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It is vital that research in bioengineering and nanomedicine receives private support. Without this help, our mission to conduct high quality investigation to find solutions for novel, affordable medical technologies … Read more

Research management staff

DirectorJosep Samitier Managing Director Sergi Camacho Assistant to the DirectorEster Sánchez People Management We welcome you to the People Management Unit of the Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC). We … Read more

Researchers measure a property of DNA for the first time

The electric polarizability of DNA is a fundamental property that directly influences its biological functions. Despite the importance of this property, however, its measurement has remained elusive so far.

In a study published in PNAS today, researchers at Barcelona’s Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) led by Laura Fumagalli, senior researcher at IBEC and lecturer at the University of Barcelona, and their collaborators at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) and at Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), and at Centro Nacional de Biotecnologia (CNB-CSIC) and IMDEA Nanociencia in Madrid, describe how they have found a way to directly measure DNA electric polarizability – represented by its dielectric constant, which indicates how a material reacts to an applied electric field – for the first time ever.

Research groups

Units Severo Ochoa Distinguished Professor Associated Researchers Associated researchers are university professors seconded to IBEC who are working on topics that are of interest or complementary to our research areas.

Fun stuff

| 10th anniversary comic | IBEC merchandise | Games | Dermoglass crowdfunding campaign 10th anniversary comic: “10 anys d’impacte” “10 anys d’impacte”: A souvenir to commemorate our 10th anniversary in … Read more

Videos

We have a broad range of videos covering various subjects such as IBEC’s research, institutional news and events, scientific projects, interviews, outreach activities, seminars and much more. You can find … Read more

Outreach

As part of its mission, IBEC aims to inform society about the research being conducted by its scientists in bioengineering and nanomedicine, both to help citizens understand the importance of research … Read more

Resources for press

We provide information to the media on important research news, technological developments and announcements of major projects. The press office also coordinates journalist and media visits to the institute to … Read more