In the media
Several media channels have reported on the award of European Research Council funding to various projects being undertaken in Catalonia. Among these projects is that of Eduard Batlle, head of the Colorectal cancer Lab at IRB Barcelona. His research will focus on the hidden cells of the primary tumour that begin to spread before surgical intervention and that can remain undetectable for months or years until they seed a new tumour.
Batlle will study the distinct mechanisms through which these cells evade the immune system and invade another organ.
Link to: ABC
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Several media have published an interview with Patrick Aloy, head of the Structural Bioinformatics and Network Biology Lab at IRB Barcelona, in which he talks about a study being done by scientists at the University of California. This study analyses the physical interactions of the coronavirus in order to understand how this virus “sequesters” our proteins to ensure its survival. This research aims to find drugs that can act against these proteins. In this regard, the researchers at the University of California have found 70 compounds, including around 30 drugs authorized by the US Food and Drug Agency(FDA).
Aloy explains that the strategy to look for pharmacological targets...
The EFE Agency has published an interview with Gloria Pascual, associate researcher in the Stem Cells and Cancer Lab at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona). In the interview she talks about the discovery made by Joan Massagué regarding the origin or metastasis.
The researcher explains that the study demonstrates what has been suspected for years, namely that “the metastatic process is highly influenced by environmental conditions within the tumour encountered by cells and does not depend so much on the acquisition of a specific mutation”.
Pascual adds that the final goal of research into metastasis is the discovery of...
Various media have reported on studies addressing COVID-19 to be undertaken by several research centres in Catalonia. Among the groups involved is IRB Barcelona’s Structural Bioinformatics and Network Biology Lab, headed by Patrick Aloy. IRB Barcelona is one of eight research centres chosen by the European Commission to study new approaches to treat and diagnose COVID-19 and thus halt the spread of the virus.
Furthermore, NostrumBiodiscovery, cofounded by IRB Barcelona researcher Modesto Orozco, is collaborating with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center–Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) in another EC project. In this regard, the project aims to use cutting-...
Several media outlets have reported on research in which IRB Barcelona’s Microtubule Organization Lab, headed by Jens Lüders, has participated. This study has identified NCAM2 as a pivotal protein in the development of the hippocampus and cortex, both key brain structures for cognitive learning. According to the scientists, this protein is a crucial factor for the formation of the neuronal circuits in the brain and its deficit alters its function in the central nervous system.
Link to: Europa press
Link to...
The programme La Sexta Columna broadcasted by La Sexta has interviewed Patrick Aloy, head of the Structural Bioinformatics and Network Biology laboratory at IRB Barcelona, about the participation of his team in a European research project devoted to COVID-19. Aloy explains that the project will study the efficacy of more than 5000 drugs to fight this coronavirus. The scientist says, "If we do not get any results from these 5000 or 7000 compounds, we will have to widen the search and examine the million compounds that are available".
Link to: La Sexta Columna (minute 41: 10-42: 50)
Manuel Serrano, ICREA researcher and head of the Cell Plasticity and Disease Group at IRB Barcelona, has been interviewed on Radio 4´s programme De boca a orella. The interview was about ways to measure biological age. The scientist says that one of the techniques receiving most attention is the epigenetic clock. He goes on to explain that this is a “clock” present in our blood and that, combined with the study of other factors such as telomeres (the structures that form at the ends of chromosomes), it serves to measure biological age. He goes on to say, ““Chromosomes are the structures in which lineal DNA is found. We have 23 chromosomes and their ends hold a repeated...
The newspaper Entre Mayores has published an interview with Manuel Serrano, ICREA researcher and head of the Cell Plasticity and Disease Lab at IRB Barcelona, about senolytic compounds, which may be able to reverse the effects of aging.
Experimental research on animals to date has demonstrated that tissue health can be enhanced by eliminating senescent cells. This discovery has led many research groups to search for compounds with the capacity to selectively kill these cells. Although still in experimental stages, some drugs can remove these cells and, consequently, improve age-associated health conditions. “These drugs would in a certain way complete the tissue repair...
The newspaper El Nacional has published an interview with Nuria López-Bigas, head of the Biomedical Genomics Lab at IRB Barcelona. López-Bigas explains that her lab work comprises computational analysis of the mutations present in tumours. According to this researcher, the most important focus of her work is “determining which of these mutations have led to the development of the tumour.”
Referring to her lab, she says “We work with an enormous number of data and the only way to analyse them is to design computer programmes that can look for the differences between genomes and identify the mutations”. Thanks to these tools, it has been discovered that a single tumour can carry...
The European Commission has awarded funding to 17 research projects in a special call announced to tackle the coronavirus. IRB Barcelona’s Structural Bioinformatics and Network Biology Lab, headed by Patrick Aloy, is participating in one of these projects, together with other research centres. The project, called RiPCoN, will perform a computational study of the interactions between coronavirus and human cells, with the aim to identify drugs (already on the market or in trials) that can halt the spread of the virus.
Various media have reported on Spain’s participation in 6 of the 17 projects chosen by the European Commission to advance and speed up research into the...
