In Vivo 12

in vivo October 2010

|

Issue 12

NEWSLETTER OF THE INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH IN BIOMEDICINE

New clues to disarming the deadliest herpes virus IRB Barcelona scientists discover new clues to disarm the human cytomegalovirus, the deadliest herpes virus and the cause of serious defects in newborns Page 02

Beyond static structures An opinion article about the importance of intrinsically disordered proteins in biomedicine and the need for a change of paradigm Page 04

New PhD students think outside the box

A revolutionary technique The Advanced Digital Microscopy Core Facility introduces a revolutionary technique into its portfolio of services

IRB Barcelona talks with four new PhD students who joined the Institute in September to find out about their first impressions and research experiences Page 02

Page 05

03

Partnering for health

05

IRB Barcelona retreat: city break style

06

Faces to Names: Interview with Marco Milรกn

07

The science and art of molecular dynamics

New PhD students think outside the box

F

inding an original thesis idea that is distinct from the millions of dissertations already published worldwide is a challenging task.

This year’s class of PhD students has spent their first month in IRB Barcelona laboratories thinking outside the box to find original research approaches for their thesis work. The students — funded either by “la Caixa/IRB Barcelona International

“The PhD training is one of the best

PhD Programme or exclusively by IRB Barcelona — are joining an established community of more than 150 PhD students currently doing their thesis work in one of the Institute’s laboratories. One month after the PhD Introductory Course held on September 6-10, IRB Barcelona talked with four new students to find out about their first impressions and research experiences in the Institute.

Council to help me get familiar with my new

explains

moments to propel your career and acquire

surroundings and guide me through the internal

physicist Con-

new technical skills and research experience.

resources at IRB Barcelona.” Trempolec will

stanze Braasch

It’s also a great opportunity to think big and

be working in Angel Nebreda’s lab to find new

(Germany,

mature as a person,” says PhD student Mariano

clues on the role of cell signalling in cancer.

1984), new PhD

Maffei (Italy, 1985). He has Pon’s research group soaking

Only weeks after joining

student in Maria

❝The PhD training is a

the Institute, many new PhD

Macia’s labora-

great opportunity to think big and mature as a person❞

students have already started

tory.

up literature on a family of enzymes that plays a key role in cell migration, development and immune response.

to do lab rotations, an initia-

Asked about

tive aimed to promote future

his expecta-

collaborations and explore the

tions beyond

(From top) Maffei, Trempolec, Tatarski and Braasch.

science carried out in other research pro-

four years of doing doctoral work, PhD student

grammes. “I chose to do my lab rotation in

in Antonio Celada’s lab Milos Tatarski (Serbia,

smooth,” says new PhD student Natalia Trem-

the Oncology Programme because this was a

1983) says he hopes his thesis results on macro-

polec (Poland, 1985). “I was assigned, right

unique opportunity to sneak in a completely

phages will contribute to “finding clues for de-

from the start, a mentor from the PhD Student

different research area like DNA damage,”

veloping drugs that target immune diseases.”

“The adaptation process has been very

PHOTOS: N. BARBERÍA

spent his first weeks in Miquel

.

IN FOCUS

New clues to disarming the deadliest herpes virus

P

atients infected with the human cytomegalovi-

three-dimensional structure of a protein that is es-

rus, the deadliest form of the herpes virus and

sential for the replication of the cytomegalovirus, a

the cause of serious defects in newborn chil-

discovery that could potentially lead to finding new

dren, have a new reason to be hopeful. Researchers

drugs to treat the entire herpes virus family. The

in the IRB Barcelona Laboratory on Structural Biol-

results were published in the journal Proceedings of

ogy of Proteins and Nucleic Acids have unraveled the

the National Academy of Sciences in September.

