“Vitamin C is a very common oxidant. Astaxanthin is actually several times stronger in terms of antioxidant capacity than vitamin C. It's I think somewhere maybe around 100 times or even more times capable,” Osman Kanwugu, a Ghanaian biotechnology researcher and PhD candidate at Ural Federal University (URFU) in Russia, says.
Astaxanthin has proved to have numerous health benefits, including antioxidant and anti inflammatory properties.
“In some animal studies … it has also shown to have a positive effect in neuro-degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson’s disease,” Kawungu elaborates.
During his time as a research assistant, Osman got acquainted with human health and diseases, but at URFU he got interested in molecular biology, as “it's also like very close to human health because these bioactive substances can be used to cure some diseases or improve human health.”
“I felt like this was something I want to do, and it looks very interesting to be able to produce substances that can actually improve human health,” Osman explains.
In describing his outlook on life, Osman says his goal is “to contribute to the human health in general … to try to identify some molecules in nature that can help improve the human overall health, in general, that can help contribute to treating some diseases.”
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