News & Events
22-23 May 2023: BSC Workshop on Computational Enzyme Bioprospecting and Engineering
In this theoretical and hands-on course organized by our project FuturEnzyme and project OxiPro, our members have learned how to take advantage of the potential that computational tools have in the discovery and development of disruptive enzymes. This collaborative workshop between the projects from the Cluster Enzymes for Greener Products has also provided a perfect space for meeting colleagues.
April 2023: Serious game – Mission BioHero
When your mission is to be a BioHero, you need this serious game! AllThings.Bio has created an app with quizzes, tasks, mini-citybuilders-games, lexicon, and more to become an ecogenius. Follow the QR code in the image and help us fight climate change!
12-14 April 2023: 4ESO+company training
This week we had one more year at CSIC’s laboratory the visit of students within the framework of the 4ESO+company program of the Comunidad de Madrid. They have learnt all the common procedures we use in our daily work: microbe cultivation, DNA extraction, protein production, characterization and purification, PCR, enzymatic activity measurements… We hope we have helped to keep growing their scientific interest and curiosity. Thank you Enma, Pablo and Norhuane!
28-31 March 2023: Novel Enzymes 2023…there we were!
This year’s edition of Novel Enzymes took place is Greifswald, Germany. This city has a long university tradition, which makes it a priviledged location to meet colleagues and experts in the field of enzymes. Although getting there was a long journey and the city received Paula and Laura with snow, they enjoyed the congress and come back full of anecdotes and new ideas.
2 March 2023: Cluster Enzymes for Greener Products launches Policy Brief
Four EU-funded sibling projects: EnXylaScope, FuturEnzyme, OXIPRO and RadicalZ, have just launched this policy brief to provide scientific insight to support and inform EC policy areas, including the European Green Deal and Bioeconomy strategies.
15 February 2023: talk and experiments in the frame of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science
We are thrilled that we have had the opportunity to spend a whole day again at school! But in this occasion we were in the other side of the class. Because of 11 February, we contacted CEIP Plácido Domingo (Madrid), the school of one of our team’s daughter, and together organized a science day, with talks, activities and experiments for all the 750 students, emphasizing gender equality. We hope to see in some of them in our lab in a few years!
1 February 2023: Meeting for the first reporting period
In a face to face evaluation in Brussels, the FuturEnzyme’s first reporting meeting was held. All work package leaders met with the Project Officer, Colombe Warin, and and expert in the field, Martin Rebros. The team exposed the work carried out by FuturEnzyme in the first 18 months of the Project. We received really valuable feedback and recommendations to keep improving our activities. Now…let’s go for the next period!
18-19 January 2023: Nymphe kick-off meeting
Nymphe is a Horizon Europe project, dedicated to the bioremediation of polluted environments, using matrices taken from four contminated sites. The host of the kick-off meeting was the coordinator of the project, The University of Bologna. The consortium is conformed of 18 expert partners from 12 countries, which took the opportunity to learn more about each other and organize the thrilling activities ahead.
12 December 2022: Event and Workshop "New enzymes and biomolecules from extremophiles and metagenomes"
Read more: News (bangor.ac.uk)
7-8 November 2022: Open Doors Days
In November we celebrate the Science Week, a time to show to the general public the power of our work. In our Institute (ICP-CSIC), every year we invite highschool students (around 200 this year) that learn about science in their every day lives. Our group participated in the “Enzymatic elimination of lactose” workshop, where they learnt how milk without lactose is prepared, and even to do it theirselves just with what they can find in a supermarket! #semanacienciaCSIC.
21 October 2022: Cristina Coscolín lectures about metagenomics, enzymes and biotechnology
The Francisco de Vitoria University (Madrid) has dedicated a lesson to our awesomenzymes one more year. Lectured by our colleague Cristina Coscolín, Biotechnology students learned about metagenomics and how it triggers enzyme discovery for real implementations in biotechnology.
6 September 2022: FuturEnzyme CLIB forum: "Fantastic enzymes: Where and how to find them"
In the context of our project, we organised a webinar at which almost 200 participants assisted! It was aimed at all kind of publics: researchers, entrepreneurs, manufacturers, policy makers, funding bodies, investors, consumers… everyone who cares about a greener and more sustainable future.
23 August 2022: Manuel Ferrer talks about the potential of enzymes at the BioSC Symposium
The International BioSC Symposium took place in person in Bonn, Germany. With focus on an Integrated Bioeconomy, this event counted with Manuel Ferrer’s talk entitled “Bioeconomy and climate change mitigation: new enzymes wanted”.
Within the section “High-value compounds from integrated processes”, he explained how we can squeeze the best of the enzymes’ potential for greener consumers’ products.
12 July 2022: Isabel Cea Rama defended her PhD thesis
Entitled “Structural basis of substrate specificity in native and protein/supramolecular engineered ester-hydrolases”, Isabel Cea Rama explained the impressive work carried out along her predoctoral period, under the direction of Dr. Julia Sanz (IQFR-CSIC) and Prof. Manuel Ferrer. Congratulations, doc!
