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Jesús Campos, researcher at the IIQ – CSIC Andalucía

 

Jesús Campos, a researcher at the Institute of Chemical Research (IIQ), has been elected president of the Specialised Group on Organometallic Chemistry (GEQO) of the Royal Spanish Society of Chemistry (RSEQ).

 

With this appointment, Jesús Campos becomes the second researcher at the IIQ to chair a specialist group within the RSEQ. Jesús Angulo currently chairs the Magnetic Resonance Specialist Group (GERM), which highlights the IIQ’s prominent role in the field of chemistry.

 

Jesús Campos graduated with a degree in Chemistry from the University of Seville in 2007 and completed his master’s degree at the University of Manchester. He obtained his PhD in Organometallic Chemistry under the supervision of Professor Ernesto Carmona, during which time he undertook a research placement with Professor Maurice Brookhart’s group at the University of North Carolina (United States), and also completed a Master’s degree in Crystallography at the Menéndez Pelayo International University. He has worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the groups led by Prof. Robert H. Crabtree (Yale, USA) in the field of sustainable catalysis and by Prof. Simon Aldridge (Oxford, UK) in main-group chemistry.

 

In 2016, he returned to Seville as a researcher on the Talentia programme and was awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship. Two years later, he joined the Institute of Chemical Research (IIQ) as a Senior Researcher at the CSIC, and was promoted to Research Scientist in 2022. Since joining the CSIC, he has pursued an independent research career, focusing in particular on the development of cooperative molecular systems for bond activation and catalysis, with an emphasis on bimetallic systems. He has secured national and European funding, including two ERC projects (Starting Grant, 2017, and Consolidator Grant, 2024), BBVA Leonardo, Ramón Areces, MSCA projects, etc.

 

His research career has been recognised with several awards, including the María Teresa Toral National Young Researcher Award, the RSEQ and GEQO Awards for Excellence in Research, the Lilly/RSEQ Young Researchers’ Award and the Organometallics Distinguished Author Award.

Researchers from the Biointeractomics group | Diario de Sevilla – José Ángel García

 

A team of researchers, led by Pablo de Olavide University, has identified an unexpected inflammatory mechanism that helps to explain how certain interventions targeting inflammation could have counterproductive effects if they do not take into account the interaction between different pathways of the immune system.

 

The study, led by Dr Mario D. Cordero and published in the journal *Science Advances* under the title ‘NLRP3 haploinsufficiency unmasks a compensatory NLRP1-NLRP3 interaction that drives accelerated ageing in mice’, demonstrates that a partial reduction in the NLRP3 inflammasome—a therapeutic target of great interest in age-related diseases—can trigger a compensatory response that accelerates ageing in animal models.

 

The NLRP3 inflammasome is a protein complex that acts as a danger sensor within cells and plays a role in triggering the inflammatory response. Its uncontrolled activity has been linked to chronic inflammatory processes and to cardiovascular, metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s. It is therefore considered one of the main targets for the development of anti-inflammatory treatments.

 

However, the new study shows that partially inhibiting NLRP3 does not always reduce inflammation as one might expect. In haploinsufficiency models — that is, models with a partial reduction in the expression of this protein — the researchers observed that the cells trigger a compensatory response by overexpressing another inflammasome, NLRP1.

 

La investigación revela que NLRP1 y NLRP3 pueden interactuar directamente y formar un complejo híbrido NLRP1–NLRP3. Esta interacción activa de forma excesiva la respuesta inflamatoria, especialmente a través de moléculas como IL-18, y favorece un estado de inflamación crónica asociada al envejecimiento, conocido como inflammaging.

 

In the animal models studied, this process resulted in signs of accelerated ageing, including progressive physical deterioration, loss of body mass, metabolic abnormalities, alopecia, kyphosis, corneal opacity and reduced fertility. Internal damage consistent with systemic inflammation was also observed, such as hepatic steatosis and macrophage infiltration in the heart.