When researchers in Miquel Coll’s labora-

Coll (left) and Nadal (right) worked structure of the terminase nuclease

of the AIDS virus. This resemblance led the

did,” explains researcher Marta Nadal, first author of this finding.

tory unraveled the three-dimensional structure

laboratory to suspect that raltegravir, the drug

of the nuclease domain of the terminase DNA

approved in 2007 for the treatment of AIDS,

The next step for the laboratory, ac-

packaging complex they came across an unex-

could also be effective against the herpes virus

cording to Group Leader Miquel Coll, will

pected clue: They found out that the protein

family.

be to collaborate with a team of virologists

was not only important for the replication of

“We decided to run experiments with

and chemists “to find ways to improve the

the herpes virus, but its shape was very similar

raltegravir to see if it would also work for

function of raltegravir and alter its formula

to integrase, a key protein in the propagation

the human cytomegalovirus terminase, and it

to be effective to stop the propagation

02

in vivo

October 2010

| Issue 12

SCIENCE BITES

Partnering for health

F

inding new strategies and

aimed at finding

technologies to tackle

new drugs to con-

complex diseases is a com-

trol infections that

➲

mon goal of several IRB Barcelona

are caused by RNA viruses and which

research groups who have recently

kill millions of people every year.

partnered up in new international

Computational biologists in

projects funded by the European

Modesto Orozco’s group also

Commission.

started work this fall toward finding

Through the new FP7 project

promising computing techniques and

NIMBL (Nuclease Immune Mediated

life-science applications to speed up

Brain and Lupus-like conditions),

research results. The group’s efforts

Antonio Celada’s Macrophage Biol-

are part of Scalalife (Scalable Software

ogy Group will tackle the Aicardi-

Services for Life Science), an EC-

Goutieres Syndrome, a rare genetic

funded project whose goal is to pro-

disorder that causes fatal lesions in

vide the scientific community with the

children. The team’s ultimate goal for

latest cutting-edge e-infrastructures

the next four years will be to find new

for research by 2013.

mechanisms that allow macrophages

The IRB Barcelona Advanced Digi-

to repair the broken DNA that char-

tal Microscopy Core Facility, led by

acterizes this syndrome.

researcher Julien Colombelli, has also

Crystallography experts in Miquel

recently joined Euro-Bioimaging, an in-

Coll’s group also joined efforts with

ternational network of imaging experts

many international research partners

aimed at offering access, services and

in October as part of the EC-funded

training to state-of-the-art bioimaging

project Silver, a four-year initiative

technologies across Europe.

.

which have a long list of contraindications.

The human cytomegalovirus is the most dreaded member of the herpes virus family. Patients carrying the virus are at higher risk for complications if they are pregnant – if the virus infects the fetus it can PHOTO: A. ALSINA

hand in hand to unravel the three-dimensional domain (illustrated on computer screen).

of this deadly herpes virus.” The ultimate goal for the next coming

provoke irreversible anomalies in the baby’s brain – and if they have low immune defenses and are about to undergo transplants. In people with AIDS, the human cytomegalovirus can cause blindness.

The incidence of the human

years is to find a new antiviral drug

congenital cytomegalovirus disease

that inhibits the replication of the

is higher than Down syndrome in

human cytomegalovirus and that

newborn babies, according to recent

.

has minimalside effects, as opposed

epidemiological studies run in the

to current drugs available in the

USA. Unfortunately there is no vac-

market for the treatment of herpes

cine against the virus.

A promising peptide to weaken the African swine fever virus

A new peptide designed by IRB Barcelona chemists in Ernest Giralt’s laboratory could put a stop to the replication of the African swine fever virus, one of the most dreaded epidemic diseases in pigs. Published in the Journal of Virology in September, the group has managed to come up with a new peptide that not only weakens the virus but it also reduces the infection process. According to researcher Teresa Tarragó, this new mechanism to block viral infection could open new avenues for other viral diseases such as AIDS, herpes, rabies and adenoviruses.

➲

New insight into the toxicity of amyloid aggregates

Xavier Salvatella’s research group has one of the most feared processes in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, amyloid aggregation, in its crosshairs. The IRB Barcelona Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics published a new discovery in the September issue of the Journal of Molecular Biology that sheds some light on why amyloid aggregates are toxic and the mechanisms by which they damage cells. The study, first-authored by researcher Maria Mossuto, suggests that toxicity doesn’t depend on the size of the aggregates but on their structural properties.

