Overview

Biotechnology is an enabling technology with the potential to develop new products and services with impact across different economic sectors.

CNC has established three main scientific areas as the focus of the Biotechnology domain research activity: Stem cells and tissue engineering, Molecular and microbial biotechnology, and Computational Biology

The main goals are:

• To develop platforms for drug-screening and toxicology assessment;
• To modulate the activity/differentiation of endo- and exogenous stem cells by biomaterials;
• To study microbial diversity, ecology and biotechnology of microorganisms living at very high temperature, high salinity and extreme resistant to radiation/desiccation;
• To discover new compatible solutes (osmolytes) that protect extremophiles from stress conditions, and to elucidate their biosynthetic pathways;
• To analyze how biologically widespread sub-networks (circuits) perform according to various engineering-inspired criteria as compared to less widespread alternatives, and to understand what makes those designs preferable to other alternatives and abstract the general principles involved.