Researchers at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) in Spain and the University Medical Center Göttingen in Germany achieve, for the first time, in vivo light-activated auditory stimulation without the need for genetic manipulation. This new light-controlled drug, capable of triggering the neural pathways involved in hearing, can contribute to improving the spectral resolution of cochlear implants used by people with profound hearing loss or deafness.
Researchers develop self-contained micro- and nanorobots with antimicrobial activity, capable of attacking bacteria in the site of infection. The work has been led by Samuel Sánchez (Institute for Bioengineering of Catalunya (IBEC) and Cesar de la Fuente-Núñez (University of Pennsylvania, USA). The new technology, tested in mice, is a valuable tool for the treatment of bacterial infections in a controlled and localized way. In a future not so far, it could help combat infections.
Yesterday, the report “Lessons and challenges after two years of pandemic” was presented at the Carlos III Health Institute in Madrid, the first in a series of studies on trends in Spanish research that the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) will carry out each year and which will analyze current scientific issues.
IBEC researchers Zaida Álvarez, Lorena Ruiz and Anna Seriola, along with 7 other scientists, have been declared winners of this third edition of the “To the Mothers of Science” program organized by the “Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology” (BIST) which aims to support outstanding female researchers on their pathway towards positions of greater responsibility.
