Bioactive molecules: innovative contributions of biotechnology to the restoration of cultural heritage

One of the first and most important steps during the conservative restoration of an artifact, is the action of cleaning, which enables the removal of organic layers such as animal glue or other protein mixtures that cover the original surface. Cleaning must be performed carefully and selectively, making a distinction between the different areas, so as not to cause irreversible damage to the surface of the object, and remove the deposits without acting directly on the original surface materials. In this study hydrolases isolated from marine organisms, whose peculiarity is to be active in a range of temperature between 4° C and 37° C, are proposed as an alternative to classic cleaning methods.