➲

A step forward to unlocking the microtubule machinery

Guided by the suspicion that something had been left behind, IRB Barcelona researchers in Jens Lüders’ Microtubule Organization Group spent months reanalyzing a protein complex that was discovered over 15 years ago and that is crucial in organizing microtubules. The group recently unraveled a new core subunit inside this gamma-tubulin complex that might play a critical role in cells that have stopped dividing and need to organize microtubules in more specialized settings. The study was published in the September issue of Molecular Biology of the Cell and was led by researcher Neus Teixidó.

➲

A sophisticated mechanism to control embryonic development

The wings of the fruit fly recently helped the Development and Morphogenesis in Drosophila Laboratory to unravel one of the mysteries of embryonic development. IRB Barcelona researcher Andreu Casali discovered a new cellular mechanism to detect the signaling pathway of Hedgehog, a critical protein in embryonic development which is involved in some types of brain, muscle and skin cancer. If this mechanism found in flies works the same way in humans, Casali says the discovery could lead to new strategies to control Hedgegog and develop drugs down the road to treat the diseases it causes. The results were published in the August’s edition of Science Signaling.

in vivo

October 2010

| Issue 12

ON THE SPOT

Beyond static structures

Barcelona BioMed Seminar series

A

❝

Microtubules play a key role in muscle formation❞

paradigm-breaking discovery in structural biology has been the fact that about two thirds of the

proteins in eukaryotic cells are predicted to lack stable structure or contain large disordered regions. The importance of unustructured proteins is in striking contrast with the current data available in the Protein Data Bank, the main source of our understanding of proteins from a structural point of view and which mostly

PHOTO: N. BARBERÍA

diseases that lead to severe muscle weakness, still have no effective

cure. Although some patients diagnosed with these debilitating conditions can lead normal lives, for others the disorders can be severely disabling and in some cases even life threaten-

only well-defined structures.

Unlike well-folded proteins, intrinsically disordered ones do not crystallize, as they sample an astronomical number of conformations. Unstructured regions are often considered just as linkers or mere “decorations” without structural

IRB Barcelona researchers Miquel Pons and Pau Bernadó (top left and right) were the local organizers of the Barcelona BioMed Conference devoted to disordered proteins.

and functional interest. This paradigm is now changing as a result of

❝Eighty per

proteins, and not only static-folded structures, can also perform function.

ing. Andreas Merdes, group leader at the In-

the efforts of

stitute for Developmental Biology (Toulouse)

a number of

was at IRB Barcelona on October 1 to present

pioneers, many

his latest work on the role of microtubules in

of them present

myogenesis.

at the IRB Bar-

- What have you found out?

celona Biomed

structural basis of the organization of

“Microtubules go through a complete reorgani-

Conference on Intrinsically Disordered

higher organisms, and there is no doubt

zation in muscle cells that today is still poorly

Proteins in Biomedicine held in Barcelona

that flexibility and disorder are at the root

understood. We believe that microtubules play

on October 4-6, and organized in collabo-

of their complexity.

a key role in the muscles—they are like railroad

ration with the BBVA Foundation.

tracks that facilitate the orientation of all the

cent of the proteins linked to cancer have long disordered regions❞

a key role in the survival of eukaryotic cells.

Our ultimate goal is to understand the way

In fact, there’s a striking proposal which

unravel the defective mechanisms that lead to muscle weakness and find new ways to tackle dystrophies.”

- What would happen in the body if microtubules failed to function properly?

“Malfunction of microtubules and associated proteins has been linked to several known diseases, including brain development disorders, kidney conditions and even neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. No higher organism can live without microtubules, they are

states that disordered proteins are one of the features that enabled organisms to attain an organization level beyond that of pro-

of a new era in the understanding of the

.

Miquel Pons/Pau Bernadó

Coming soon Barcelona BioMed Conferences October 25-27, 2010: Macrophages

cent of the proteins linked to cancer – asso-

and Inflammation

ciated to altered regulation of key processes

November 8-10, 2010: Cancer

– have long disordered regions.

