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Science Week 2008 at the Barcelona Science Park

By 11 de November de 2008November 18th, 2020No Comments
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 11.11.2008

Science Week 2008 at the Barcelona Science Park

As part of the , which is being held this year from 14-23 November, the Barcelona Science Park (PCB) has organised various educational activities related to science: the open days and the cycle of public workshops in which those attending can learn about and perform some of the experiments currently being conducted in the PCB laboratories. Similarly, the Institute for Biomedical Research is organising the conference entitled , at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. It will provide information about the benefits of biocomputation, followed by a visit to the chapel where the supercomputer is housed and to the Bioinformatics Experimental Laboratory (EBL), located within the PCB.


The PCB open days are scheduled for Tuesday 18 and Thursday 20 November at 10.00 a.m. and 3.30 p.m., and those attending will have the opportunity to hear firsthand how a doctoral research project is carried out. Participants will then visit the Park’s laboratories and scientific services where a doctoral student has been working on his or her thesis. This visit is organised as a game in which the visitors have to hunt for clues.

The topic of the project being presented during these open days is “How is gene activity studied? Identifying the genes involved in cancer” and it focuses on the study of differences in the behaviour of malignant and benign tumour cells from the point of view of their genetic activity. This presentation is an adaptation for the public of various research projects and will be presented by Carme Cortina and Elisa Espinet, researchers in the Colorectal Cancer Laboratory directed by Eduard Batlle of the Barcelona Institute for Biomedical Research. The activity is being run in collaboration with researchers from the Scientific and Technical Services of the University of Barcelona and the Transcriptomics Platform of the PCB. Those wishing to attend should reserve their place in advance.

The experimental workshops will be held on two consecutive Saturdays, 15 and 22 November, at 11.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. at the premises of La Pedrera de la Caixa de Catalunya (Passeig de Gràcia, 92). There will also be midweek workshops, aimed at schools and colleges, on Tuesday 18 and Thursday 20 November from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 p.m., which are held in the OpenLab of the Barcelona Science Park; part of the Espai Movistar area.

These workshops will address a wide range of topics, including how a crime suspect is investigated on the basis of various DNA samples, the use of fruit flies in studying certain diseases such as cancer, and a look at the different stages of drug development, with the opportunity to take part in the synthesis of a drug for treating Parkinson’s disease. The choice of workshop is open but those wishing to participate must reserve their place in advance as the number of places is limited. This activity benefits from the creative input of researchers from the Barcelona Institute for Biomedical Research, the Combinatorial Chemistry Platform of the PCB, and the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Barcelona.