Our general research interests are centered in the development of functional materials with applications in areas such as biomedicine, catalysis, molecular sensing, coatings and adhesives, environmental remediation and energy. We believe that the discovery of new versatile and functional materials with solid prospect for practical applications will be intimately associated to inexpensive, simple and scalable processes. Thus, we aim to select the most practical chemical approaches for the synthesis of new materials and fine-tuning specific properties.

The Genomics of fruit trees and grapevine research group began its activities in 2002 supporting three main lines of action in plant breeding of woody species: i) selection of fruit varieties and rootstocks adapted to the conditions of the Mediterranean area; ii) development of multidisciplinary techniques for its application in marked-assisted breeding; and iii) conservation of genetic resources in fruit tree species and grapevine. The activities carried out in the last years focuses on the following objectives to strengthen the research line.

The Nanomedicine, Imaging & 3D Models group focuses its activities on the use of nanotechnology and chemistry for biomedical applications.

Glioblastoma (GB) is the most common and lethal type of cancer of the central nervous system, it is characterized by its aggressiveness, rapid cell proliferation and great infiltration capacity. GB cause progressive neurological dysfunction including memory loss, speech and language defects, epileptic seizures and vomits. There is no cure for this type of tumors and the median survival after optimal treatments (surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy) is 14,6 months.

Life is dynamics. Living beings are out of equilibrium systems. Our lab is specially interested in dynamics that show regularities: oscillations when the regularity is in time (clocks); pattern formation when the regularity is in space (rulers). A paramount stage of life in which the understanding of these dynamics is of capital importance is embryonic development: from conception to reaching a mature form, embryos are constantly growing and reshaping, forming new cell types and organs defined by biological clocks and rulers.

Our team investigates how cellular metabolic and bioenergetic fluxes interact with signaling processes to coordinate the growth and normal functioning of cells and tissues. We study these interaction mechanisms at the molecular and cellular level, and how they are deregulated during cancer.

Our research group is interested in uncovering the molecular mechanisms regulating tissue homeostasis during normal development and during pathological conditions, in particular in cancer. Using a combination of novel transcriptome-wide analyses and mouse and human in vitro and in vivo models, we are focused on studying the role of post-transcriptional modifications such as RNA methylation in normal development and during pathological conditions. RNA modifications are beginning to define a novel layer of biological complexity that is becoming widely appreciated as the epitranscriptome.

MS4N group explore the use of diverse types of chemical multivalent platforms (oligomers, dendrimers, polymers, micelles and lipid nanovesicles), in: -the generation of multivalent ligands to study G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) oligomerization; and -the development of drug delivery systems for advanced colorectal and triple negative breast cancer treatment, protein delivery systems for the treatment of lysosomal diseases and macromolecular compounds with intrinsically therapeutic properties with application to central nervous system diseases. The group also explore the use of different ta

The Synthetic Methodology group, created at IQAC-CSIC in 2018, aims to developing state-of-the-art synthetic tools to reinforce and complement IQAC's ability to rapidly address societal challenges. The group is led by Dr. Aexandr Shafir, who after completing his doctorate and post-doctorate stages in the USA (Berkeley, MIT), developed his research career in Spain, first at the UAB (Barcelona), and then as Group Leader at ICIQ (Tarragona), prior to joining CSIC. The group aims to develop new classes of reactions and reagents to enable the formation of C-C and C-heteroatom bonds.

The research group has its roots in the Protein Interactions and Docking group, founded in 2005 by the principal investigator, Juan Fernández Recio, at the Institut de Recerca Biomédica (IRB) of Barcelona, then relocated to the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) in 2007, and consolidated in 2017, when the PI joined the Institute of Molecular Biology of Barcelona (CSIC) as tenured scientist.