The Biomolecular Nanotechnology Laboratory at CIC biomaGUNE is led by Dr. Aitziber L. Cortajarena

The group focuses on the rational engineering of tailored functional protein-nanomaterial hybrids and biomaterials, and the validation of these protein-based tools in relevant biomedical and technological applications. The Biomolecular Nanotechnology group´s research program represents a new interdisciplinary field in which protein engineering is applied to nanotechnology, taking protein research to a new dimension.

The research mainly focuses on the demonstration that protein engineering can be applied to synthesize nano- and bio-materials with defined properties. These efforts have enabled the engineering of hybrid protein-nanomaterial systems that exploit both the properties of the biomolecule and those of the nanomaterial. These tools are being applied in biomedicine as therapeutic and diagnostic tools, including the design of protein biologics that integrate novel imaging capabilities.

The team also works on the implementation of protein-based systems in a novel way for complex technological applications, integrating, for example, proteins and luminescent protein-nanomaterial complexes in lighting devices, and conductive hybrids in materials for bioelectronics, as proof of concept of the potential of protein-based materials in technological applications, opening a new field of these new biocompatible, biodegradable and sustainable functional materials.