At present, biointeractomics is still an unknown scientific specialty among a large part of the scientific and academic community. However, its study is of enormous interest, since this branch of biology builds many bridges to other fields of knowledge, such as chemistry, medicine or pharmacy. Biointeractomic research focuses on the communication between biomolecules, i.e. the relationship established between complex organisms, which physically and specifically contact each other in order to transfer information efficiently.
Understanding, at the molecular level, the processes and recognition networks generated between macromolecules represents the field of biointeractomics. Thanks to the initiative of the Centro de Investigaciones Científicas Isla de la Cartuja (cicCartuja) and the Ramón Areces Foundation, professors, researchers and students will be able to learn about this scientific specialty and reveal some of the secrets that surround it. During two days, the International Symposium on Biointeractomics, to be held at the Salón de Actos of cicCartuja between October 30 and 31, will address the interactions that occur between protein and protein, between protein and nucleic acid, between protein and carbohydrate, or between protein and membrane. In other words, it will delve into the mechanisms that govern biological functions, which serve to explain, among other things, cell dysfunction or the appearance of diseases in plant and animal organisms, including humans.
In this sense, biointeractomics has a markedly interdisciplinary character, as it can include various genetic, biophysical, biochemical or biomedical approaches. In addition, experimental data obtained through techniques that allow the reconstruction of molecular “maps” can be used. It is therefore of interest to combine these biological methods with bioinformatics approaches, with the perspective of new technologies, which analyze the networks woven between molecules.
The International Symposium on Biointeractomics will be attended by leading scientists in this scientific area, including researchers from national centers, such as the Institute of Plant Biochemistry and Photosynthesis (IBVF), the Autonomous University of Barcelona or the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology of Plants (based in Valencia); as well as others from foreign organizations, such as Harvard Medical School, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (based in Grenoble, France), Stanford University and the Chiba Allergy and Immunology Research Center (Japan). In total, seventeen researchers will speak at the CicCartuja Assembly Hall, a center that will use the occasion to present its new Biomolecular Interactions Service, recently created as an important element of the Biointeractomics Platform, designed to provide scientific and technical support to research groups and companies in Andalusia and the rest of Spain.
The Symposium, coordinated by University of Seville professors Miguel Ángel de la Rosa Acosta and Irene Díaz-Moreno, is especially aimed at broadening the training of students studying in the areas of Biology, Chemistry, Medicine or Pharmacy. By taking the course they will obtain 1.5 university credits of free configuration of the University of Seville.
