Ikerbasque researcher: Francisco Blanco
I am interested in studies on proteins that participate in organising and maintaining genetic material in cells
Your research focuses on structural biology. Can you explain exactly what that means?
Structural Biology is the study of how the atoms in a biomolecule order themselves in space by adopting a three dimensional structure, and how this structure determines their biological function. Biomolecules can be proteins, nucleic acids, lipids or sugars, but the proteins are the main research subject as they are more diverse and relevant in biological processes. Each protein forms a specific structure according to its amino-acid sequencing, and although there may be similarities between the structures of different proteins, in general there is an enormous variety. This variety is what enables them to perform very diverse functions in the organism.
What applications might your research have?
Knowledge of the structure allows us to understand function and from that starting point we can manipulate the structure to obtain a desired functional effect. This effect may be to stabilise the protein in the face of its degradation over time, for example to obtain more efficient industrial fermentation processes. We can also hope to increase or reduce function where the protein is causing damage to the organism either through excess or insufficient activity. We can also manipulate proteins to manufacture molecular tools that will enable us to perform engineering work at genome level by inserting, correcting or eliminating genes in cells and organisms, to, for example, cure a disease or cultivate tomatoes on salty land.
How has accepting the Ikerbasque position and joining the CIC bioGUNE affected your scientific career?
It has allowed me to work freely on the structural biology projects that interest me, in giving me access to top quality infrastructure. In particular, it allows me to further studies on proteins that participate in organising and maintaining genetic material in cells.