 

“In recent years, the pharmaceutical industry has focused on developing specific NLRP3 inhibitors. Our study aims to rethink strategies for inhibiting inflammasomes from a more integrated perspective; inflammasomes do not act alone, so we should seek more ambitious strategies to avoid future undesirable effects,” says Mario David Cordero.

 

Simultaneous inhibition of NLRP1 and NLRP3

One of the most significant findings of the study is that the simultaneous inhibition of NLRP1 and NLRP3 was more effective at reducing inflammation and improving parameters associated with ageing in the animals. These results suggest that future anti-inflammatory therapies may require more complex strategies than simply blocking a single molecular target.

 

The finding has significant implications for translational medicine. Given that NLRP3 is being investigated as a potential therapeutic target in age-related diseases, the authors caution that the long-term effects of its partial inhibition must be carefully assessed, particularly in chronic conditions. In interconnected biological systems, blocking a single pathway can trigger compensatory mechanisms with unintended consequences.

 

In this vein, the research team is already working on the development of dual-inhibition strategies targeting various inflammasomes. According to the authors, these approaches have so far proved highly effective in preventing complications associated with inflammaging and may improve the safety of future treatments for chronic inflammatory diseases.

 

The study opens up new avenues of research focused on the study of interactions between inflammasomes, which until now have largely been regarded as independent systems. It also highlights the need to explore in greater depth the role of NLRP1 in age-related diseases, including neurodegenerative, cardiovascular and metabolic conditions.

 

Taken together, the results point to a more complex view of the inflammatory system and highlight the importance of designing therapies that take into account the plasticity and compensatory capacity between different inflammatory pathways.

 

Reference:
Inés Muela-Zarzuela et al., NLRP3 haploinsufficiency unmasks a compensatory NLRP1-NLRP3 interaction that drives accelerated aging in mice. Sci. Adv.12, eaec9499(2026). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aec9499 .

Díaz-Moreno is Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Seville and Principal Investigator of the Biointeractomics Group at the Institute of Chemical Research (IIQ), cicCartuja, where she joined after completing a postdoctoral stay in the United Kingdom funded by an EMBO fellowship.

Her research focuses on the fundamental mechanisms that regulate mitochondria-to-nucleus communication, the electron transport chain, and the dynamics of biomolecular condensates. Using structural, biophysical, and cellular approaches, her work has revealed unexpected functions of cytochrome c in nuclear signaling and the DNA damage response. More broadly, her research includes the post-transcriptional and post-translational regulation of the DNA damage response, with particular emphasis on the interactions between cytochrome c and histone chaperones.

Under her leadership, the Biointeractomics Group has developed extensive expertise in the molecular interactions of metalloproteins, the structure–function relationships of signaling proteins, and transient protein–protein and protein–nucleic acid interactions. The group investigates how these interactions regulate key cellular processes, particularly those related to genome stability and the cellular stress response.

Díaz-Moreno has also made significant contributions to the scientific community through the Spanish Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SEBBM) and the Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS), serving as Vice-President of SEBBM since 2023 and as a member of the FEBS Executive Committee since 2018, first as Chair of the Working Group on Careers of Young Scientists and, since January 2026, as Chair of the FEBS Fellowships Committee. Her election as an EMBO Member recognizes not only her scientific excellence but also her leadership and commitment to advancing the molecular life sciences in Europe.

Institute for Chemical Research  warmly congratulates Professor Díaz-Moreno on this prestigious recognition.

The Royal Cavalry Order of Seville Foundation and the Royal Seville Academy of Sciences held a ceremony on Thursday to present the latest edition of their awards, which recognise scientific excellence amongst young researchers.

Dr Cristina Megías Sayago, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Seville and a member of the Organometallic Synthesis and Catalytic Applications (OSACA) group at the Institute of Chemical Research, received the 2025 Royal Cavalry Order of Seville Foundation Award. This award was granted in recognition of her research in chemistry, carried out primarily in the fields of catalysis and materials science.

