Daniela Seelenfreund is a graduate in Biochemistry from the Universidad de Chile. She obtained her PhD in 1989 at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile under the supervision of Dr. Rafael Vicuña, studying the contribution of Streptomyces on lignin biodegradation. Since 1989 she is employed at the Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad de Chile. From 1990 to 1997 she worked with Luz María Pérez’ group on the response of Citrus limon against fungal pathogens. She also continued collaborating with Rafael Vicuña’s group working on lignin biodegradation from 1997 until 2002. From 2004 to 2010 she worked with Pilar Durruty (San Juan de Dios Hospital) on the genetics of diabetes complications, particularly on polymorphisms associated to diabetic nephropathy. Currently, she is involved in a new research line that uses genetic tools to understand past human history. In particular, the settlement of the Pacific by tracking the Austronesian expansion using paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) as a proxy of human movement. This plant, native to Asia, was and is still used as a valuable source of textiles. To identify the geographic origins of paper mulberry and reconstruct its human-mediated spread through Island Southeast Asia and into the Pacific, the genetic diversity of contemporary paper mulberry, herbarium specimens and historic textiles have been analysed using diverse genetic markers. These analyses have uncovered dispersal patterns of paper mulberry in the Pacific that are in agreement with archaeological evidence of human migration and interactions. She currently coordinates the Master’s program in Biochemistry and holds the position of Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad de Chile.
