific development, was polarized and dependent on the economic capacity of the Cuban family. In 1958, almost 40% of the Cuban population were illiterate, and more than half of Cuban children had neither classrooms nor teachers. It was almost impossible to think about development of science under those conditions. Despite these privations, Juan Tomás Roig thoroughly studied Cuban flora, Pedro Kourí pioneered discoveries on the origin and treatment of tropical diseases, and Fernando Ortiz published social research on the origin of Cuban nationality. New state Universities were founded, such as the Universidad de Oriente (1947) and the Universidad Central de Las Villas (1957), with low budgets devoted almost entirely to education and virtually nothing for research. On the other hand, private Universities, such as the Universidad Católica de Santo Tomás de Villanueva (1946), were organized with resources and style comparable to U.S. universities, but only accessible to the wealthiest Cuban families. The construction of a new building for the School of Chemistry (today, the Faculty of Chemistry) at the University of Havana was completed in the 1950s, and it was followed by the creation of the Center of Chemical Research at the Universidad de Oriente within the Faculty of Natural Sciences. These two facilities, together with laboratories and a small pilot plant for sugar cane production at the Universidad Católica de Santo Tomás de Villanueva, became centers for the development of Cuban chemical R&D and education before 1959 with several hundred chemists. The polarization between a poor official university and a rich private one was also present in primary and high schools until 1961, when schools and universities were nationalized, and substantial support was given to the whole educational system, including R&D at the universities. The first half of the twentieth century can be called "the dark time" for the development of Cuban chemistry as well as science.

News and Notices from Other Societies and Unions

Present Status of Science in Cuba: Focus on Chemistry

Origins of Cuban Science

Nineteenth Century Scientific Development in Cuba

Early Twentieth Century Obstacles for Cuban Science

Post-Revolutionary Development of Cuban Science

Present Status of Chemistry in Cuba

Success of the Third International Congress in Chemistry

Future of Chemistry in Cuba

Post-Revolutionary Development of Cuban Science

After the Cuban revolution in 1959, the new Government assigned science a high priority within the national development program. As early as January 15, 1960, at the celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the Cuban Speleological Society, Fidel Castro declared, "El futuro de Cuba tiene que ser un futuro de hombres de Ciencia." (The future of Cuba has to be a future of men of science.) Since 1991, January 15 is commemorated as the National Day of Science, and the highest award for the most distinguished Cuban scientists, the Medal "Carlos J. Finlay", is given by the Council of State. Those laureate scientists have included several chemists.

Present Status of Chemistry in Cuba

The beginning of the present status of chemistry in Cuba must be placed in 1961, when a major campaign against illiteracy was undertaken and more than 1 million Cubans learned to read and write in one year. Today, chemistry lessons start in the 8th degree (high schools); 28 university faculties graduate B.Sc. chemists (Licenciados en Química), chemical engineers, or chemistry teachers for high schools and colleges; and 3 Polytechnic Institutes in Chemistry graduate chemical technicians to work in factories and laboratories. In the last 35 years, more than 160,000 students have been graduated from these educational facilities as chemists.

The first research institutions created in 1963, after 1959's revolution, were based on the development of chemistry for the exploitation of Cuban natural resources. These include the Instituto Cubano de Investigaciones de Derivados de la Caña de Azœcar (Cuban Research Institute of Sugar Cane Derivatives), founded to develop high value-added products from sugar cane by-products, and the Laboratorios de Investigación de Minerales "Isaac del Corral" (Research Laboratories of Minerals), with the purpose of exploring and chemically analyzing Cuban ores. Sugar cane crops and nickel ores were and are the most abundant natural resources in Cuba and were taken as the main basis for R&D efforts for a sustainable national development. Also in 1962, the Academy of Sciences of Cuba adopted a new organization and became a national body to support native scientific development.

In the 1960s and 1970s, emphasis was placed on the creation of new research and development facilities, where chemistry deserved a large investment. The modern era of chemical development in Cuba started with the inauguration of the National Scientific Research Center (1965) and the acquisition of the first mass and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers. Most of the chemists and biotechnologists working in Cuba at present took their initial steps in chemical research at that institution, where the monthly Revista de Ciencias Químicas (Journal of Chemical Sciences) is edited today. The other present-day Cuban chemical journal is the Revista Cubana de Química (Cuban Journal of Chemistry), edited at the University of Oriente and sponsored by the Cuban Chemical Society.

