IRB Barcelona News - Scientific

• 11 March 2010
  Opposing functions of a key molecule in the development of organisms

  The same molecule is also involved in cancer and studies of its activity may provide new clues for the design of effective therapies.

• 10 March 2010
  New alterations found in young adults with type 2 diabetes

  A genetic variation in mitochondria, the energy-producing machinery of cells, prevents young obese subjects with diabetes type 2 to respond to physical exercise.

• 8 February 2010
  A study reveals how respiratory tubes and capillaries form

  Scientists at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) and CSIC report on the formation of the small-diameter respiratory tubes of the fly Drosophila, a process that resembles the development of the finest blood vessels, the capillaries, in mammals.

• 18 January 2010
  Researchers identify a new gene involved in autophagy, the cellular recycling programme

  EMBO Reports selects a study by researchers at IRB Barcelona as the highlighted article of the week because of the relevance of autophagy in health.

• 12 January 2010
  The polyglotism of a basic protein involved in cell communication is revealed

  The multiple conformations of G-protein offer new possibilities to develop specific drugs.

• 17 December 2009
  Researchers design a tool to induce controlled suicide in human cells

  Scientists will use it to analyse the stress responses used by cells to solve genomic errors, and also to identify targets of therapeutic interest.

• 30 October 2009
  A new mechanism to separate protein synthesis in the cell

  Researchers at IRB Barcelona describe a new mechanism that allows the segregation of nuclear and mitochondrial genetic codes in Trypanosoma.

• 6 October 2009
  New data shed light on Drosophila wing development

  The study provides further insight into how cells divide to form the wing during the embryonic development of the fly Drosophila.

• 2 October 2009
  The architecture of mitochondria: health and disease

  Researchers at IRB Barcelona publish a review article in Physiological Reviews about the changes in the shape and movements of mitochondria, and the human diseases associated with defects in these processes. This review establishes a new interface between cell biology and pathology.

• 3 August 2009
  Protecting cells from their neighbours

  An IRB Barcelona research team discovers the mechanism that favours the correct separation of germ cells –future ovules and sperm-, from the rest of the cells during embryonic development.