The 20 Severo Ochoa Centers of Excellence organise 100xCIENCIA Forum Blog Post

The 20 Spanish research centers accredited with the Severo Ochoa Excellence distinction– two of which are the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), based at PCB–  met for the first time and for three days, to analyze the current situation of Spanish science and its key actors under the framework of ‘100XCIENCIA Communicating frontier science. The event, which was held from 7 to 9 October in Santa Cruz de la Palma, was closed a clear message: Science has to be conveyed to society for continued growth.

 

Shaking up the fundamentals of epigenetics Blog Post

A study co-directed by experts Montserrat Corominas, professor in the Department of Genetics and researcher at the Institute of Biomedicine of the University of Barcelona (IBUB) at PCB, and Roderic Guigó, researcher at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG-UPF), shows that chromatin marks are irrelevant for regulating genes that are expressed in a punctual manner during development. The results of this research —featured on the cover of the October issue of the journal Nature Genetics (doi:10.1038 / ng.3381)— contrast sharply with the generally accepted view of the key roles that these epigenetic marks play in regulating gene expression.

 

Registration starts for the 2015-2016 ‘Recerca en Societat’ program at the Barcelona Science Parc Blog Post

This upcoming 8 October, the Barcelona Science Park (PCB) opens the enrollment period to participate in the experimental workshops ‘Fes recerca!’ (Do Research!) and ‘Descobreix la recerca!’ (Discover Research!), which gives the start to the 15th edition of ‘Recerca in Societat’ (Research in Society). This proposal of PCB to bring science to the public and encourage vocations among young people includes over 80 activities, involving annually about 5,000 people, including the ‘Fira Recerca en directe’ (Live Research Fair), which will take place during the month April at CosmoCaixa Barcelona.

 

Protein NBS1 is crucial for macrophage functional activity Blog Post

Protein NBS1, which plays a key role in DNA damage repair, is required for macrophage functional activity. This is one of the conclusions of a scientific paper published in the journal Blood—considered one of the best scientific publications in the field of haematology— and signed by a team of experts from the Faculty of Biology of the University of Barcelona (UB), Consolidated Research Group Macrophage Biology –located at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB)– and the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona). The protein also has implications for understanding the immune defects observed in patients with Nijmegen breakage syndrome and other related disorders.

 

Sylvie Bove, new CEO of EIT Health Blog Post

Sylvie Bove has been appointed as new CEO of the EIT Health, the Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) for healthy living and active aging, promoted by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). The Spanish node, EIT Health Spain, headed by the University of Barcelona (UB) with the support from Biocat, has its headquarters at Barcelona Science Park (PCB) and is composed of 50 core partners and 90 associate partners from the public and private sectors, leaders in their fields and committed to innovation in health. Bove took on the position on September 1

 

European project to develop an innovative therapeutic strategy against epilepsy Blog Post

The European project ECMED (acronym of Extracellular Matrix in Epileptogenesis) has been launched recently. It is aimed to design, validate and bring into practice new innovative therapeutic strategies to further the development of a treatment and a diagnostic approach for the management of epilepsy. The project, which has a duration of three years and a budget of € 3.5 million, is co-funded by the European Union within the Horizon 2020 research and innovation framework program through a Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant. Biotech Iproteos –an spin-off the IRB Barcelona and the University of Barcelona, based at Parc Científic de Barcelona– is the only Spanish partner of the consortium.

 

The IBMB-CSIC Structural Biology Unit has been awarded a “María de Maeztu” distinction Blog Post

The Structural Biology Unit of the Institute of Molecular Biology of Barcelona (IBMB-CSIC), located at Parc Científic de Barcelona, has obtained the accreditation of Unit of Excellence “María de Maeztu”  in the first edition of this call of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. By virtue of this recognition, the research unit will be endowed with 500,000 € per year over the next four years.

“SciCloud 2015: Big Data and Health” towards a personalized, predictive, preventive and participative medicine Blog Post

SciCloud 2015: Big Data and Health’, the 3rd edition of the ‘Cloud Annual Scientific Conference’, organized by Mind the Byte in collaboration with PCB and Biocat, and the support of Bellavista, will be held on 14 April at the Parc Cientific Barcelona (PCB) . The forum will bring together leading experts from the academic, scientific, healthcare, business and government fields who will discuss the concept of  biomedical Big Data and share interesting initiatives, success stories and different possibilities of using large volumes of data in health sciences.

 

Genetic mechanism discovery key to controlling cell growth in the vinegar fly Blog Post

A group of researchers from the Department of Genetics of the University of Barcelona (UB) and the Institute of Biomedicine of the UB (IBUB) –located at the PCB– have described a key interaction to understanding growth control in the vinegar fly (Drosophila melanogaster). According to the study, the interaction between the transcription factor Cabut and the protein Yorkie (YAP/TAZ in humans) is necessary for tissue and organ regeneration and growth. The study could have biomedical implications as the protein Yorkie is associated with different types of cancer; to avoid the interaction between Cabut and Yorkie could be a potential therapeutic target.