Rafael Laso Pérez
Ramón y Cajal fellow at the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC, Spain)
I am an environmental microbiologist with a great interest on using bioinformatic approaches to study microbial communities. My research has focused on archaeal metabolism, environmental metagenomics and cultivation of novel microorganisms. Currently, I use next-generation sequencing technologies to link microbial function in different environments: from urban wastewaters to the polar regions.
New outreach article on archaea and antimicrobials - January 7th, 2026
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Alejandro and Rafa have authored an opinion paper on the role of artificial intelligence to produce new antibiotics using the archaeal proteome. 🖥️🦠
The article is based on the findings of Torres et al. and has been published by Trends in Microbiology. They highlight how archaea are an underexplored but potentially rich source of antibiotics. In the natural environment, the synergistic effect of some antibiotics from different species might drives the ecology and evolution within microbial communities. Therefore, it is important to understand the role of antimicrobials in natural communities.
New preprint on a marine deep-sea methanotrophic biofilm
- January 9th, 2026
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We are happy to announce a new preprint on a methanotrophic biofilm from the Ginsburg Mud Volcano (Gulf of Cadiz)🦠 🔬
The preprint was based on the Master theses research from Cleopatra and Pedro during their time at the Museum. It investigate the microbial community of this deep-sea biofilm (🌊 ) using geochemistry, lipidomics and metagenomics. We showed how ANME-1b dominates the biofilm and with a Seep-SRB1 partner bacterium sustains a small microbial community consisting of fiver other organisms.
Grant opportunity for young students - February, 2026
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The lab has obtained a JAE Intro ICU funded by the Conexión Microbioma. This is a 6-month grant of 700 euros/month for Bachelor's or Master's students, who want to get a first experience in research.
The funded project is MARIÑAS (Metagenomic Analysis of Ría Intertidal Niche Adaptations in Sugars) which aims to study the Polysaccharide Utilizacion Loci of different Bacteroidetes genomes retrieved from the Ría de Vigo.
All the information can be found on this page or at the Conexión Microbiome site. The deadline for applying is the 10th of March.
Víctor gets the Conexión AMR grant
- February, 2026
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Víctor has got the mobility grant from the Conexión AMR. The Conexión is a CSIC network that promotes the collaboration among research groups on microbiology of CSIC 🔬🤝🦠 .
The grant provides funding for a 1-month stay at the group of Meritxell Gross at ICRA (Girona). There, Víctor will learn how to quantify antibiotics in wastewater. This analysis will help in the development of the project ARGOS 💧.
Stay tuned about the future news of this exciting project! 🙌
Our research is possible thanks to:
