A global team involving ICUB-Tech researchers detects a type of unidentified astronomical object Blog Post

Researchers from the international collaborations LIGO and Virgo, in which the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the UB (ICCUB) takes part under the coordination of Jordi Portell –co-director of the ICCUB Technology Unit, based in the Barcelona Science Park– have announced the discovery of an object of 2.6 solar masses, placing it firmly into so-called mass gap. That is an interval between the mass of the heaviest neutron star and the lightest blackhole, from which there were no observations yet.

 

IBEC researcher Pere Roca-Cusachs joins the European elite club in biology Blog Post

Pere Roca-Cusachs –group leader at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) in the Barcelona Science Park and associate professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Barcelona (UB)– has been chosen to join the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), a prestigious network that brings together some of the most brilliant researchers in the world.

 

Researchers decipher the structure and mechanism of action of a key complex involved in bacteriophage T7 infection Blog Post

Scientists from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), at the Barcelona Science Park, and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) have combined cryomicroscopy and crystallography techniques to study the bacteriophage T7. The study, published in Nature Communications, reveals the opening and closing mechanism of the portal protein during the maturation of the viral capsid, the structure that carries the genetic material of the virus. Deciphering how work the Bacteriophages –viruses that infect bacteria– helps us to understand how others pathogenic affect us and, at the same time, they are a new focus of attention for researchers given their potential as an alternative to antibiotics.

 

 

Launch of “StarLife”, a new informatics infrastructure to boost biomedical research Blog Post

Today marks the official presentation of “StarLife”, an informatics cluster that is housed at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. This infrastructure is designed to give impetus and service to biomedical research of excellence and precision medicine. A joint initiative of the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) based in the Barcelona Science Park, the Barcelona Supercomputing Center – Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) and the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG). StarLife is funded by the Catalan Government –through the ERDF– and ”la Caixa”.

 

Defective glial cells can push neurons toward Parkinson’s disease Blog Post

Defective versions of human brain cells called astrocytes are linked to the buildup of a toxic protein that is one the hallmarks of Parkinson’s disease. This is one of the main conclusions of a study led by Antonella Consiglio, researcher at the Institute of Biomedicine of the University of Barcelona (IBUB) in the Barcelona Science Park, and the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), and Àngel Raya, from the Center of Regenerative Medicine in Barcelona (CMR[B]-IDIBELL).

 

Researchers from CNAG-CRG and IDIBAPS receive a €8.3 million ERC Synergy Grant Blog Post

The European Research Council (ERC) today announced the results of the 2018 ERC Synergy Grants Call. A project, the BCLL@las, of four research groups from the Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG-CRG) –based in the Barcelona Science Park and integrated into the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG)– and the Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS) have received this prestigious grant to unravel the genomics and epigenomics of chronic lymphocytic leukemia – the most frequent adult leukemia in the Western world– at unprecedented resolution using single-cell analysis. 

 

SOM Biotech initiates of Phase 2a clinical trial of SOM3355 in Huntington’s disease patients Blog Post

SOM Biotech, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company –with headquarters in Barcelona Science Park– that discovers and develops drugs for orphan indications in the central nervous system,  has initiated of Phase 2a clinical trial of its compound SOM3355 for the treatment of the chorea movements associated to Huntington’s disease. The investigational product is a repositioned drug, currently commercialized for the treatment of hypertension. 

 

Laboratorios Ordesa are leading a research project on food allergies Blog Post

Laboratorios Ordesa head up the TOLERA consortium, which was conceived with the aim of developing workable solutions for the food industry that provide safer and more effective foodstuffs and ingredients to prevent people from developing food intolerances and allergies. Under the framework of this project—driven by the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) with a budget of €8.1 million for the 2018-2021 period—the company will promote various research studies, both their own at their research centre in Barcelona Science Park, and in partnership with other companies, universities and public and private R&D centres.