10 MEXICAN

INVENTIONS
Luis Bernardo Lopez Barbs
1600834
Oral Contraceptives
■ If you’ve ever taken or benefited
from the use of oral
contraceptives, you’ve got
Mexican Luis Miramontes to
thank, at least in part. In 1951, he
was a 26-year-old chemistry
graduate, and synthesised one of
the key elements, the progestin
norethindrone, which would later
become the active ingredient in
the first three oral contraceptive
pills. This remarkable discovery
led to Miramontes being known
as the ‘father of the pill’.
Anti-Graffiti Paint
■ As recently as the early 2000s,
researchers and developers at
UNAM’s Applied Physics and
Advanced Technology Centre
in Querétaro came up with an
anti-graffiti paint, Deletum
3000. This biodegradable
product, which sounds
remarkably like a spell
from Harry Potter, prevents
anything wet or oily from
adhering to it, and so leaves
spray paint unable to grip the
wall.
Indelible Ink
■ Just ten years before Mexican
researchers were working to combat
graffiti, another group were inventing
indelible ink. Oh, the irony. A key
element in the prevention of electoral
fraud, this ink is soaked into the skin
and remains there for 24 hours,
ensuring that another vote cannot be
cast by the same person. Having
been introduced to the
Mexican election process in 1994,
Filiberto Vázquez Dávila’s indelible
ink has since been used in other
countries, including Honduras and
the Dominican Republic.
 Earthquake Resistant Foundations
■ They say that necessity is the
mother of all invention, and this
has never been truer than in the
case of Mexican engineer Manuel
González Flores’ remarkable
piece of technology: control
pilings, a.k.a. earthquake resistant
foundations. Invented in the late
40s and early 50s, these
foundations adapt to the
movement of the building, rather
than remaining rigid, which makes
them exceptionally useful in cities
with a high earthquake risk and
unstable foundations. Cities
exactly like the Mexican capital, in
fact.
Colour Television

■ Yes, colour television was invented

by a Mexican: Guillermo González
Camarena. He was only 22 when
he introduced his self-built colour
TV to the country in 1940, and he
was to later come up with a
‘trichomatic, field-sequential system’
and ‘improved chromoscopic
adapter’ which helped enable the
colour transmissions. In 1942 he
obtained the patent, and in 1946, he
finally screened colour images
direct from his Mexico City lab.
Flamin’ Hot Cheetos ■ Believed by many to be
the best snack of all time,
Flamin’ Hot Cheetos were
invented by a Mexican
immigrant called Richard
Montañez, who is now one
of PepsiCo’s executive vice
presidents. At the time, he
was working as a janitor in
the Frito-Lay factory, when
the elote-inspired idea for a
chili-dusted Cheeto occurred
to him. He pitched the idea
to his superiors, they
approved it, and it’s now
their biggest-selling product.
Tridilosa
■ In 1962, engineer and famed leftist
politician Heberto Castillo created a
three-dimensional steel and cement
structure that can hold up extremely
heavy roofing. The low-cost
construction system also performs
well as thermal and acoustic
insulation. Chapultepec Tower
and the WTC –previously Gran Hotel
de México– were built with this
system.
Tortilla machines

■ At first it was a head with laminated

rollers and a conveyor chain that
worked to transfer the product to a
comal griddle. Everardo
Rodríguez Arce and Luis Romero
created it in 1904 and produced
16,000 tortillas a day. In 1947,
Fausto Celorio developed a model
that did the entire process
automatically, allowing for
production industrialization.
Catalytic nanomedicine

■ Tessy López Goerne, physical chemist at

the Metropolitana University, applied
nanotechnology to brain cancer
treatment, with amazing results. Using
medication-filled microscopic particles of
titanium and zirconium, she designed
therapies to attack brain tumors without
the need for surgery or chemotherapy.
Dr. López Goerne’s research has
created an entire school of medical,
technological and chemical research:
catalytic nanomedicine.
Breakwater

■ Mexican engineer Mauricio Porras

invented a fast and economical
system of jetties, piers and
breakwaters, based on filling 6.5- by
19.5- foot sacks in the sea with sand
and cement.