Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry (ICB)-National Research Council (CNR)

The mission of the Institute embraces the study of characteristics, synthesis and properties of chemical compounds, in particular small organic molecules, involved in biological processes, with the aim of understanding their function and exploring their applications. To this purpose, the scientific investigation of the Institute ranges in any sector of life sciences and bio-based processes, addressing a multidisciplinary area in which the methods and approaches of organic and bio-organic chemistry are applied as investigation tools to biology, microbiology, ecology, pharmacology, medicine and energy. In these fields, the Institute promotes basic and applied research through national and international projects with public and private collaborators aiming at scientific and social progress in the medical, pharmaceutical, agri-food, environmental and biotechnological fields. This set of themes and skills in the context of the common general mission of the Institute allows the ICB to occupy a particular position with regard to national research structures and, at the same time, to create the optimal conditions for maximizing the knowledge achievable from the study of a given phenomenon or system. This set of themes and skills in the context of the common general mission of the Institute allows the ICB to occupy a particular position with regard to national research structures and, at the same time, to create the optimal conditions for maximizing the knowledge achievable from the study of a given phenomenon or system.

They indeed allow an analysis at various levels of complexity, from different points of view and directed to the widest spectrum of possible applications, ranging from the pure acquisition of knowledge on the analysed systems (basic research, "curiosity-driven") the development of applications in fields of high social utility and with considerable potential economic impact, including:

• Health (development of new active ingredients, understanding of physiological and pathological mechanisms);

• Energy (development of bio-fuels or, more generally, renewable biological resources for energy production);

• Environment (understanding and contrasting biological invasion phenomena by alien species, reuse of potentially polluting industrial waste);

• Agri-food industry (study and improvement of species of food interest, extraction and characterization of active ingredients with application to nutraceuticals or cosmetics, identification of eco-sustainable pesticides);

• Cultural heritage (innovative methods with low environmental impact for the protection of cultural and landscape heritage);

• The materials and specialist chemistry sector at the service of sustainable development and technological innovation.