Aldino Viegas, who obtained his Ph.D. from the Faculty of Science and Technology, New University of Lisbon in the specialty of Structural Biochemistry, was awarded the António Xavier Award for the best PhD thesis in the area of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. His thesis, completed in 2012 and supervised by Prof. Eurico Cabrita, Dr Ana Luisa Carvalho and Prof. Anjos Macedo, addresses the issue of degradation of biomass by certain microorganisms. These microorganisms produce extracellular complexes of high molecular weight, called cellulosomes, which act as nanomachines capable of degrading the plant cell wall. The work focuses on the study of the molecular determinants that define ligand specificity in the carbohydrate-binding modules present in these complexes and contributes to a better understanding of how this complex works and what defines its efficiency.

Because the recognition of carbohydrates is a critical step of many biological and biotechnological processes, these carbohydrate-binding modules have become strong candidates in recent years in various applications such as protein purification, administration of drugs and antibodies or production of biofuels.