Àngels López, Author at Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia

May 20, 2016May 12, 2016

Tracking bacterial virulence: global modulators as indicators

Barcelona researchers and their collaborators have defined new bacterial virulence markers that could help track and prevent outbreaks of E. coli.

Most E. coli bacterial strains occur naturally in the human gut and pose no harm to health, except for particular serotypes that always hit the news because they cause food poisoning that can become life threatening in certain patients. One such serotype is O104:H4, that caused a large outbreak with a high prevalence of associated hemolytic–uremic syndrome (HUS) in Germany in 2011, a newly emerged strain that caused the highest frequency of HUS and death from E. coli ever recorded.

May 11, 2016

Leica’s European Tour comes to IBEC

This week, IBEC scientists and other staff from the PCB are enjoying some special workshops given by Leica.

From Tuesday to Thursday IBEC is the host institution in Spain of Leica’s European Tour 2016, which allows researchers to get hands-on with some of the company’s most cutting-edge microscopes and other equipment.

The technologies being presented and demonstrated at this week’s workshops are the DMi8 inverted microscope with Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching (FRAP) module, their SP8 X Confocal Microscope with WLL and Hybrid Detectors, HyVolution confocal super-resolution imaging, and the Leica TCS SP8 with Digital LightSheet. Researchers are able to test their own samples in these pieces of equipment.

June 17, 2020May 10, 2016

“Entrevista Samuel Sánchez / J.M.Mainat“

A video of Samuel Sánchez taking part in April’s Festival de Nanociencia y Nanotecnología.

May 19, 2016May 9, 2016

The enzymes that enable bacteria to make themselves at home

IBEC researchers have come a step closer to understanding how bacteria can cause chronic infections by identifying the key enzymes that allow them to create the right conditions for infection.

When P. aeruginosa bacteria cause chronic lung infections in patients with cystic fibrosis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), it means they have been able to form a mature biofilm in situ that lets them grow and adapt. This biofilm not only enhances cell-to-cell communication for the bacteria, thus allowing the infection to increase and thrive, but it also increases the chances of developing new antibiotic resistance and escape from the body’s immune system.

May 4, 2016

Telenoticias Hospitalet: “El present i el futur de la Fibrosi Quística”

The news programme L’Informatiu in L’Hospitalet featured the Cystic Fibrosis event, “El present i el futur de la Fibrosi Quística”, that was organised by IBEC and the ACFQ on 27th April.

September 27, 2016May 3, 2016

Analytical Chemist

Application Deadline: 20/05/2016
Ref: AC-SM
The Signal and information processing for sensing systems group at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) is looking for a Analytical Chemist .

April 28, 2016

“Los ratones de laboratorio tienen frío, trasnochan y están demasiado limpios”

Yesterday La Vanguardia published a special report on animal experimentation in their ‘Big Vang’ science section.

April 28, 2016April 27, 2016

IBEC signs agreement with Bioibérica

IBEC has signed a collaboration agreement with Bioibérica S.A., a company specialised in the R&D, production and sale of biomolecules and new technologies for the pharmaceutical, veterinary and agrochemical industries. It’s the latest success story in IBEC’s active pursuit of the establishment of research projects with industry partners who share its commitment to bringing high-quality health research and technologies to market and the patient.

Together, IBEC – specifically its Nanomalaria joint unit with ISGlobal, led by Xavier Fernández-Busquets – and Bioibérica, which since its formation in 1975 has focused on the investigation and production of biomolecules extracted from animal tissue with significant biological and therapeutic properties, will explore ways of combining their expertise to achieve advances in future medicine.

April 27, 2016April 26, 2016

Focus on Cystic Fibrosis

To coincide with National Cystic Fibrosis Day 2016, IBEC and the Catalan Association of Cystic Fibrosis (ACFQ) have organized an event, “The present and future of Cystic Fibrosis”, which is taking place on 27th April at the Barradas auditorium (Rambla Just Oliveras 56, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat).

As part of IBEC’s new ‘Focus on…’ series of outreach activities, which will highlight diseases for which the institute’s researchers are working towards finding solutions, the day will raise awareness about and present research results and clinical advances relating to CF, which is one of the most common serious genetic diseases in Catalonia. IBEC’s Bacterial Infections: Antimicrobial Therapies group’s projects researching the enzyme that promotes the growth of the bacteria linked to this disease, and possible therapeutic targets, has been supported by the ACFQ since 2009.

April 20, 2016

IBEC project among 44 funded by AXA

The AXA Research Fund, the international scientific philanthropy initiative of global insurer AXA, officially announced last week that it will devote €15.6m in 2016 to 44 new research projects with leading academic institutions in 16 countries.

IBEC’s two-year project, “Novel approaches for Pandemic Virus Targeting Using Adaptive Polymers”, is led by new junior group leader Lorenzo Albertazzi and aims to harness nanotechnology to introduce a whole new class of tools to fight viruses. This and the 43 other new projects were announced last Friday at an event in Paris, bringing together AXA executives and experts, members of the AXA Research Fund scientific community and academic partners, and other stakeholders.