The researcher has an outstanding international track record in Materials Science, Catalysis and Chemical Engineering. Her research has focused on the development of sustainable technologies for biomass utilisation, CO₂ capture and conversion, hydrogen production and advanced plastics recycling. She has spent her career at leading institutions in Spain, France and China, participating in collaborative projects with companies such as BASF. She has been awarded prestigious competitive grants, including a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship and a Juan de la Cierva grant. She is the author of 40 scientific publications, has received over 1,000 citations, holds one patent and has experience in supervising doctoral theses and research projects. She is currently supervising a doctoral thesis funded by the FPU programme at the University of Seville.

These awards reflect both institutions’ commitment to fostering culture, advancing knowledge and promoting scientific activity. Their aim is to recognise the career paths and achievements of researchers who, despite their youth, have distinguished themselves through the quality and relevance of their work. In addition to recognising emerging scientific talent, the awards seek to encourage a vocation for research and support dedication to science, thereby contributing to the development and dissemination of knowledge for the benefit of society.

Royal Academy of San Dionisio for Science, Arts and Literature

 

Dr Alejandra Guerra Castellano, a researcher at the Institute of Chemical Research (IIQ), has joined the new Governing Board of the Royal Academy of San Dionisio of Sciences, Arts and Letters in Jerez as librarian. Dr Guerra, the institution’s youngest full member, takes on this role in recognition of a career that combines research, science communication and a commitment to the preservation and dissemination of knowledge.

The Royal Academy is thus embarking on a new institutional phase with the election of Dr Ana María Orellana Cano as president; she is a judge on the Social Chamber of the Supreme Court and the first woman to hold this post in the organisation’s history. Her appointment marks a milestone in the history of an institution that is a leading figure in Andalusia’s cultural and scientific spheres.

The new Governing Board reflects a convergence of profiles from the scientific, legal and cultural spheres, reinforcing the Academy’s role in promoting knowledge and heritage.

 

Hernán Míguez García (CSIC), Jesús Campos Manzano (CSIC), Manuel Romero Aguilar (CSIC), Félix León García (US), Gabriel Lozano Barbero (CSIC) y Sonia Bajo Velázquez (US)

 

A research team from the Institute of Chemical Research (IIQ) and the Institute of Materials Science of Seville (ICMS) —joint centres run by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the University of Seville— has succeeded in stabilising a molecule excited by visible light for more than 10 hours at room temperature. This discovery represents a significant advance in the field of photochemistry and opens up new possibilities for developing more sustainable and efficient chemical processes.

In the study, published in the journal Nature Chemistry, the research team has succeeded in stabilising a germylene molecule (an organometallic compound consisting of germanium and carbon atoms), maintaining it in a triplet state for over 10 hours. This state arises when the molecule absorbs light and enters a higher-energy state, also known as the ‘excited state’, in which it becomes much more reactive and behaves differently from its usual state, thereby expanding its potential applications and range of transformations.

These states usually last only fractions of a second, which makes them extremely difficult to study. In this study, the researchers have developed a strategy capable of ‘trapping’ this excited state and prolonging its lifetime for hours, something completely unusual in this type of process. This represents a breakthrough in the field of chemistry, as for the first time they have been able to study the behaviour of this molecule in detail.

 

“We began this work out of pure curiosity, irradiating a molecule we have been working with for years. What we did not expect was to be able to freeze an excited state so energetic that it can even break the benzene ring,” notes CSIC researcher at the IIQ, Jesús Campos, senior author of the study.

 

“The measurements have confirmed the high stability of the excited germilene, which takes around 14 hours to deactivate,” said Gabriel Lozano, a CSIC researcher at the ICMS, who also highlighted the new avenues this research opens up. “This collaboration between the groups has been particularly inspiring for everyone and has enabled us to discover a new field to explore,” Lozano emphasised.

 

The results achieved were made possible by the multidisciplinary approach and the combined expertise in organometallic chemistry and photonics of the researchers from both teams.

