IBEC will coordinate a € 3.5M EU project to train experts in advanced microscopy Blog Post

IBEC‘s Nanoscale Bioelectrical Characterization group at PCB has been awarded 3.6 million euros to coordinate the SPM2.0 project in the framework of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks (MSCA-ITN-ETN). The ten consortium members of the SPM2.0 European Training Network – located in Spain, France, Austria, the UK and Italy – will be able to provide researchers with state-of-the-art multidisciplinary scientific training in the field of Scanning Probe Microscopes (SPM), covering basic science to industrial applications, which should enable them to generate new scientific knowledge.

 

First 3D observation of nanomachines working inside cells Blog Post

Today scientists at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) at the Barcelona Science Park present a study in Cell where they have been able to observe protein nanomachines (also called protein complexes)—the structures responsible for performing cell functions—for the first time in living cells and in 3D. This work has been done in collaboration with researchers at the University of Geneva in Switzerland and the Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo in Seville.

 

A public-private project to treat atherosclerosis led by Iproteos receives € 700,000 Blog Post

A public-private consortium led by the biotech  Iproteos – based at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB)– with the participation of the Biomedical Research Institute of Barcelona (IIBB) belonging to the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), has launched a project to validate a new family of compounds for the treatment of cholesterol vascular accumulation associated with atherosclerosis. The project has just received  a grant for 700,000 Euros from the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, through the 2016 Retos-Colaboración call under the scope of the National Programme for Research Aimed at the Challenges of Society (Exp. RTC-2016-5078-1).

 

Researchers discover a protein that protects against fatty liver Blog Post

A team co-headed by scientists at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) and the IDIBAPS Biomedical Research Institute (part of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona) has revealed the capacity of the CPEB4 protein to prevent fatty liver disease.This condition generally leads to chronic inflammation (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis), which can trigger fibrosis, cirrhosis and ultimately liver cancer. This study on the basic biology of the liver paves the way to examine therapeutic strategies to fight and prevent fatty liver disease. The results have appeared in Nature Cell Biology this week.

 

€7m project awarded to IBEC to develop therapeutic approaches for cancer and other diseases Blog Post

Mechanocontrol, coordinated at IBEC by Pere Roca-Cusachs, is one of only 12 projects selected out of 210 proposals submitted in the Horizon 2020’s FET Proactive program,  which helps new research communities to be developed by encouraging researchers from different disciplines to work together. With its grant of €7m over five years, it is over three-fold larger than the prestigious European Research Council grants. In the international consortium that will develop Mechanocontrol also participates the company Mind the Byte located on the PCB.

 

The fly reveals a new signal involved in limb growth Blog Post

Researchers from IRB Barcelona at the Barcelona Science Park identify a fundamental role of the JAK/STAT signalling pathway in the development and growth regulation of limbs in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Published in Nature Communications, the study paves the way to research into the function of this pathway in vertebrate development and its possible involvement in human congenital diseases.

 

Minoryx Therapeutics receives European Orphan Drug Designation for its lead candidate MIN-102 Blog Post

Minoryx Therapeutics – a drug development company specialized in the discovery and development of new drugs for orphan diseases, which has R& D laboratories at the Barcelona Science Park–  today announces that its lead compound MIN-102 has been granted Orphan Drug Designation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). This designation is granted to medicines that are aimed at a condition that is life-threatening or chronically debilitating and have a prevalence rate in the EU of no more than five in 10,000 and brings a number of benefits to Minoryx including ten years market exclusivity.

 

Natàlia Pérez wins the 2n edition of the ‘A day at PCB’ photography contest Blog Post

Shadows de Natàlia Pérez, researcher at biotech Minoryx Therapeutics, has been the winner of the 2nd edition of the photography contest ‘Un dia al PCB’ (A day at the PCB). The aim of this event organized by the Parc Científic de Barcelona (PCB) which brings together over the 2000 people that make up the PCB Community- is to create a collective mosaic with the best snapshots of life at the park. Scientist from IRB Barcelona Amparo Prades, from the Asymmetry Synthesis Research Unit (URSA), has received an accesit award with her photograph Mirada fotogràfica. Awards were presented to the winners today, 22nd of December, at the Dolor Aleu Hall.

 

Arian Internacional succesfully starts a consultancy división for European projects Blog Post

Backed up by 14 years experience and more tan 200 companies  advised on international projects, Arian Internacional–an associate company at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB) – has successfully started the European Projects Advisory/Consultancy service with the preparation of the ZeClinics– that has won funding from the SME Instrument Phase 2, within the framework of  Horizon 2020, under the category  ‘Supporting innovative SMEs in the healthcare biotechnology sector’. This € 1.87 million grant is intended for small and medium-sized European companies investing in innovative projects with a major economic and social impact. 

 

Towards a better understanding of the puzzling “droplets” in the cell cytoplasm Blog Post

A study at IRB Barcelona, located at PCB, sheds light on the dynamics of protein aggregates that behave like “droplets of oil in water” and that are described as membraneless cytoplasmic organelles.These organelles regulate protein activity during cell division.This is the first study at the Institute to address the so-called liquid-like droplets, which are attracting the attention of researchers worldwide.