The biotechnological revolution came upon the world scene in the 1980s, and it provided an opportunity for the Cuban scientific community to be present at the forefront of science. Chemists have been involved in the production of alpha interferon from leukocytes since 1981, and a contagious working fever started with the acquisition and structural elucidation of recombinant proteins (via new mass and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers from Japan), development of diagnostic and therapeutic monoclonal antibodies, production of restriction enzymes, etc. Several new research centers with well-equipped chemical laboratories were built, including the Center of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (1986), Center of Immunoassay (1987), Institute Finlay (research, development, and production of vaccines, 1989), Center of Pharmaceutical Chemistry (1989), and Center of Molecular Immunology (1994). The support given to biotechnology led to the improvement of R&D in chemistry and a larger presence of chemists in national programs of decisive importance for the social and economic development of the country. Chemical R&D is present in 12 of the 14 National Programs in Science and Technology managed by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Environment, as independent or related projects in basic and applied research. At present, there are more than 220 scientific institutions in Cuba, without considering university faculties, and 40 of them (18%) are devoted, entirely or partially, to R&D in different fields of chemistry, including medicine, agriculture, oil, mining, textiles, heavy and light industries, sugar, food, cosmetics, etc. Today, Cuba spends 1.2% of its GDP on the development of science and has 1.7 scientists and engineers per 1000 inhabitants, figures that are very close to those of Canada and several times above those of most nondeveloped countries.

Success of the Third International Congress in Chemistry

The Cuban Chemical Society, CCS (an IUPAC Observer), was reorganized in 1978 after several decades of inactivity. CCS is one of the most active scientific societies in Cuba today, with more than 1000 affiliates, a number that significantly increased after the Third International Congress in Chemistry (1-4 December 1998), organized by CCS and sponsored by IUPAC, the Latin American Network in Chemical Science (RELAQ), and several foreign companies and Cuban scientific and industrial institutions. The Congress hosted around 700 participants from 19 countries, and 645 papers were presented as lectures, oral communications, or posters. The Congress demonstrated how chemistry is present today in all strategic plans for national development and showcased the high creativity of Cuban chemists in solving complex problems. Sessions devoted to chemistry education and the history of chemistry also attracted a large audience.

The aim of the Congress was to present and discuss, in a broad cultural and social atmosphere, recent scientific, industrial, and educational advances in all fields of chemistry. The significance and contribution of the Congress to international chemistry was underscored by the opportunities it provided for participants to have discourse with chemists from all parts of the world, taking into account the "transfer of knowledge" from developed to nondeveloped countries, mainly those from Latin America.

Plenary lectures included talks by Dr. Herbert Hauptman (Buffalo, NY, USA), Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (1985), who presented his work on direct methods for determining crystal structures from X-ray diffraction data; Professor Rene Roy (Ottawa, Canada), who discussed his work on the design and synthesis of multivalent neoglycoconjugates for the study of nanoscale carbohydrate-lectin interactions; Professor Lester Mitscher (Lawrence, KS, USA), who discussed his experience with the use of combinatorial chemistry to develop new therapeutic agents; Professor Adamo Fini (Bologna, Italy), who discussed fundamentals and applications of microwave energy in several fields of chemistry, mainly organic synthesis; Dr. Julio San Roman (Madrid, Spain), who talked about his contributions to the development of natural and synthetic polymers for therapeutics; Professor Ernest Eliel (Chapel Hill, NC, USA), also IUPAC Representative at the Congress, who provided insights about chemistry teaching in high schools and colleges in the USA; Professor Jose Fernández (Havana, Cuba), who focused on his recent experience in mechanochemistry; and Dr. Rolando Pellón (Havana, Cuba), who presented his work about innovations on the Ullman-Goldberg reaction using water as a solvent. These last two lecturers were awarded the National Award in Chemistry, given for the first time in Cuba by the Cuban Chemical Society. The Opening Lecture about the present situation of science and chemistry in Cuba was delivered by the author, and has been summarized above in this article. CCS is working now to have worldwide participation in its International Congresses (programmed every three years). The Fourth International Congress in Chemistry is scheduled for 17-21 April 2001, at the Conventions Palace, Havana.

Future of Chemistry in Cuba

Cuban chemists are focused now on a more competitive chemistry and R&D to obtain products of social and economic importance for national development, such as new vaccines against AIDS, cancer, cholera, and dengue hemorrhagic fever; new therapeutic monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancer and immune diseases; development of low-energy consumption technologies; studies of Cuban biodiversity for the exploitation of natural resources in terms of candidates to become new drugs; development of new materials for both medical and building applications; diversification of nickel production for high value-added products, and continuous evaluation of environmental impact for new investments, especially in the tourism area, as the main priorities.

Chemistry, biochemistry, and chemical engineering are among those disciplines, according to the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Environment, in which Cuba has to maintain or reach a level of excellence in R&D in order to apply scientific results to industrial technologies. This work is severely hampered by the restrictions of the U.S. trade and financial blockade, which imposes upon Cuban chemists austere limitations in terms of chemicals, equipment, and spare parts supplies, which have to be bought from Europe or Asia, whenever possible, at even fivefold times the current prices in the United States. Cuban chemists are meeting such challenges as the dawn of the Third Millennium approaches.