Researchers at the Soft Robotics Lab at ETH Zurich in collaboration with the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia have developed a biohybrid system that mimics the biological interface between bones and muscles, enabling improved force transmission. This technology could be applied not only in robotics but also in the development of medical implants.
Researchers at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) have recorded human embryo implantation in real time for the first time, using an innovative system developed in the laboratory that simulates the outer layers of the uterus in 3D. Implantation failure is one of the main causes of infertility, accounting for 60% of miscarriages. The work, published in the journal Science Advances, may help to better understand the mechanisms underlying the implantation process, improving fertility rates and optimising assisted reproduction processes.
Researchers at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) have created the world’s simplest artificial cell capable of chemical navigation, migrating toward specific substances like living cells do. This breakthrough, published in Science Advances, demonstrates how microscopic bubbles, called vesicles, can be programmed to follow chemical trails. This breakthrough reveals the bare essentials needed to make synthetic life move with purpose. Decoding how vesicles navigate reveals how cells communicate and transport cargo, and provides a blueprint for engineering targeted drug delivery systems
The work, led by a team from the CSIC and IDIBELL, with the collaboration of IBEC, manages to visualise how embryonic cells eliminate bacterial infections, before the formation of the immune system. The research describes a mechanism of phagocytosis similar to that used by white blood cells, and reveals that this mechanism is also present in human embryos.
This is an analysis on an unprecedented scale. They studied over 140,000 versions of the Aβ42 peptide, which forms harmful plaques in the brain. It is the first map to reveal how mutations affect a protein in its transition state — a fleeting phase that is difficult to study. This finding opens up new avenues for preventing Alzheimer’s disease and suggests a method that can be applied to studying other proteins involved in different pathologies. The study, published in Science Advances, is a collaboration between the Wellcome Sanger Institute in the United Kingdom, the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia, and the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona.
A study by Stanford University and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia describes an innovative technology that enables the large-scale analysis of antibodies in biological samples. Using microscopic beads marked with stable isotopes, this advance surpasses traditional techniques, accelerating the study of immune responses and opening up new possibilities for biomedical research.
IBEC and ISGlobal researchers led a study that points towards protein aggregation as a possible target to find new ways to reduce the viability of Plasmodium falciparum, the main causing agent of malaria. By inducing protein aggregation, they observed considerable disorders in protein homeostasis and a significant reduction in parasite growth. The results position protein aggregation control as a promising target for antimalarial therapies.
The new therapy, made of nanofibers and trehalose, a sugar that naturally occurs in plants, traps and neutralizes toxic proteins to stop disease progression. Now trapped, the toxic proteins can no longer enter neurons and instead harmlessly degrade. The study, published in the journal of the American Society, was led by the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia and the Northwestern University.
A study led by the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) has uncovered how co-infection by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Mycobacterium abscessus, two common lung pathogens, can suppress immune responses and worsen outcomes in patients with respiratory diseases. The findings, published today in the journal Virulence, provide new insight into why polymicrobial infections are particularly difficult to treat and open the door to new therapeutic strategies.
The new AI is able to predict when and why protein aggregation occurs, a mechanism linked to Alzheimer’s and 50 other diseases that affect 500 million people. The results show great potential for research into neurodegenerative diseases and for improving drug production, reducing costs and increasing efficiency. The study, published today in Science Avances, is the result of a collaboration between the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) and the Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC).