Highlights 2009

The 192 papers published in ISI journals during 2009 span different areas of chemistry and biology; these papers reflect the high-quality research work at ITQB and contribute to the over 1,600 papers published in the last 10 years with a corresponding number of citations of 23,197 (h-index for this period is 57).

Adding to the 92 runing research projects, the researchers' success in securing funds for their research was visible in the 41% approval rate in the 2008 FCT call; an ITQB project on biofuel cells was one of the four selected by the MIT-Portugal Program in the bioengineering focus area; a project involving ITQB/IBET researchers for preserving Portuguese flora was among the three projects selected for funding through the Biodiversity Fund from EDP.

ITQB researchers received many distinctions for their work presented at international scientific meetings. On a more individual note, Claudina Rodrigues Pousada was honoured at the FEBS Congress and was recognized with the Almofariz Award by the pharmaceutical sector; Helena Santos and Cecilia Arraiano became Members of the Portuguese Academy of Sciences

See below, some of the research highlights in 2009:

• Looking critically at the landscape
  Energy landscape on the cover of Journal of Physical Chemistry B
• Cryopreserving cells
  Novel strategy made cover of Tissue Engineering
• Predicting chemical reactions
  A new method devised for hydrocarbons
• Cleaning-up dyes in the environment
  Enzyme biotechnology as an alternative process
• Making virtual seem more real
  New method for molecular dynamics simulation developed
• Maize seeds make researchers start from scratch
  When mass spectrometry seems to fail
• Aromatic moments determine solubility in ionic liquids
  Researchers propose new rule for predicting liquid-liquid solubility
• Generating new catalysts
  A new method to functionalize N-heterocyclic carbenes
• A snapshot of sulfur bioenergetics
  X-ray structure and biochemistry of a sulfide:quinone oxidoreductase
• Haem biosynthesis in anaerobic organisms
  ITQB researchers discover alternative pathway
• Understanding the role of vitamin B2 in lipid metabolism diseases
  ITQB researchers look into mitochondrial protein folding
• Stepping forward in gene therapy
  New strategies in downstream processing of viral vectors
• Taking ionic liquids to the next level at ITQB
  When the fungal opinion on green chemistry matters
• What nanotechnology could do for DNA
  New nanotool developed at ITQB
• Strategies in animal cell culture
  Towards better methods in drug screening
• The importance of a bond
  A method to estimate the strength of a carbon-carbon double bond
• The Making of a “Super”-Enzyme
  One single aminoacid change in RNase II drastically improves its catalysis
• Facts and fiction of genetically engineered food
  Review paper in Trends in Biotechnology
• Killer or defender of S. aureus: antagonistic behaviour of a single enzyme
  Bifunctional enzyme with nitroreductase and GSNO reductase activity
• Journal of Bacteriology features enzyme structure
  New decameric arrangement described by ITQB researchers