Indeed, this innovative approach to organometallic chemistry was one of the reasons why researcher Jesús Campos was recently awarded the ‘María Teresa Toral’ National Research Prize for Young Researchers by the Ministry of Science in the field of Chemical Science and Technology.

 

Reduces benzene

In addition to its extraordinary stability, excited germylene has demonstrated reactivity far superior to that of its conventional form. The study reveals that it is capable of activating and breaking extremely strong chemical bonds, including the cleavage and double reduction of benzene, a molecule considered particularly stable and difficult to transform.

This result is particularly significant because the activation of such strong bonds usually requires very harsh conditions or the use of expensive and scarce transition metals. In contrast, the new system operates under mild conditions, at ambient temperature and pressure, using visible light as an energy source.

The researchers highlight that this discovery opens up new possibilities in chemistry involving main-group elements, such as germanium, where the use of light to access excited states has been very little explored. In the long term, this approach could contribute to the development of more selective and sustainable chemical methods for transforming complex molecules, reducing dependence on precious, expensive and scarce metals, and harnessing clean energy sources such as light.

 

Reference:

Soto, E., Leon, F., Romero, M. et al. A photoexcited triplet state germylene with a half-life of hours at room temperature. Nature Chemistry. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-026-02153-2

Several representatives from the Equality Committee of the Institute of Chemical Research (IIQ) took part on Monday in the meeting of equality committees from Seville’s research centres, held at the Andalusian Centre for Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine (CABIMER).

 

The event brought together representatives from the Institute of Lipids (IG), the Seville Institute of Biomedicine (IBiS), the Seville Institute of Materials Science (ICMS), the Doñana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC), the Seville Institute of Natural Resources and Agrobiology (IRNAS-CSIC), the Andalusian Centre for Developmental Biology (CABD), the Institute of Plant Biochemistry and Photosynthesis (IBVF) and the Institute of Chemical Research (IIQ).

 

The meeting provided an opportunity to share experiences, discuss the initiatives each centre is developing in the field of equality, and analyse the main challenges faced by the committees in their day-to-day work. The event also served to identify best practices, exchange tools and working strategies, and establish new avenues for collaboration between the various research centres. This forum for dialogue and cooperation reinforces the shared commitment to promoting equal opportunities, diversity, inclusion and well-being in the scientific community, driving coordinated actions that help to create more equitable, safe and inclusive research environments for the entire research community and support staff.

Javier de Sola during the Pint of Science  in Bar La Placita (Almensilla)

 

Why do you eat? Who owns the message? How much green do you breathe? What happens when atomic nuclei collide? These and many other equally intriguing questions form part of the titles of the science talks to be held on 18, 19 and 20 May in the province of Seville, as part of the Pint of Science festival, the world’s largest free science outreach event.

At this festival, researchers from all disciplines bring their work to the public in an unusual setting for science: pubs, transforming these everyday spaces into meeting points for knowledge and curiosity.

 

Pint of Science in Almensilla

As part of the festival’s commitment to bringing science to less populated areas, Pint of Science will host Almensilla, in Seville’s Aljarafe region, as its venue for the fourth consecutive year.

On Monday 18, Tuesday 19 and Wednesday 20 May, various bars in Almensilla will host a total of six science talks aimed at answering questions such as: ‘Can artificial intelligence save lives?’ or ‘What would happen if we could bring the energy of the stars to Earth?’, where attendees can hear the answers to these and many other intriguing questions in a friendly and interactive setting. The sessions will take place on Monday at Bar La Placita (Plaza de la Iglesia, 5), on Tuesday at Bar La Atarazana 1920 (Calle Jesús, 19) and on Wednesday at Restaurante Los Carros (Calle Cercadillo, 2A) at 7.00 pm.