Metabolism

The fact that this association between disorder and higher organization seems controversial highlights the conceptual challenge we are facing. Established paradigms such as the relationship between structure

no cell division and inheriting genetic informa-

and function have to be reinterpreted and

tion would be impossible. Even bacteria need

take into account the fact that disordered

.

rules of the game. We are at the dawn

karyotes. It’s not surprising that eighty per

essential for life. Without them there would be

microtubule-related proteins to survive!”

ensembles, but we have still to learn the

Intrinsically disordered proteins play

elements required for muscle contraction. microtubules are reorganized in muscle cells to

There’s a clear need for a shift of paradigm from static structures to disordered

March 21-23, 2011: Mitochondrial Autophagy

September 19-21, 2011: Signal Rewiring and Addiction in Cancer

October 24-26, 2011: Macromolecular Dynamics

PHOTOS: N. NORIEGA

M

uscular dystrophies, degenerative

contains information on proteins with

A revolutionary technique

T

he Advanced Digital Micros-

spread out on them, adopting a specific shape.

copy (ADM) Core Facility has

This approach allows scientists to establish the

recently introduced a revolution-

exact location of a given cell and prevents cell

ary technology into its portfolio of services.

clustering. Not only do the cells present all

In partnership with the company CYTOO

the same shape, they also adopt a very similar

Cell Architects, the facility is now offer-

intracellular organization and this feature

ing to its users a new

makes the results much

adhesive micropattern

more reproducible.

An EMBO meeting detour

M

observation of cells

to get significant results.

events in molecular biology. Lucky for IRB

under a microscope.

These can now be

Barcelona, the event was held just around the

achieved with less than a

corner at the Palau de Congressos and provided

hundred.

a perfect opportunity for a group of scientists

IMAGE:

study thousands of cells

technology that will

®CYTOO

facilitate all processes that call for the direct

A few centres are now providing this

Previous to this development it was necessary to

ore than 1,300 life scientists descended on Barcelona in early September to take part in the EMBO

Meeting - one of the year’s most important

technology and the

The micropat-

ADM Core Facility

terned products (both

An enthusiastic bunch of predocs and post-

in chip and microplate

docs from across Europe signed up for the tour

formats) that CYTOO

and got a first-hand look at some of IRB Bar-

develops consist of a

celona’s activities as they visited the Advanced

has become the first Spanish reference site.

Cells adhere to a micropattern allowing for easier study under the microscope.

“The originality of

to take a detour and visit the Institute.

micropatterning is that you can work in a

glass surface covered with patterned adhe-

Digital Microscopy Facility and the Colorectal

high-throughput manner, in a reproducible

sive proteins (so that cells adhere to this site

Cancer Lab led by Eduard Batlle (above).

way, ” explains Julien Colombelli, manager

and adopt a given shape) surrounded by

of the core facility.

a repulsive coating (to prevent cells from

about research, services and possibilities for

adhering to the rest of the surface).

training at IRB Barcelona. As the tour ended

Up to now, in order to study cells under a microscope they had to be placed in a random fashion in contact with other cells and they

For more information on this technology contact microscopy@irbbarcelona.org.

adopted diverse shapes. Adhesive micropat-

Nahia Barbería

terns capture cells in a regular array and cells

They grilled our scientists with questions

and the visitors headed back to the EMBO

.

Meeting, it was clear that they left needing little convincing that Barcelona is a great place to follow a career in science.

IRB Barcelona retreat: city break style

T

.

rading in the usual backdrop of the

work for the activities, as sessions were

(ABG Patentes), who discussed lessons

Montseny mountains for Barcelo-

organized around scientific themes, rather

learned from dealing with cases of intellectu-

na’s historical center, IRB Barcelona

than by programme. RNA Biology, Kinases

al property in the field of biomedicine.

researchers hit the town this year for their

and Disease, Polymer Accumulation pro-

annual retreat, held on October 14-15.

vided much food for thought (as did lunch at

More than 100 scientists, including group

a nearby salad bar), as researchers combined

leaders, facility managers, postdocs, and the

their diverse expertise and knowledge in

new crop of PhD students, gathered at the

these areas.