15 June 2022: Workshop “The role of biotechnology in plastics circularity model”
The SusPlast platform (Interdisciplinary Platform for Sustainable Plastics towards a Circular Economy) together with Sebiot imparted an enlightening Workshop about the role of biotechnology in plastics circularity model. It was held in person and online at the Center of Biological Research (CIB-CSIC). We attended to learn more about this trendy topic and the cutting-edge research that is being developed to solve it. We will work to make the plastic problem not a trendy topic anymore!
12-month General Assembly meeting in Madrid, finally in person, took place in Madrid
After one year of online meetings, seeing each other behind masks, finally we met in person! For this 12-month General Assembly meeting, we gathered together in Madrid, but we have simultaneously carried out the meeting online for those who could’t travel. Known faces for some of us, new faces for others, but a nice and productive union for us all! Read more
5-7 April 2022: 4ºESO+company program
In the frame of the Community of Madrid program “4ºESO+company”, we took in 5 students from the IES José Luis Sampedro (Tres Cantos, Madrid, Spain) to show them how the work in the lab is. They learned basic techniques that we use to discover, develop and characterise enzymes to be employed to better our lives and the environment. Natalia, Marta, Laura, Celia and Alejandra, it was such a pleasure to have you these days with us!
14 February 2022: International Day of Women and Girls in Science
The International Day of Women and Girls in Science is celebrated on February 11th. Women from our group took this great opportunity to encourage teenagers from Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos Highschool (Leganés, Madrid, Spain) to reach gender equality.
1 January 2022 - Paula Vidal, our new member!
We began 2022 with a brand-new incorporation to our team, Paula Vidal. She carried out her Master thesis with us and wanted to follow her research in the enzyme world. You can check out more about her CV in her profile here
1 December 2021: Delivenz begins
A metapredictor to fulfil the enzymatic industry requirements. Find out more here.
15 December 2021: Participation in the CIB’s webinar series Plant and Microbial Biotechnology
The CSIC’s Institute of Biological Research (CIB) organizes a series of webinars under the topic Plant and Microbial Biotechnology. In this occasion, the webinar was imparted by Manuel Ferrer, who talked about the discovery of enzymes with a clear focus on lessening climate change through their real implementation in industrial processes.
10 December 2021: Industry-oriented forum “Catalysing Alliances for Greener Products”
This online forum organised by CLIB (our partner in the project FuturEnzyme) within the HiPerIn 2.0 project looks at industry sectors which could benefit from a structural change away from fossil-based towards biotechnological processes based on renewable substrates. The 4 EU-funded projects conforming the Cluster Enzymes for greener products showed our potential and objectives for developing enzymes to be incorporated to real-life every-day products. We hope that the audience enjoyed our work and will be further interested in the enzyme products we will develop to help making the world green again
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17 November 2021: Forum “Enzymes - the Multitool of Biotechnology”
The infinite opportunities of enzymes was the topic of this CLIB (our partner in the project FuturEnzyme) forum event. INOFEA (also a FuturEnzyme’s partner) intervened to show their impressive shielding technology. More cutting-edge technologies in enzyme modification and optimisation were the central issues, together with discussion about the opportunities of this powerful multitool of biotechnology.
17 November 2021: Equality at CSIC
The 2nd meeting of the equality groups at CSIC was held on November. In this occasion, a hybrid event (on-line and in person) was organised and some of us attended in person. This gave us the opportunity to talk face-to-face to experts in the area. We are in the right direction to reach equality, but there is still a long way to go!
3-4 November 2021: Science Week
We participated in the organization of the Science Week that took place in ICP for teenage student. This event is meant to show, in particular to young people, how science is in our everyday. In this case, they learned about daily-use products containing enzymes.
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16 October 2021 - Lecture at Francisco de Vitoria University
Cristina Coscolín gave an invited seminar to Biotechnology students from the Francisco de Vitoria University (Madrid, Spain), by the title “Metagenomics: a useful tool for the discovery of new enzymes with biotechnological applications”. She showed how our group is involved in greening the world through enzymes.
1 October 2021: Metamorph begins
New Plurizymes and BioHybrid catalysts await us… find out more here
28 June 2021 - Participation in the Technical Workshops TW3-TW4, Marie Curie ITN ImplantSens
Manuel Ferrer takes part in the Technical Workshops TW3-TW4, Marie Curie ITN ImplantSens (ref. H2020-MSCA-ITN-2018-813006) for PhD students from different places of Europe, with the talk entitled “Metagenomics for new enzymes’ discovery: Enzymes and their role in the Europan Green Deal”
14 June 2021 -Participation in the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology festival
Our Coordinator, Manuel Ferrer, talks to teenagers about “Nano for the Environment” (Madre de Dios school, Madrid, Spain) in the context of a Nanoscience and Nanotechnology festival. This act was held on-line.
1 June 2021 - FuturEnzyme begins
Your textiles, detergents and cosmetics were never greener. Find out more here.
Manuel Ferrer
mferrer@icp.csic.es
Research Professor
Systems Biotechnology Group
Office 202
(ICP-CSIC)
28049-Madrid-Spain
