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This is the home-page of the Molecular Biotechnology Group of the
Institute of Physics of São Carlos of the University of
São Paulo.
Our group is concerned with the study at a fundamental level of the
structure and function of biomolecules and the use of this knowledge for
the development of technical innovation.
Our research is based on molecular biology, chemical and computational techniques
which form an interdisciplinary framework for tackling the molecular
basis of biophysical phenomena and subsequent development of novel
technologies. The laboratories are equipped with state-of-the-art
equipments for protein expression, purification, crystallization and
structure refinement, for the chemical analysis of biopolymer
degradation and, finally, for the simulation and modeling of protein
structures and substrates for a finer comprehension of the relationships
between structure and function.
The principal research line being currently developed in our
laboratories concern the study and optimization of enzymes for the
degradation of biomass aiming the sustainable development of second
generation biofuels, specially derived from sugar-cane.
Our group is also interested in
the study of structure and function in Nuclear Hormone Receptors,
crystallization and structure-refinement methods, and general
computational methods in chemistry and biochemistry.