In 2012, scientists Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier published an article in Science discussing the possibility of using the CRISPR-Cas system to edit the genome. Their work, supported by Feng Zhang’s later studies, showed that DNA could be quickly, efficiently safely modified thanks to a number of tools discovered in different types of microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea, at the end of the 1980's.
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A team of University of California scientists have developed an open-source tool for 3-D imaging of microbiome and metabolome data directly from organs. Their results, published in Cell Host & Microbe, help scientists understand the effect that some compounds, like microbial metabolites and drugs, have on a diseased organ.
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The excessive prescribing of antibiotics, their overuse in livestock raising or aquiculture, patients' failure to complete their treatments, lack of research into new drugs or hygiene and infection control problems in hospital settings are the main causes of antimicrobial resistance. The estimates made by the government of the United Kingdom indicate that by 2050, the deaths caused by resistant bacteria could reach 10 million, 1.8 million more than those caused by cancer.
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The ALBA synchrotron was opened in 2010. This facility has a set of particle accelerators to produce light with which to analyze the atomic and molecular structure of matter and understand its properties. Since then, researchers have used its eight beamlines for different scientific and industrial applications.
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Last October 4, the Royal Swedish Academy awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry to Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson for the development of electronic cryomicroscopy. The technique, a tool offered by departments such as that of the University of Barcelona, was chosen “method of the year” by Nature Methods magazine in 2015.
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Since 2011, the former Secretary of State for Research, Development and Innovation of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness —now Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities— has been granting “Severo Ochoa” and “Maria de Maeztu” Units of Excellence accreditations.
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An international consortium of scientists, participated in by researchers from the University of Barcelona and the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), has developed the most extensive map to date on the interactions of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) in human being
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An international team of scientists has discovered 44 new types of marine virus. The sorting of individual viral particles, and the sequencing of their genomes, facilitated the find, published in the journal Nature Communications.
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The European Union has granted 3.6 million euros to the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) to coordinate the SPM 2.0 European Training Network project.
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Osteoarthritis is the most common joint disease. Cartilage, the tissue that normally protects the ends of bones for them to move smoothly over each other and absorbs the shock of movement, wears down over time. This is due to a number of factors such as aging, obesity, joint injury, hereditary causes or performance of activities that overly strain these areas. In the United States, this pathology affects over 27 million people.