Residència d’Investigadors (run by CSIC)

In addition to all the science talk, par-

for two days of intensive discussions about

ticipants heard from guest speakers Michela

current IRB Barcelona science, and to take a

Bertero (CRG), who gave valuable tips on

look at future directions.

securing funding for collaborative research

Multidisciplinarity provided the frame-

projects from the EU, and Agustín Alconada

in vivo

October 2010

| Issue 12

05

FACES TO NAMES Marco Milán. Group Leader, IRB Barcelona Development and Growth Control Laboratory

❝

Singapore is striving to become the scientific hub of Asia...and it will❞ - What was it like to be a foreign scientist?

ANNA ALSINA

“The hospitality I was greeted with when I ar-

A

rived in IMCB was quite amazing. They offered

radical lifestyle change can be a very

me two offices! The fact is that forty-two per

mind-opening experience, especially

cent of the population in Singapore are foreign-

when it involves working on an island in

ers and the government is investing a large sum

Southeast Asia among Chinese, Malays, Indians,

of money in science. They don’t know what

Asians and Caucasians. “Arriving in Singapore

research cuts are there. Singapore is striving to

was like landing on Mars at first,” said IRB Bar-

become the scientific hub of Asia...and it will.”

celona group leader Marco Milán just a few days upon return from this Asian island. Milán took his

- Is science organized differently there?

family to spend the entire summer in Singapore

“The structure of the lab and daily work

– from June to the end of September – as visiting

routines are pretty much identical. What really

professor at the Institute of Molecular and Cell

struck me was that most of the researchers

Biology (IMCB) and at the National University

were newcomers or had been in the Institute

of Singapore.

only since 2000. The government is convincing

- What was it like living on an Asian island?

foreign experts to renounce to their positions in their country of origin and go to Singapore

“Singapore is one of the fastest growing econo-

to work full-time. There are many renowned

mies in the world. Their gross domestic product

scientists who have already moved there. The

is expanding at an annual rate of more than

city is becoming very competitive and is grow-

20%. The quality of life there is spectacular. It’s an evergreen city—the views from our eleventhfloor apartment were of nothing but trees and vegetation. Also, the climate is perfect, housing

Milán’s trip to Singapore was part of an ongoing collaboration on microRNAs with genomics expert Stephen Cohen, acting director of the IMCB.

ing really fast.”

- One day the island might be overgrown...

“In fact, Singapore is facing serious problems with neighboring territories because the city is

is very affordable, the food is amazingly cheap and acoustic pollution is pretty much inexistent.

- How is street safety sustained?

importing soil extracted from nearby coun-

Cars don’t honk there! Singapore is a big city

“One would think that sustaining a dictator-

tries to be able to extend its land mass. There

but it still preserves townish things that big

ship without police forces is impossible, but

are islands in Indonesia that are disappearing

European cities have lost.”

believe it or not, it’s not true, at least in Singa-

because of this digging. It has also generated

- For example?

pore. There are no police on the streets, you

problems with Malaysia because the digging

“If an elderly on a walking stick gets on a bus,

never see them. I think everyone there is very

has changed the ocean levels and many ships

the driver won’t take off until she finds a seat.

aware of the things that can’t be done and so

can’t make it there anymore.”

Or if the bus driver sees that you’re running late

they just don’t cross the line.”

- What did you learn after three months of

he will stop and wait for you to arrive. I remem-

- How is the coexistence between the differ-

immersion in Oriental culture?

ber once in a restaurant we were pretty shocked

ent ethnic groups?

“I realized that what we call quality of life in

to see three nine year-old girls eating without

“The biggest Hindu temple happens to be in

the West is in fact questionable and that there

their parents. When they went to order food

a Buddhist district. It’s amazing to see how

are other ways of life completely different to

they left their purses and a fifty-euro bill on the

Buddhism, Hinduism and the Islamic religion

our culture that may be very enriching. Singa-

table. Nobody stole anything. It’s a completely

coexist in harmony with no conflict. It’s a spec-

pore is like the oasis of Asia. The European is

safe city, kids go out on their own all the time.

tacular example of integration and acceptance

not the only model, and it may not be the best

There’s a feeling of protection everywhere.”

for the world.”

one either.”

