"What drew me to science was curiosity, pure and simple. I've been curious about it since I was a child, my father, remember him, was a doctor, but he also had scientific work, and that's why this way of thinking has been in front of my eyes since I was little. Physics was also interesting to me, but I chose chemistry, I also had very good teachers in this subject and they attracted me to it. I had the incredible chance right from the student bench to end up in the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, in the Institute of Organic Chemistry, in the laboratory of Prof. Marekov and Prof. Simeon Popov, who were dealing with natural substances, and just then a beekeeper had come to tell what a wonderful thing propolis is. That's how they assigned me the research.
Propolis is collected by bees to protect hives from infection, besides bees use it to seal their hives, they also create a sterile atmosphere in it. Propolis is collected by bees from resins that plants secrete on delicate tissues, for example buds or young leaves, as well as on injured places, i.e. and for plants, these resins have a protective effect. That's why propolis also has antibacterial properties."
Propolis itself contains many substances, each of which has specific properties – antiviral or antibacterial, explains in the program "Afternoon for the curious" Acad. Vasya Bankova from BAS. "Because of these properties, – she adds, – this substance helps not to develop resistance to bacteria. In the 1940s and 1950s, attempts were made to fight staphylococcal infections with propolis and there was no resistance. What is valuable about its use is that when combined with certain antibiotics, it results in a lower dose."
Detailed Acad. Bankova talks on the air about many years of experiments that are being done on the impact of propolis on the building of immunity and tissue recovery, and the impact on vaccines has also been repeatedly experimented with. A group of scientists from all over the world are currently in China preparing an ISO (International Organization for Standardization – www.iso.org) standard for poplar propolis, which is also the result of the work of Bulgarian scientists. It will then be applied to specific treatments of viral diseases.
Scientific achievements have realized applications with a significant social effect – creation of a new concept for standardization and quality control of propolis, accepted and recommended for worldwide application by the International Honey Commission, and development of a method and creation of a water-soluble form of propolis, protected by the Patent Office of the Republic of Bulgaria as a "useful model".
The Grand Prize for Science of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences was awarded for the first time on October 12 at the ceremony celebrating the 155th anniversary of the BAS. The meeting of academicians and correspondent members of the BAS honored Acad. Vasya Bankova with the 2024 BAS Science Grand Prize
Acad. Vasya Bankova is a Bulgarian scientist with impressive research activity and original scientific contributions on bee glue and is the head of a world-renowned Bulgarian scientific school. Acad. Vasya Bankova received the award for her original and world-recognized scientific contributions to the chemistry of biologically active natural substances (creating a new concept and new approaches to propolis as a natural product with variable chemical composition depending on the plant source; proving the impact of propolis as a complex and complex natural product, and not so much of one or another of its constituents; building a Propolis-type dereplication strategy based on gas chromatography – mass spectral analysis, in search of new bioactive substances).
Ani Kostova's entire conversation with Acad. Vasya Bankova from the show "Afternoon for the curious" you can hear in the sound file.