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researcher Juan Pablo Fuenzalida to present in Hong Kong advances in protein engineering applied to biosensors and cancer therapies

The BIOMA Institute researcher presented innovative strategies with potential to improve cancer therapies, create more precise biosensors and develop new sustainable biomaterials.

06 | 10 | 2025

Juan Pablo Fuenzalida, researcher of the SUMBETgroup of the Biodiversity and Environment Institute BIOMA, participated from September 24 to 27 in an international congress organized by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Hong Kong, a meeting that brought together molecular biologists and bioengineers of worldwide reference letter . In this scenario, Juan Pablo was able to explore protein engineering strategies applied to biosensors and targeted cancer therapies.

In his speech, Fuenzalida presented some advances that show how traditionally fragile proteins can be transformed into stable and easy-to-produce materials, opening new possibilities for developing biomolecule-based oral treatments and designing more resistant and effective biosensors. "This work opens the door to future collaborations with the Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, exploring lines of convergence between their developments in materials and biomedical applications and our work in protein design and optimization", says Juan Pablo.

During his exhibition, Fuenzalida also addressed the potential of fluorescent proteins (FP), fundamental in biological imaging and of growing interest in materials science. He presented the first photoacoustic spectrophotometer designed to analyze FP transition states, a tool core topic to improve the performance of photoacoustic imaging.

Based on these findings, he unveiled a new family of reversible photoacoustic sensory proteins, explaining the molecular mechanism behind them and their interaction with calcium. He also showed how his team has developed a strategy that improves the binding between proteins, achieving surprisingly stable materials even in solvents or plastic materials.

Finally, Fuenzalida presented recent findings on the ability of all major classes of fluorescent proteins to emit circularly polarized light (CPL) with a brightness unprecedented among organic emitters. "This phenomenon, which can be genetically controlled, is of great interest as it opens up new opportunities in optoelectronics and biomolecular photonics," says Juan Pablo.

These findings open the way to applications as diverse as more precise diagnostics or the development of advanced biomaterials. In addition, protein-based biosensors have numerous applications in environmental research and sustainability. In order to have better, faster, more sustainable and robust tools, the strategy is to use genetically modified proteins to detect environmental pollutants, i.e. sensors that change color dramatically in the presence of the pollutant.

These findings open the door to applications as diverse as more precise medical diagnostics or the development of innovative biomaterials. In the environmental field, protein-based biosensors offer great potential. These genetically modified proteins can be used to detect pollutants and react to them with visible color changes, providing faster, more reliable and environmentally friendly tools.

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