06

in vivo

October 2010

| Issue 12

.

The science and art of

IN BRIEF From computers to the clinics IRB Barcelona Group Leader Patrick Aloy got the green light in September to organize and coordinate ‘Network Medicine Approaches to Human Disease: From Computers to the Clinics’, a conference scheduled for 2011 in Barcelona. Financed through the 2010 ICREA Conference Award, the event will bring together leading minds in the world of cell networks, systems biology, drug design and personalized medicine to discuss the latest and most promising network-based therapeutic strategies to fight complex diseases.

Acknowledged twice in a row Miquel Pons’ research contributions to nuclear magnetic resonance in Spain landed him the GERMN award

S

molecular dynamics

cience and art have been lifelong passions of PhD student Laura Orellana. Recently she had the

opportunity to combine the two as she published not only her first article as a first author – she also got to showcase her artistic talents on the journal’s cover.

The September issue of the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Chemical

with the usual molecular dynamics simulations,

Theory and Computation boasts a charcoal

which require supercomputers such as the

illustration she did of the C-α carbons net-

MareNostrum, but with a much lower cost – it

work of proteins, which provides the basis for

can run on a laptop! The key is a minimalist

a new elastic network model that she and her

description of the protein structures using resi-

colleagues in Modesto Orozco’s Molecular

dues instead of atoms, which allows researchers

Modeling and Bioinformatics Group developed

to trace large structural changes important to

to describe protein flexibility.

protein function.

Superimposed on top of this protein net-

Producing the cover image proved to be a

work is the structure of a protein channel and

challenge, confesses Orellana. In addition to

the conformational ensemble predicted by the

developing the programmes to do the science,

new method that she generated using molecu-

she had to master graphic design software in

lar visualization software. The new theoretical

order to integrate computer-generated images

model produces results close to those obtained

seamlessly with her own illustration.

.

NEWS FROM THE PARK

in September, given by the NMR specialized group of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry. The award came just two months after he was appointed trea-

A functional food to reduce excess weight

surer of the EUROMAR society, which organizes the main annual magnetic

An intense scientific discussion on systems biology between Nobel Prize

T

here’s new hope for overweight people.

commercial name of Fagopure®. The company

BioGlane, a spin-off company from the

is offering a new concept in functional foods:

Spanish National Research Council, an-

“Fagopure® not only contributes to developing

nounced in September the discovery of a form

healthy and tasty food, but its regular use also

of sugar that can prevent weight gain while

favors the adhesion of probiotics, the friendly

PhD student Roland Pache was the first

also promoting healthy intestinal flora. “We’ve

bacteria necessary for digestive health,” ex-

film in a video series of dialogs between

found out that D-fagomine – a natural variant

plains Sergi Pumarola, director and co-founder

Nobel laureates and young students to

of sugar present in buckwheat – combats excess

of BioGlane. The spin-off plans to begin the

be released on Nature’s website in Sep-

weight effectively and safely by reducing the

process to request authorization to commer-

tember. Pache was among the only five

speed at which the body absorbs refined sugars

cialize this product in the United States and

PhD students chosen by Nature to take

and starches,” says Josep Lluís Torres, CSIC

Europe at the beginning of 2011.

part in this series, shot in July during the

researcher and co-founder of BioGlane.

winner Tim Hunt and IRB Barcelona

60 Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting. th

®BIOGLANE

On film with a Nobel laureate

The PCB-based spin-off BioGlane discovers a new use for a natural variant of sugar present in buckwheat that could help reduce excess weight.

PHOTO:

resonance meeting in Europe.

Using proprietary enzyme technology, BioGLane is producing D-fagomine under the

.

BioGLane is supported by Genoma España, Caja Navarra, and other organizations belonging to central and regional governments.

in vivo

October 2010

| Issue 12

07

SPOTLIGHT

NEW AT IRB BARCELONA

Never too young for research

T

his summer Jens Lüders’ lab at IRB Barcelona hosted a very young researcher.

