Jesús Jiménez-Barbero tells Joanne Thomson how last minute decisions have shaped his career.

Jesús Jiménez-Barbero works in the protein science department at the Centre for Biological Research, Madrid. His research focuses on molecular recognition, especially protein-carbohydrate interactions, with particular emphasis on the application of NMR methods.

 

Why did you decide to become a scientist? 

I really never thought about that when I was a young student. I was interested in many things, from humanities to architecture to science. I basically read everything that was available at home. Just at the last minute I decided to study chemistry and since then I have noticed that this world is really attractive. 

 

You are interested in the structural biology of proteins, in particular using NMR to study protein conformation and dynamics. Why did you become interested in this area in particular? 

It was a slow process. During my BSc, I was interested in many areas related to chemistry, especially organic chemistry, biochemistry and physical and quantum chemistry. It was again at the last minute when I decided to orient my career towards organic chemistry. I did my master in carbohydrate chemistry with Professor Martín Lomas, who oriented me towards my PhD on synthesis and conformational analysis of carbohydrate analogues. In the last years of the PhD, I became interested in NMR and tried to learn as much as possible. Then, during my postdoctoral periods abroad (National Institute for Medical Research, UK, and Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburg, USA), I mainly worked on NMR metholodogy and protein NMR. When I came back to Spain, then we started to work in molecular recognition, especially on the conformational and structural aspects of protein-carbohydrate interactions, which remain the topic of the group. Nevertheless, given our possibilities, and the possibility of establishing collaborations within our centre, as well as with other research groups in the world, we also work on structural and conformational studies of carbohydrates, peptides and proteins, as well as in the study of their interactions with other molecules. Most of the time it is clear that there is not a single structure for a biomolecule but an ensemble of structures which interconvert through dynamic processes. Thus, the study of dynamics and its impact in conformation and molecular recognition is of paramount importance within this field. 

 

What are you working on at the moment? 

We have several projects in hands, always within the framework discussed above. Carbohydrate-protein interactions, with three different targets: hevein domains (involved in allergy processes and plant defense), galectins (within a long-standing collaboration with H.-J. Gabius at München), and fibroblast growth factor / glycosaminoglycan interactions, in collaboration with G. Giménez-Gallego at my centre. 

 

What is the secret to running a successful research group? 

I don't think there is a secret and many people might rule their groups in a different manner. I like to follow up everyday's work very closely and I have the good fortune to work together with one excellent scientist (Javier Cañada). But I guess that intuition is very important, to distinguish which will be the hot topics in relation to those which will become only routine shortly. In this sense, attending (not only I, but all the collaborators in the group) as many meetings as possible and discussions about which new roads to investigate are important. 

 

You have recently joined the Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry editorial board. What excites you most about your new role? 

It is a real adventure and an honour. I really like the journal very much, since it fills a gap within modern science, at the frontier of two key areas. I will try to do my best to push the journal as high as possible. 

 

What scientific discovery would you most like to have been responsible for? 

There are so many key discoveries, at different levels of complexity and application to social life, that I cannot give one unique answer, but I guess something related to the development of the relationship between structure and activity. In this sense, Emil Fisher's first concept of 'Lock and Key' seems to me one of the keys of modern science. 

 

What do you do in your spare time? 

Reading - I continue reading a lot (not science) - and staying with my family. l attend my sons' basketball matches every weekend. I also enjoy travelling. It is very good to have this professional activity - you can visit many different countries and know about many distinct cultures. 

 

What would you be if you weren't a scientist? 

I cannot conceive of that now, but maybe...a millionaire