New research front to tackle Friedreich’s Ataxia Blog Post

The associations of patients and families Babel Family and the Asociación Granadina de la Ataxia de Friedreich (ASOGAF) channel 80,000 euros of their donations (50% from each organisation) into a new 18-month project at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) located at PCB. The long-term goal of the project is to achieve an injectable frataxin treatment able to reach the brain. Frataxin is the protein that is reduced in those affected by this rare and degenerative disease, which has no cure.

 

Researchers from CNAG-CRG show that cryopreservation increases the scope of single cell sequencing Blog Post

Researchers from the Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG-CRG) at the Barcelona Science Park have substantially broadened the applicability of single cell genomics by combining cell and tissue cryopreservation with workflows of this emerging research field. According to the study, published in Genome Biology, cryopreserved material can be readily combined with conventional single cell sequencing methods and the authors foresee its implementation as standard technique in this type of analysis.

 

A new therapeutic target that could slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease Blog Post

Researchers from IBEC at PCB have identified a potential way to slow down the neurodegenerative progression of Parkinson’s disease. This breakthrough –a result of a collaboration of three research groups at IBEC together with colleagues in the Tòquio Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, the Bellvitge University Hospital (HUB), the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Research (VHIR) and the Aragón Institute for Engineering Research (I3A)– could also apply to other types of neurodegenerative diseases, including some types of dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease, or multiple system atrophy.

 

Researchers from the URV, CIBERDEM and IRB Barcelona have developed a new technique to study the metabolism Blog Post

A group of researchers from IRB Barcelona at PCB, the URV and CIBERDEM have developed a new methodology that uses Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) to study cell metabolism. It is a tool that makes it possible to monitor metabolic fluxes and, in just 10 minutes, provide dynamic information about a considerable number of molecules. It may be able to be used in future applications to understand the reasons why some diseases develop.

 

El Parc Científic de Barcelona participa al YoMo amb múltiples propostes Blog Post

El Parc Científic de Barcelona (PCB) participa activament a la  primera edició del Youth Mobile Festival (YoMo) que avui obre les seves portes al recinte Montjuïc de Fira Barcelona, en el marc del Mobile World Congress. Durant quatre dies, el YoMo rebrà la visita de uns 20.000 escolars de Catalunya i Espanya, en una enorme exposició de ciència i tecnologia, amb espectacles de teatre en viu, tallers interactius i altres propostes per inspirar a milers de joves i apropar-los a les carreres professionals de l’ecosistema mòbil i STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematic).

 

How tumor cells hijack healthy cells to promote metastasis Blog Post

A team of researchers led by Xavier Trepat –ICREA research professor at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) based at PCB– has identified a mechanism by which cancer cells manage to escape the tumor to promote metastasis. The study, which was published today and will be on the cover of the prestigious journal Nature Cell Biology (doi:10.1038/ncb3478), and has been supported by the Obra Social “la Caixa”, revealed that tumor cells can reprogramme their healthy neighbours, dragging them out of the tumor and into other tissues.

 

Cebiotex raises a € 1.8 million in second funding round Blog Post

Cebiotex –a spin-off of the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu in Barcelona (HSJD) and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) based at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB)– has closed a funding round totaling € 1.8 million. that will allow the company to complete the regulatory pre-clinical phase of post-surgery cancer treatment for soft tissue sarcomas CEB-01. This is the first therapeutic indication developed by its innovative technology platform Cebiotex®, based on biomedical application of nanofibers for the local delivery of drugs (Local Drug Delivery System).