18-year-old Antoni Planella from Lleida

was part of one of the first groups of 50 secondary school students to participate in the ‘Joves i Ciència’ programme, a three-year initiative organized

by Caixa Catalunya’s Obra Social.

Ivan del Barco (Spain, 1972) is widely traveled. He has lived in Toronto, Heidelberg and finally Madrid, his last stop before he came to IRB Barcelona to work as Research Associate in Angel Nebreda’s group. Ivan works on mouse cancer models and the lab already has at its disposal models for colon, breast and lung cancer. He likes Barcelona, although he is a Real Madrid supporter and has detected many Barça fans at IRB Barcelona. Asked about the possibility of returning to his hometown one day, Ivan says it’s still a big question mark. “The life of a scientist is very wavering because it’s difficult to find stable employment. I hope that, little by little, more opportunities are made available in Spain and I don’t need to move abroad again.”

- What did you do at IRB Barcelona?

“I spent the summer working with researcher Sabine Klischies performing cell and molecular biology experiments. I learned lots of techniques, including PCR, electrophoresis, transfections, immunoprecipitation, Western blots... you name it!”

Planella spent his first summer in the programme living in a hostel/lab in Planes de Son, a center full of activities for science enthusiasts located in the Pyrenees and run by Caixa Catalunya’s Obra Social.

- How would you sum up your experience?

“It was extremely useful. Not only have I learnt tons of things and new techniques but I have also gained insight into the day-to-day routine of a true scientist and I think that is what is most important.

After nearly five years of working with zebrafish in the Center for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona, Mariana Muzzopappa (Argentina) decided to make a move and switch back to the fruit fly, a model she studied in depth during her thesis. She joined Marco Milán’s research group as a Postdoctoral Fellow in September to help the team pursue new hypotheses.

She will spend many hours analyzing fruit fly wing discs under the microscope to understand factors that govern their development. Mariana likes to spend part of her free time hiking and has recently enrolled a yoga teachers’ training course to become a certified teacher one day.

An engineer specialized in signal processing has joined the Advanced Digital Microscopy Core Facility as Senior Research Officer. Sébastien Tosi’s (France, 1977) work will consist of helping researchers to get the most out of their scientific images by designing image processing algorithms and custom-made software. After completing his PhD studies in telecommunications in Ireland, Sébastien worked for several years in a Spanish semiconductor company and this is the first time he is getting involved in biomedicine. He is motivated by the idea of participating in a process that can benefit humanity. “One of the things I like most about my new position is that it stands at the crossroads between optics, biology and image processing,” he comments. Sébastien has lived in Barcelona before and really loves the city.

I also learnt some English! The whole team was incredibly helpful and constructive.”

- Do you know what you want to do in the future?

“Right now I’m starting my degree in biomedicine.

I still don’t know what I want to do when I finish but I think I will probably continue studying. I

.

would like to end up working in a lab and also teaching some classes at a school or university. I still have a long way to go.”

Nahia Barbería

Esther Fernández (Spain, 1983) has been quite busy handling administrative tasks since her arrival in IRB Barcelona in September. As the new Structural and Computational Biology Programme Secretary, she will be performing a variety of administrative tasks, including providing support in the organization of the Barcelona BioMed Seminars, making travel arrangements and assisting conference speakers invited by the programme, helping PhD students to clarify questions, and monitoring the programme’s annual budget. It’s not the first time Esther steps into the world research. In her previous position at the UPC’s School of Architecture of Vallès she provided administrative support to researchers working on sustainable architecture.”

In vivo, issue 12. Published by the Institute for Research in Biomedicine. Office of Communications & External Relations. Barcelona Science Park. Baldiri Reixac, 10. 08028 Barcelona, Spain. www.irbbarcelona.org Editor: Anna Alsina. Associate Editor: Sarah Sherwood. Contributors: Nahia Barbería, Pau Bernadó, Miquel Pons, Tanya Yates.

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