The Scientific Director of CiQUS, José Luis Mascareñas, becomes a full member of the Galician Royal Academy of Sciences

The Scientific Director of the Singular Centre for Research in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Materials (CiQUS), Professor José Luis Mascareñas, has been named a full member of the Chemistry and Geology Sections of the Galician Royal Academy of Sciences (RAGC in its Spanish initials). During the ceremony, held in the Pazo de San Roque manor house, the Scientific Director of this CIGUS-accredited centre, gave an admission speech entitled “Science, Catalysis and Life”. The response was given on behalf of the RAGS by the academician Franco Fernández González.

Juan Lema, President of the RAGC, welcomed the new academician, whom he referred to as a “brilliant professor and researcher”, going on to highlight his interest in the extraction and characterisation of bioactive compounds, his continued quest for new knowledge for application to resolving real problems and strong international vocation. “After obtaining his doctorate, he furthered his scientific profile at the prestigious Stanford University and later at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard and Cambridge, a highly significant declaration of his interest in forging international alliances at the highest level”, explained Juan Lema. The RAGC President also made particular mention of the “important synthesis techniques” developed by Professor Mascareñas in order to extract bioactive compounds for use in pharmacology, going on to remind the audience that Mascareñas is the author of nine patents, “a clear indication of the direction his work has taken”.

Research aims and objectives

In his speech, Professor Mascareñas stressed that, “the key objective of scientific research has to be the creation of new knowledge, which is even more important than its actual application. Research intended to solve urgent or circumstantial social and economic problems is both important and necessary, but it must not come at the cost of reducing efforts in basic science, which, in the mid-term, generally leads to results with a greater capacity to transform our lives”. In this sense, he explained that his field, chemistry, “is full of examples of how research, combined with curiosity and a simple interest for expanding the frontiers of knowledge can have a decisive influence on our wellbeing. Such is the case of the discovery of penicillin, which heralded the age of antibiotics; or the first molecular methods of DNA fragmentation discovered in the 1960s, which would later lead to advances in genetic sequencing and, eventually, to the emergence of personalised medicine”.

In the words of the new academician, “one area of chemistry where the most fundamental advances have been made in recent decades is the development of catalysts, substances that, like enzymes, enable certain chemical transformations, without exhausting themselves in the process. It is worth remembering that enzymes are biomolecules responsible for promoting the chemical reactions that occur within our cells. Some of these ‘non-natural’ catalysts have had a very direct impact on our progress and wellbeing, such as the preparation of drugs or agricultural fertilisers, or the creation of new materials and technologies, to name but a few applications”.

Professor Mascareñas went on to recall that “several years ago, within our research group, we asked the question whether any of these artificial catalysts could work in the same place as enzymes work, namely inside cells and living organisms. Driven by curiosity and the desire to explain this interface between artificial catalysis and life, we discovered that certain metal catalysts – palladium, ruthenium and others – are able to bring about programmed chemical reactions inside living cells. Although these discoveries are still in their infancy, and are positioned within the framework of fundamental science, they may well be applicable to biomedicine, and in particular development of new therapies based on the selective activation of drugs”.

The value of science

Academician Franco Fernández replied to the new RAGC member’s speech, highlighting the value of pure science, the area in which Professor Mascareñas works, in comparison with applied science. “It is a somewhat artificial and certainly dangerous dichotomy. Both are absolutely necessary. Indeed, many of the findings that were originally discovered by chance, within the context of research driven by mere curiosity and the desire for a greater knowledge of Physics, Chemistry or Biology, eventually became essential for the development of technical utilities that today seem as desirable as they are essential, such as PCR tests, X-rays, laser light, GPS, antibiotics or genomic sequencing, to name but a few”. The academician concluded his speech by stating that “the scientific knowledge we generate today will help us to solve the crucial problems we will face tomorrow”. The ceremony held in the Pazo de San Roque manor house was attended by numerous academicians and scholars, as well as the Galician autonomous government’s Sub-Director General for University Scientific and Technological Promotion Mª Jesús Tallón; Iria Carreira, from the BNG parliamentary group, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Santiago de Compostela, Antonio López; the Pro Vice-Chancellor of Scientific Policy of the University of Santiago de Compostela Vicente Pérez Muñuzuri; the President of the Galician Royal Academy of Pharmacy, Ángel Concheiro; and the Mayor of Allariz Town Council, Cristina Cid; as well as a number of representatives from Galicia’s political, cultural and academic institutions.