1.12: Crystallography in Spain

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In the context of this chapter, you will also be invited to visit these sections...

Crystallography is one of the branches of Science whose importance has been critical to the development of Chemistry around the world. Its influence, which was spectacular in Spain during the last third of the twentieth century, led (through many efforts) to the establishment of several groups of crystallographers whose relevance is nowadays beyond any doubt. However, contrary to what happened in other developed countries, Crystallography in Spain, and especially in academic institutions, seems in general to remain an unresolved matter. This is probably due to the fact that it has erroneously been considered as a minor technical issue, whose application and interpretation is trivial.

No scientific discipline has so profoundly influenced the field of structural Biochemistry as that of X-ray diffraction analysis when applied to the crystals of macromolecules. It is among the most prolific techniques available for providing significant new data. In theory, there is no limit in molecular size, and thus it includes, in addition to proteins, the viruses, ribo- and deoxyribonucleic acids and protein complexes. Its influence has also affected the development of Biology and Biomedicine, leading to the so-called structural genomics. The detailed knowledge of the structure of biological macromolecules enables us not only to understand the relationship between structure and function, but also to make rational functional improvement proposals. In contrast with the importance of these issues, the rather large number of research groups in Spain (very competitive in Cellular and Molecular Biology), and the lack of resources dedicated to the few Spanish laboratories active in macromolecular Crystallography becomes very apparent.

In an separate part of this chapter the reader will find a brief historical outline on the initial development of Crystallography in Spain.

Most crystallographers working in Spain are associated with the Specialized Group for Crystallography and Crystal Growth (Grupo Especializado de Cristalografía y Crecimiento Cristalino, GE3C), a group associated with the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry. Similarly, European crystallographers are associated with the European Crystallographic Association, ECA.

Further, the Spanish Committee of Crystallography is the Spanish association responsible for coordinating the official Spanish representation to the International Union of Crystallography, IUCr.

There are some other Spanish associations related to Crystallography, organized according to various radiation sources of interest in the field:

Crystallographers working in Spain had the responsibility to organize the XXII Congress and General Assembly of the International Union of Crystallography, IUCr, that was held in Madrid (August 22-30, 2011). This type of congress, held every three years in a different country, had in Madrid over 2,800 worldwide participants and implied an explicit recognition by the IUCr of the "Spanish crystallography". The event was officially supported by the IUCr, the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), several Spanish universities (especially Alcalá, Complutense of Madrid, Autonomous of Madrid, UIMP, Oviedo, Cantabria and Barcelona). Special mention has to be done to the support received by the BBVA Foundation (which specifically supported the participation of the three 2009 Chemistry Nobel Laureates). AECID and Metro-Madrid helped to the participation of a large number of young researchers from less developed countries. The "Madrid Convention Bureau" supported, in 2005, the preparation of the candidature of Spain to organize this unique event. Crystallographers working in Spain and specially those implied in the Local Organizing Commitee, appreciate the suport obtained from all these organizations.

See also the contents of this link.

The most relevant research groups located in Spain and using Crystallography as a main research tool can be found below. See also the following link.

Nine of the groups listed below made an association in the context of a joint project called The Factory of Crystallization, a collaborative project to create an integrated platform for research and services in crystallization and crystallography. The project was thought as a setting to combine advanced research on crystallization and crystallography and service delivery in these fields to companies and research groups in biomedical, pharmacological, biotechnological, nanotechnological, natural or material sciences. The aim was that any group extracting, synthesizing or, in general, developing a new molecule or potentially interesting material could have access, with an adequate level of confidentiality, to the knowledge and technology needed for crystallization, diffraction data collection and structure solution. The project was funded with € 5.0 M by the former Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (now Ministry of Science and Innovation), as part of the Consolider-Ingenio/2010 program.

The following information corresponds to a relatively splendid stage of Crystallography in Spain (during the first decade of the 21st century). Unfortunately, with the passage of time the situation has worsened, so many of the links shown below may no longer be operational..

The list of groups shown below may contain involuntary errors or omissions. Groups who would like to be included here should get in contact through this link.