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“Coneixement que dilueix les fronteres” (Eng)

Senior research associate Jérôme Noailly of the Biomechanics and Mechanobiology group features in an article about mobility and the opportunities offered to international researchers in the latest edition of Informacions, a monthly magazine on research, teaching and institutional activities at the UPC.

Scientists discover a new type of wave in living tissues

The Integrative Cell and Tissue Dynamics group published their latest results in the quest to understand how the cells in our bodies collectively migrate in Nature Physics this week.

In studying the motion of cell clusters, the researchers detected evidence of wave-like crests of deformation launched at the edges of the clusters and propagating from cell to cell at roughly twice the speed at which cells were moving.

‘Fingerprinting’ nanoscale objects and viruses

IBEC’s Nanoscale Bioelectrical Characterisation group are celebrating the publication of their latest results in Nature Materials this week.

In their paper “Label-free identification of single dielectric nanoparticles and viruses with ultraweak polarization forces”, Laura Fumagalli, group leader Gabriel Gomila and their colleagues present their work on a new technique to identify nano-objects such as viruses without the need for labeling, which could offer a breakthrough for biomedical diagnostics, environmental protection and nano-electronics.

Anglo-Catalan relations: a united front on nanotech

Britain and Catalonia may not agree about everything, especially when it comes to football, but one area in which they demonstrate a united front is nanotechnology. The UK is one of the three leading countries in the world for health-related nanotechnology, while in Catalonia, nanobiomedicine has become a particular research strength, with Barcelona the second city in the world with more scientific publications on the subject after Boston.

Advanced Summer School in full flow

18 young researchers from all over Europe have been learning new skills yesterday and today in the lab sessions part of the second “Interrogations at the Biointerface” Advanced Summer School, hosted by IBEC.

Cells mind the gap: cell protrusions close gaps in epithelia

Epithelial tissues line cavities and the surfaces of structures throughout the body, and also form many glands. During development, injury and in various disease conditions, gaps appear in the epidermis, which have to be quickly filled in.

The timely closure of the gaps that occur in these cell layers has been studied in great detail, and two possible mechanisms have been suggested; the closure of cells like the strings of a purse over a gap, and the extension of cellular protrusions by the cells surrounding the gap, which will eventually seal it. Different molecular players have been found to be key components of these mechanisms.