The main objective of our group is the improvement of the productivity of photosynthetic microorganisms with applications in biotechnology and aquaculture. We focus our research on several model organisms under different stress conditions, including the study of cyanobacteria, green algae and diatoms. Our scientific activity is related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 13 and 14: “Climate Action” and “Life Below Water”.

The Antiparasite Chemotherapy group develops the research line "New chemical entities for drug discovery" in the field of parasitic diseases, especially those produced by pathogenic protozoa. Since its creation in 2005, the group has developed several series of compounds that are highly active against various parasitic protozoa (T. cruzi, T. brucei spp., T. vaginalis, Leishmania spp., Plasmodium spp.). Several lead compounds also demonstrated in vivo efficacy in mouse models of trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, and malaria.

The group’s research focuses on the design, synthesis, and molecular recognition of drugs involved in the endocannabinoid system. Over the last two decades, the endocannabinoid system, associated with the effects of Cannabis sativa, has emerged as a promising therapeutic target with great physiological relevance. The research group’s contributions are aimed at understanding the molecular basis of both cannabinoid activity and the related therapeutic targets.

Our research is aimed to engineer E. coli bacteria for biomedical applications, including the selection of small recombinant antibodies and the design of bacteria for diagnostic and therapeutic use in vivo. We study protein secretion systems found in pathogenic E. coli strains and engineer them to develop protein nanomachines that can be applied for selection of recombinant antibodies and the delivery of therapeutic proteins by engineered E. coli strains.

The goals of the research group are to characterize the role of the repair (which are required for error-free DNA repair), and genetic recombination functions (which are required to adquire genetic material through horizontal gene transfer); and their contribution to chromosomal segregation. We are studying these function that are essential to promote genetic stability and the relationship among them and the role that they play in the reversion of the resistance and/or persistence to antibiotics in bacteria of the Firmicutes phylum.

Our group is interested in the relationship between virus and cancer

Study of diseases associated with disruption of actin filaments. The assembly and disassembly of filamentous actin structures provides a driving force of dynamic processes such as cell motility and growth cone and tumor invasion, and therefore require special control and precise temporal. The reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton is regulated by actin-binding proteins such as WASP (Wiskott Aldrich syndrome protein) and WIP (WASP interacting protein). WIP stabilizes actin filaments and regulates the location and WASP degradation.

Our group is interested in the molecular basis of replication, transcription, and virus-host interactions of human respiratory coronaviruses (CoVs) using the severe and acute respiratory syndrome virus (SARS-CoV) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome CoV (MERS-CoV) as models. The impact of the infection by these viruses on the host, and the identification of signaling pathways modified by their viruses, are being studied in order to control disease.

We are interested in understanding the function of regulatory elements necessary to identify gene expression domains in mammalian genomes and that help to specify gene expression patterns in space and time.