A great deal of effort goes into the research and synthesis of new molecules, an effort that is wasted if these molecules are ‘lost’ because they do not serve their intended purpose. This is what the new CSIC Chemolibrary seeks to do: to preserve and enhance the value of molecules synthesised in the different CSIC laboratories that may be useful for other unexplored uses.
The Chemolibrary is distributed among three sites: the Institute of Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC), in Barcelona; the Institute of Medical Chemistry (IQM), in Madrid, and the Institute of Chemical Research (IIQ), in Seville. The project seeks to foster collaboration and speed up the discovery of new molecules with biological or therapeutic activities, and is part of the Global Health Interdisciplinary Thematic Platform (PTI+ Salud Global).
The Chemolibrary, which was presented at an event in Madrid, aims to preserve and enhance the molecules that have been synthesised in the different CSIC laboratories. There are compounds that, after having been tested, have to be discarded because they do not serve their initial purpose. But these same molecules can be useful for other unexplored uses. In that sense, this chemical library collects, organises, classifies and stores the chemical compounds produced by scientists, in order to make them available to other groups. It preserves original molecules that have been fully synthesised, purified and characterised.
La Quimioteca está distribuida en tres sedes: el Instituto de Química Avanzada de Cataluña (IQAC), en Barcelona; el Instituto de Química Médica (IQM), en Madrid, y el Instituto de Investigaciones Químicas (IIQ), en Sevilla. El proyecto busca fomentar la colaboración y agilizar el descubrimiento de nuevas moléculas con actividades biológicas o terapéuticas, y está englobado en la Plataforma Temática Interdisciplinar Salud Global (PTI+ Salud Global).
Carles Martínez, chemolibrarian at IQAC-CSIC, explains that the Chemolibrary is in full expansion, and hopes to incorporate more groups, institutes and more molecules. ‘The intention is to collaborate in the future with other research entities and companies, for which legal procedures and documentation are being prepared.
Among the objectives is the establishment of collaborative projects between the different research groups in different fields, and to promote the drafting of new patents and promote collaborative projects with companies interested in testing the molecules.
The origin of the CSIC's Chemolibrary dates back to the Covid-19 pandemic, when the Interdisciplinary Thematic Platform for Global Health saw the need for a bank of bioactive molecules to test against the coronavirus. Now, says Carles Martínez, the Chemolibrary is screening for many other targets.
There are other similar international projects, such as Denmark's Dk-Openscreen, a platform and collection of molecules for biological assays; France's national chemolibrary ChemBioFrance; or EU-Openscreen, a non-profit European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) for chemical biology and early drug discovery.