(Finance) – To save works of art from decay heritage cultural such as precious marbles, paintings and frescoes thanks to the development of innovative techniques of bio-restoration. This year with the 5 per thousand on the tax declaration it is possible to contribute to ENEA scientific research in the field of cultural heritage for the study of a pool of bacteria, in order to create ecological and low-cost products that also allow to better preserve the health of the operators and the integrity of the works.
The 5 per thousand funds allocated to these activities would give theAENEAS the opportunity to further develop experimental technologies – all Italian and developed by an all-female team – already successfully used a Florence on Michelangelo’s marbles in the Medici Chapels and in Rome on the frescoes in the Carracci Gallery in Palazzo Farnese and on some works in the Vatican Museums, the National Gallery of Modern Art and the Casina Farnese.
To allocate 5 per thousand 2022 to ‘Bio-restoration project‘it is necessary to sign the box for the “funding of scientific research” on the tax return forms of individuals and indicate the ENEA tax code: 01320740580.
“Bio-restoration is a highly promising activity, especially in a country like ours which has an artistic heritage that is unique in the world and which, precisely for this reason, requires an important conservation commitment” underlines the president of ENEA. Gilberto Dialuce. “It is therefore essential to support scientific research also to broaden the potential of microorganisms in the bio-cleaning of works of art, in order to continue to offer the sector technologies and services innovativesafe, respectful of the environment and of the works themselves and at competitive costs ”adds Dialuce.
Currently the collection microbial ENEA, which includes the bacteria used in bio-cleaning applications, is composed of about 1,500 microorganisms, isolated from different environmental matrices and natural ecosystems. To give continuity to research and pave the way for the development and marketing of these productsit is necessary to subject bacterial strains to systematic studies to investigate molecular, metabolic, genetic and functional aspects: from the study of the range of temperaturehumidity and optimal salinity for their survival and functionality, to the analysis of conservation methods, up to the genetic investigation for the detection of virulence factors and therefore the exclusion of characteristics of pathogenicity.
Thanks to the 5 per thousand, several ENEA research programs have found in recent years funding sources thanks to which it has been possible to broaden the horizons of research, from the fight against Covid to technologies for food safety, from anticancer vaccines to bioplastics.