The economics newspaper Expansión Catalunya has echoed the forthcoming publication of the results of a clinical assay of the MAF-Test, a diagnostic test for breast cancer patients developed by Inbiomotion, a spin-off from IRB Barcelona set up in 2010 by the researcher Roger Gomis. The results are expected to be out in November. This test may have the capacity to identify those breast cancer patients who would benefit from treatment with bisphosphonates, a class of drugs used to treat non-metastatic breast cancer, but whose administration can in many cases be counterproductive. If the results are positive, it is hoped that this test will reduce mortality...
Meritxell Teixidó, a researcher at IRB Barcelona, has been interviewed on the TVE2’s documentary ¡Qué animal! about her work with peptides from scorpion and bee venom in search of drugs that can reach the brain. "These poisons are able to reach the brain, which explains their toxicity. It is precisely this capacity that attracts us to examine their applications," explains Teixidó.
Link to TVE
The radio station COPE and the newspapers La Vanguardia and La Razón, among others, have reported on the statement of 7 BIST centres, among them IRB Barcelona, in favour of global action against the climate crisis. The scientists join the global movement against the climate crisis and the world strike called on 20 September, in addition to presenting a statement in which they confirm that the evidence of climate change is “solid”. In this statement, they make an urgent call for "personal, social and political actions" to prevent “catastrophic effects and “devastating consequences " if climate change is not reversed.
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The newspaper La Razón has interviewed IRB Barcelona researcher Meritxel Teixidó in the context of the grant award ceremony of the ”la Caixa” Foundation, which was held on 16 September.Teixidó has received a CaixaImpulse grant to work towards the preclinical development of one of the compounds that shows the greatest therapeutic potential for a given type of pediatric brain cancer. “We know that drugs are necessary to treat these patients, but they can´t reach the brain in sufficient amounts. Greater amounts could be administered to ensure that the correct amount reaches the brain but this would cause many side effects,” explains Teixidó...
The newspaper ABC has interviewed Eduard Batlle, ICREA researcher and head of the Colorectal Cancer Lab at IRB Barcelona, one of the beneficiaries of funding from the ”la Caixa” Foundation in the Health Research category. Batlle’s project seeks to discover how tumour cells modify their environment to evade detection by the immune system, thus allowing the regeneration of the tumour. “We have confirmed that when tumour cells leave the primary tumour they are recognised by the immune system but they then evade surveillance and spread through the organism,” says the scientist.
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The radio station Cadena SER and the newspapers ABC and El Punt Avui, among other media, have reported on the grant award ceremony of the ”la Caixa” Foundation, which was held on Monday 16 September. The beneficiaries of include IRB Barcelona researchers Eduard Batlle and Raúl Méndez, who were awarded funding for two projects in the Biomedicine and Health call, Meritxel Teixidó, who obtained a grant through the CaixaImpulse Programme, and Enrique Marcos, who received a postdoctoral ”la Caixa” fellowship.
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In the context of the Longevity World Forum, which will be held on 14 and 15 November in Barcelona, the specialised journal Acta Sanitaria has published an interview with IRB Barcelona researcher Manuel Serrano. “We want to understand how tissues respond to damage (and the word damage includes aging, degenerative diseases and cancer),” says the scientist.
Link to Acta Sanitaria
The newspapers ABC and La Vanguardia, and the radio station COPE, among other media, have reported on the international Geroscience gathering, which was held on 13 and 14 September in Madrid. This is the first time that this event has been hosted in Europe and, on this occasion, IRB Barcelona researcher Manuel Serrano was one of the organisers. Geroscience aims to increase knowledge of the aging process and to disseminate research breakthroughs in this field. “Science and research are not pursuing immortality but aim to improve the treatments of typical aging-associated diseases, with a focus on being able to maintain a satisfactory quality of life for...
The newspaper La Vanguardia and the specialised journals SINC and Diario Médico, among other media, have published articles on two studies performed by researchers at IRB Barcelona and the Molecular Biology Institute of Barcelona (IBMB-CSIC). The studies describe the structure of the portal protein of the Epstein-Barr virus and bacteriophage T7, which is crucial for infection by these two viruses. Although the Epstein-Barr virus, which causes glandular fever (also known as mononucleosis) and various kinds of cancer, is one of the most common viruses found in humans, there is still no treatment available. “Understanding the structure of the portal protein could be useful for the design of...
The newspapers Público and El Punt Avui,and the TV channel La Sexta, among other media, have reported on a recent study headed by Cayetano González, ICREA researcher at IRB Barcelona. Using the vinegar fly, Drosophila melanogaster, this study has identified possible regulators of the differences in tumours associated with the sex of an individual. Published in Science Advances, the study compares the brain tumours of male and female flies at the molecular level and identifies the protein responsible for the different degrees of aggressiveness. Understanding the molecular bases of the differences in the incidence of cancer and survival between men and women is crucial if specific and more...
