GreeNC, the first database of non-coding RNAs in plants Blog Post

Sequentia Biotech, a company based at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), has developed the first database of non-coding RNAs in vegetal species: GreeNC. It is a repository of more than 200,000 lncRNAs annotated in 37 plant species and 6 algae that provides information about the sequence, genomic coordinates, coding potential, and folding energy for all lncRNAs identified. 

 

Jordi Naval: “I think both researchers and companies should expand their scope of vision and ask themselves where they are headed” Blog Post

Jordi Naval takes over the management of Fundació Bosch i Gimpera (FBG) with a clear objective: building a climate of trust and interaction among researchers, investors and the productive fabric. A very ambitious challenge that Naval faces with the skill and resolution that his double ‘expertise’ as both, a scientist and entrepreneur, has given him.

 

The 4th edition of the ‘Crazy about Biomedicine’ kicks off Blog Post

On Saturday, the 24 students chosen from more than 200 applicants for the ‘Crazy about Biomedicine course‘ at IRB Barcelona will have their first theory class in the centre, with the collaboration of the Barcelona Science Park (PCB). In fact, the success of first course in this field of science in 2013, an initiative of IRB Barcelona, led the Catalunya–La Pedrera Foundation to increase the number of disciplines on offer and to set up new courses, all of which fall under the umbrella of the ‘Crazy about Science Programme‘. 

 

A new era of research in cancer genomics Blog Post

A study published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications –led by the Centro Nacional de Analisis Genómico (CNAG-CRG), located at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), and the  German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)– revealed a high degree of heterogeneity in how cancer genome sequencing is done at different institutions across the globe. The results of this work –carried out within the framework of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC)– lay the foundation for the coming era of cancer genomics by creating guidelines and providing new tools for achieving higher quality data, for better diagnosis and precision medicine.

Biolatam, a benchmark meeting in the series of biotechnology summits worldwide Blog Post

On 16 and 17 November Santiago de Xile hosted the last edition of the largest biotechnology partnering conference in Latin-America, Biolatam 2015.The event, produced by EBD Group and ASEBIO in collaboration with ProChile and Chile Biotech, was attended by over 340 life science dealmakers from pharma, biotech and service companies representing US, Latin American and European entities.organized by the Spanish Association of Biocompanies  (Asebio), EBD Group and Chilean biotechnology companies (Asembio), with the support of ProChile and the Chilebiotech cluster. Leitat, its Biomed Division – which has located its Biomedical Division at PCB– is one of the 30 companies from the Spanish state that took part in this global partnering forum which ranks high in a relevant place in biotechnology summits worlwide.

 

IRB Barcelona develops an advanced method and the first platform of DNA simulations Blog Post

The Molecular Modelling and Bioinformatics Laboratory at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), headed by Modesto Orozco, has published today in Nature Methods a new model which allows atomic-level simulations of DNA dynamics, with unprecedented accuracy. All the simulations and posterior analyses are kept in the first online tool developed to date dedicated to atomic level simulations of nucleic acids. The platform is free of charge and available to the entire scientific community through the Spanish Institute of Bioinformatics and the European network ELIXIR-Excellerate.

 

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.

 

Projects submitted by IBEC and FBG have been selected in the first call of CaixaImpulse Blog Post

A smart dressing for wound care and a library of compounds to fight multi-resistant bacterial infection, developed by the Institute of Bioengineering Institute of Catalonia (IBEC), and two UB projects submitted by means of the Boch i Gimpera Foundation (FBG) –one about developing compounds for inflammatory and cardiovascular disorders and the other about therapies to cure diseases of the liver, lung, intestine and pancreas– are four of the 15 selected projects in the first call of the CaixaImpulse program. The initiative, co-organised by the Obra Social la Caixa and Caixa Capital Risc, aims at fostering the transformation of scientific knowledge in companies that create value for society and it allocates 1.3 million euros to the creation of biotech companies. 
 

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.

 

Atrian Bakers’s bread Tritordeum, made with the new cereal Agrasys, nominated to the Carrefour Innovation Awards Blog Post

A new type of bread  produced by Atrian Bakers  and made with Tritordeum,  has been nominated for the 2015 Carrefour Innovation Awards. The new type of bread will be subjected to population vote until the 21st of June. Tritordeum cereal is the first man-made cereal without genetic modification suitable for human consumption. Developed in the late 70s by a group of scientists from the Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (IAS) of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC)), and after 30 years of research, Agrasys -a spin-off company based at the Barcelona Science Park, founded by researchers from the IAS and the industry, launched the new bread to the market in April 2013.