The programme will feature talks of great social interest; for example, Casilda Rueda Fernández will explain the importance of upholding international law, whilst Luis Merino Cabañas will discuss how robots are adapting to society. Other talks will focus on technology in the service of medicine: Raúl Fernández Mateo will explain how physics is integrated into the detection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and Juan Antonio Ortega Ramírez will analyse the impact of artificial intelligence on medicine. Finally, the festival programme will cover the environment and new energy sources, with David Gallego Puyol demonstrating how navigation logs can be used to reconstruct past climates, and Carlos López Jiménez, Jesús Salas Suárez-Bárcena, Lina Velarde Gallardo and Pilar Cano Megías explaining how Seville is contributing to the development of nuclear fusion energy. The full programme for Almensilla is available at: https://pintofscience.es/events/almensilla/.

“Bringing research to all audiences, openly and free of charge, as Pint of Science does, makes it easier for smaller towns to access the cutting-edge knowledge being generated around them,” says Andrea Fernández Veloso, the festival’s coordinator in Almensilla and a native of the town.

 

Pint of Science in Seville city centre

In Seville, Pint of Science will take place at La Tregua Café-Bar, Sala El Cachorro and Taberna del Dragón Verde at 7.00 pm, with a total of 18 science talks covering a wide range of topics: The Wonderful Mind, Our Body and Planet Earth, right through to Our Society and Atoms and Galaxies. Among the researchers and scientists taking part in this edition of Pint of Science Seville are Marta Martínez Bernardo, who will help us understand how the lunar cycle affects patterns of activity in nature; Manuela Rodríguez Gallardo, explaining what happens when two atomic nuclei collide; and Isabel Cerrillo García, who will teach us how to feed ourselves without destroying the planet. The full programme can be viewed on the website https://pintofscience.es/events/sevilla

One of the organisation’s objectives in Seville is to establish direct dialogue between researchers and society. Sandra Medrano, a postdoctoral researcher and head of National Communications for this edition, explains that “we tend to think that science is complicated, but that’s perhaps because it hasn’t been explained to us properly. Pint of Science is special because we use understandable language and the bars create a unique, informal atmosphere that encourages attendees to ask questions and helps us all learn complex science in a simple way.”

 

Pint of Science across the rest of Spain, strengthening science in rural areas

In total, the free Pint of Science Spain science festival in pubs will bring a total of 1,300 researchers to 114 towns and villages on 18, 19 and 20 May. This year, as a new initiative, it will strengthen its presence in less populated areas across the rest of Spain, bringing science to pubs in 29 rural areas participating for the first time through informative talks, monologues and experiments presented in simple language and in a friendly, participatory atmosphere. After each session, the public will be able to interact directly with the scientists, fostering an open and accessible dialogue that answers all their questions and satisfies their thirst for science.

One of the organisation’s main objectives is to bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and areas far from major urban centres. Small towns are often left out of the usual circuits of science outreach events, which limits access to up-to-date scientific information. “It is essential that science reaches every corner, not just the big cities. In villages, too, there is curiosity, talent and a desire to learn,” explains Sandra Medrano Garcia, Head of Communications, who emphasises that the intimate setting created in bars facilitates more open and participatory conversations.

One of the key features of this year’s festival is the role of researchers who, faced with a lack of job opportunities in their home towns, have pursued their careers elsewhere in the country or abroad. Many of these people return temporarily to their villages to take part in the festival, sharing their knowledge with family, friends and neighbours. This symbolic return not only brings science closer to the community but also strengthens the bond between the community and those who have had to leave to pursue their professional careers.

Bringing the Pint of Science festival to the pubs of Almensilla, as well as to other rural towns, highlights the importance of raising the profile of scientific role models in rural contexts, where access to such figures is more limited. Direct interaction helps dispel the notion that science is inaccessible or distant, showing that behind every piece of research there are people with relatable stories and shared experiences.

The festival’s national coordinator, Carlos Peris Torres, emphasises that “every talk in a rural setting is a unique opportunity to spark interest and inspire vocations. When someone sees that a neighbour from their own community has managed to build a scientific career, it helps make this path seem more accessible and achievable. Science belongs to villages too, and this festival is a way of giving that knowledge back to them”.

