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Barcelona hosts the first “Bioregion” Developmental Biology Congress

By 16 de November de 2005November 18th, 2020No Comments
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 16.11.2005

Barcelona hosts the first “Bioregion” Developmental Biology Congress

From 17 to 19 November, Barcelona will host the first . Organized by the (IBMB), part of the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), this event aims to promote cooperation between research groups working in the field of Developmental Biology in the Mediterranean transpyrenean region. The congress will involve 30 research groups from more than ten institutions, one of which is the of the Parc Científic de Barcelona (PCB, Barcelona Science Park).


According to Enrique Martín-Blanco, researcher at the IBMB-CSIC and organizer of the congress, “recent years have witnessed strong investment in research, which has allowed the establishment of several groups interested in developmental biology in the area of Barcelona. Although sufficient critical mass has been achieved to make qualitative progress in investigation, most of the groups in this field are young and lack international relations “.

In this congress, which will be held at the Cosmocaixa Museum (c/teodor Roviralta, 47-51), participants will debate topics such as cell migration, genomic analysis, and relevant issues regarding tumoral processes and genetic diseases. “Knowledge of the mechanisms of cell migration may facilitate the development of treatments and ways to block metastasis”, explained Enrique Martín-Blanco. “This is one of the possible, although long-term, applications of developmental biology”.

The congress will also address advances in our understanding of the basic developmental systems of animals and plants, which could be of relevance for research into stem cells. Other research lines covered in the congress include epigenetics and the mechanism of cell memory, that is to say, how a cell records what type of cell it is and its function; the differentiation and formation of nerve cells; and hematopoiesis, which is the formation of blood cells.