Mind the byte concludes the biggest round of biotech crowdequity in Spain Blog Post

In just 43 days, bioinformatics company Mind the Byte, which specializes in products and services for computational drug design and is located in the Barcelona Scientific Park (PCB), has concluded an investment round totalling €234,310 through the crowdequity platform (for investment crowdfunding) Crowdcube. This figure represents not only more than double the funding target set by the company (234%), but it is also the largest round of crowdequity achieved in the biotech industry in Spain, with 115 private investors. The average investment amount was €2,037, with a maximum investment of €80,000.

 

A study applies iPSC technology to Sanfilippo syndrome research Blog Post

Sanfilippo type c syndrome is a lysosomal storage disorder caused by mutations in the HGSNAT gene that leads to progressive neurodegeneration. A study, which has just been published in the journal Stem Cell Reports, has generated patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) which can contribute to know better disease’s pathological mechanisms and design new therapeutic options. A group of researchers from the Institute of Biomedicine of the University of Barcelona (IBUB) and Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) at PCB has participated in the study. 

IBEC success in Human Brain Project funding call Blog Post

A study involving IBEC group leader and ICREA research professor Pau Gorostiza has been chosen for funding under a Call for Expressions of Interest (CEol) on Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience by the Human Brain Project (HBP) FET Flagship. Thanks to their success in this Call, the project partners – including IBEC – will be integrated in the broader HBP Consortium. 

 

IBEC researcher Samuel Sanchez at the ‘Innovators Under 35 Europe’ summit Blog Post

Samuel Sánchez, researcher at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) at PCB, was among the experts invited to participate at the European summit of the winners of the MIT Technology Review’s Innovators Under 35 Europe award, which was held last week in Brussels. The research conducted by Samuel Sánchez is pioneer in the field of micro- and nanomotors, small machines such as bacteria that can target specific body cells for applications such as localized drug delivery.

 

Spain and France join the European Consortium Elixir for managing and analysing biological data Blog Post

At their meeting today in Hinxton (UK), the Board unanimously accepted Spain and France as full members of Elixir, the largest infrastructure of life science data in Europe. The National Bioinformatics Institute (INB), which acts as the Spanish scientific node, will coordinate the Spanish scientific partner institutions. These comprise top-level institutions such as CNAG-CRG and IRB Barcelona, located at PCB. The National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCII) will coordinate the Spanish scientific partner institutions.

 

Researchers at IBEC and UAB have found a mycobacterium that is more effective in treating superficial bladder cancer Blog Post

Researchers from Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), at Barcelona Science Park (PCB), with the Mycobacteria Research Group of the Department of Genetics and Microbiology, at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), have found a mycobacterium that is more effective in treating superficial bladder cancer and does not cause infections, unlike those used up to now. 

 

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.

 

Leitat leads GLAM, a European project to improve cancer diagnosis Blog Post

A European consortium led by Centre Tecnològic Leitat –through its Biomed Divisionlocated at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB)– has started the Glass-Laser Multiplexed Biosensor (GLAM) project, the aim of which is to develop a photonic-based point-of-care device for a non-invasive diagnosis of Genitourinary Cancer (GU). The GLAM project which will expand for 4 years will involve the participation of 10 European organizations with resources and capabilities from the academia and scientific and business field, among them the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), located at PCB. 

 

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

 

Positive outcome of the Tandem Program to foster educational success in the classroom Blog Post

The Barcelona Science Park (PCB) concludes with a positive balance its participation in the Tandem School (2011-2015) project, a singular and innovative educational program, promoted by the Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera, with the support of the Departament of Education. PCB has colaborated in this joint initiative with the ‘Aids Research Institute IrsiCaixa and the  Apel·les Mestres School of Hospitalet de Llobregat with the aim of helping promote the spirit of research among students and other scientific careers and to form critical citizens in a society increasingly based on knowledge.