 

Eleven years of Pint of Science in Spain

Over the course of its ten previous editions in Spain, Pint of Science has transformed science communication into a genuine social experience, with 2,200 events held in 1,000 pubs, the participation of over 5,300 researchers, and attendance by around 130,000 people. Against this backdrop, the eleventh edition promises to be the most ambitious to date, both in terms of the number of activities planned and the increase in the number of locations involved.

The initiative began in May 2013 in the UK, when researchers Michael Mostkin and Praveen Paul organised a talk in their own laboratories to bring their work closer to people affected by various mental health conditions. The impact was so positive that a key question arose: “if people go to laboratories… why not take science to where the people are, the pubs?”.

What began as a local idea has grown into a global phenomenon. In 2026, Pint of Science will be held simultaneously across five continents, with 27 countries taking part. Australia will be the starting point for this international science outreach marathon, opening its pubs to knowledge and kicking off three consecutive days of shared science around the world.

In Spain, the initiative is driven by the Pint of Science Spain Science Communication Association, which relies on the coordinated efforts of over 750 volunteers, as well as the support of numerous sponsors and partners who make each edition possible.

On 18, 19 and 20 May, science will take over the bars to be discussed, understood and enjoyed in a unique atmosphere. We look forward to seeing you there.

Pint of Science 2026 is a free event for anyone who wishes to attend, and it would not be possible without the collaboration of organisations sponsoring the festival locally in Almensilla, such as the Specialised Group on Inorganic Chemistry of the Royal Spanish Society of Chemistry (GEQI-RSEQ), and nationally, such as the Pfizer Foundation, Labbox, CESIF, VHIO, Miltenyi, JJNN, Vadillo Asesores and more than 70 local sponsors. Furthermore, Seville has local partners, such as the University of Seville, Pablo de Olavide University and Loyola University.

An international research team led by the Institute of Chemical Research (IIQ-CSIC-University of Seville), in collaboration with the Universidade Nova de Lisboa in Portugal, the University of Toulouse in France, the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology in Germany and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, has designed metal nanoparticles that eliminate the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, which is associated with hospital-acquired infections and is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics. The structures have been tested in the laboratory and open up avenues for the design of antimicrobial strategies that go beyond traditional approaches.

 

Experts are therefore proposing the design of biomimetic antimicrobial agents—that is, agents inspired by natural systems that combine nanomaterials with organic biomolecules. These are molecules found in living organisms, such as those that make up DNA or proteins. In the future, this approach could be used to develop new systems with antifungal, anticancer or antimicrobial activity.

The novelty of the work lies in the combination of two components that, separately, have no antibacterial activity. On the one hand, very small nanoparticles of ruthenium, a metal used in chemistry and catalysis—that is, to accelerate chemical reactions. On the other, an organic molecule derived from uracil, one of the components that make up the genetic material of living organisms. When both are integrated into a single nanometric structure, they act together and acquire the ability to eliminate bacteria.

As the research team explains in the article ‘Ru Nanoparticles Ligated by an N-Heterocyclic Carbene Derived from Uracil Nucleoside as Selective Antimicrobial Agents’, published in the journal Inorganic Chemistry, this combination produces a synergistic effect, meaning that the metal and the organic molecule act cooperatively. “Our aim was to design an antimicrobial agent that would be active against problematic bacteria, but at the same time selective and low in toxicity,” explains IIQ-CSIC researcher Luis Miguel Martínez Prieto to the Descubre Foundation.

 

In a single step

To produce these nanoparticles, the researchers devised a simple method that allows them to be obtained in a single step. To do this, they combined a ruthenium precursor—a compound containing this material that serves as a starting point for forming the nanoparticles—with an organic molecule derived from uracil, a substance found in DNA. The latter acts as a kind of ‘mould’, stabilising and controlling the size of the nanoparticle. Much like in a recipe, this ‘guiding’ ingredient causes the metal to cluster into very small particles and prevents large clumps of metal from forming, keeping them separate.

 

Furthermore, this system allows them to be produced more efficiently, at low temperatures and without generating unnecessary waste. In addition, the process takes place within a single reactor, which simplifies the formation of the nanoparticles.

Once obtained, the scientists verified their size and shape using high-resolution microscopy techniques, confirming that they were very small and well-organised particles. “We used a very powerful electron microscope to observe how the atoms are arranged inside them and their crystalline structure. This internal order, similar to that of a honeycomb, ensures that the particles stay together and are effective,” explains Luis Miguel Martínez Prieto.

 

In addition, the team carried out theoretical calculations using advanced computational tools to confirm how the organic molecule binds to the surface of the nanoparticles, a step that helps to provide a deeper understanding of how it works.

 

Selective activity

To assess their antimicrobial activity, the researchers compared various reference materials: the uracil derivative on its own, a similar ruthenium complex, nanoparticles without the biomolecule, and others of the same type but larger in size. The experiments showed that only the smallest nanoparticles coated with the uracil derivative exhibited antibacterial activity.

Furthermore, they observed that the effect was selective, as the nanoparticles were active against the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus but showed no activity against other bacteria. This highlights their therapeutic potential, given that one of the challenges when using an antimicrobial agent is to prevent it from indiscriminately affecting various microorganisms in the human body or from promoting the development of resistance. “For this reason, designing compounds capable of acting selectively is one of the strategies being explored to develop new treatments,” adds Luis Miguel Martínez Prieto.

 

New strategies against drug-resistant bacteria

The next steps for the CATANA group (IIQ-CSIC-University of Seville) will involve testing other biomimetic combinations, organic biomolecules and metallic nanoparticles, with a view to developing new materials for biomedical applications, such as combating hard-to-treat infections.

This work has been funded by the Regional Ministry of Universities, Research and Innovation of the Regional Government of Andalusia through the project of excellence ‘Hydrogenation of CO2 into renewable fuels by magnetic heating: an efficient way to store intermittent energies’ and the Institute of Chemical Research’s (IIQ-CSIC-University of Seville) own funds.

Feature article: Nanopartículas para combatir bacterias: cuando la unión hace la fuerza

Reference

Sánchez, A., Carrascosa, L. A., Romeo, G., Orsini, G., Coppel, Y., Santamarina, S., … & Martínez-Prieto, L. M. (2026). Ru Nanoparticles Ligated by an N-Heterocyclic Carbene Derived from Uracil Nucleoside as Selective Antimicrobial Agents. Inorganic Chemistry.

National Research Awards / Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities

On Monday, the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities held the ceremony to present the 2025 National Research Awards and the National Research Awards for Young Researchers, at which Jesús Campos Manzano, a researcher at the Institute of Chemical Research, received an award.

The ceremony was presided over by King Felipe VI at the Royal Palace of Pedralbes in Barcelona and was attended by the Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant, alongside the President of the Government of Catalonia, Salvador Illa, and the Mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni. Also present were the President of the Spanish National Research Council, Eloísa del Pino, and other dignitaries.

Jesús Campos Manzano was honoured in the María Teresa Toral category, in Chemical Science and Technology. He was honoured for his innovative approach to cooperative organometallic chemistry, as well as for the development of new strategies for the functionalisation of poorly reactive molecules through unconventional mechanisms. Securing competitive international funding for his own research group, as well as coordinating numerous projects, reflects his extraordinary scientific leadership.

In this edition, five researchers from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) were recognised with the National Research Awards. On the one hand, those awarded for established careers with significant international impact were Ignacio De la Torre Sainz, Ana María Traveset Vilaginés and Marisol Martín González. Meanwhile, in the category of National Research Awards for Young Researchers — which recognise researchers under the age of 40 who have made outstanding contributions in the early stages of their careers — the winners were María José Martínez Pérez and Jesús Campos Manzano himself.