In Vivo 18 by IRB Barcelona

in vivo April 2012 | Issue 18

NEWSLETTER OF THE INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH IN BIOMEDICINE

Researchers unravel mechanism behind evolution and genome diversity

va Maria Novoa, one of the PhD

The finding paves the way to many applica-

students sponsored by ”La Caixa”

tions, as for example in biotechnology, where

Foundation, and Group Leader Lluís

it might allow improvements in the industrial

Ribas de Pouplana have scored an important result for IRB Barcelona science.

production of proteins. According to the scientists, the finding

They demonstrated “how organisms have evolved in a different manner to achieve better adaptations,” as they put it, through a biological mechanism based on the selection of two enzymes favouring the divergent evolution for the genomes for archaeobacteria, bacteria, and eukaryotes. The discovery deserved publication in the 30 March issue of Cell.

might lead also to relevant further discoveries in the field of cancer research. The research arises from a long-standing investigation in Ribas’ group on the genetic content of tRNA that can justify species differentiation. Sònia Armengou reports on this discovery on page 2.

New histology service launched In about a month, all will be ready for IRB Barcelona scientists to be able to use the new histology service. explains in an interview on page 3, the In-

Interview with Rafael Brüschweiler

stitute is currently buying the equipment necessary to set it up. The new service will be located next

As newcomer Begoña Domínguez

Group leader positions open

to Herbert Auer’s Functional Genomics Facility.

Renato Dulbecco’s scientific legacy

IRB Barcelona has opened new positions for group leaders in chemical biology, structural biology, and molecular basis of disease. Deadline for application is 1 June 2012. For more details, see page 7.

Sporty folks: Samira Jaeger

Development’s executive editor on publishing

Evolutionary engine behind the genome of species revealed

cientists in the Gene Translation Lab

genome structure and the speed of protein syn-

her PhD studies in 2008 in Ribas’ lab through

headed by Lluís Ribas de Pouplana have

thesis,” says the IRB Barcelona/ICREA group

the ”la Caixa” International PhD Programme

published a study in the journal Cell that

leader.

in Biomedicine.

sheds light on the evolution and genome diver-

Eva Novoa, a PhD student in Ribas’ lab and

“To give just one example, human insulin

the first author of the article, explains, “we dem-

is ‘manufactured’ in bacteria and our discovery

Through a study that compares the distri-

onstrate how organisms have evolved in a differ-

would allow this production to be increased if

bution and abundance of transfer RNA genes

ent manner to achieve better adaptations and to

we take into account the activity of these en-

achieve optimum

zymes. The finding is also relevant for the study

protein translation

of cancer: “it is possible that these modification

efficiency. We pro-

enzymes are overrepresented in some kinds of

vide a new scenario

cancer. In fact, this would be logical because

regarding the dif-

cancer cells are highly efficient at producing

ferential codon us-

proteins.”

sity of different species on Earth.

–tRNA– in 500 species, the authors pinpoint that the appearance and selection of two enzymes favored the divergent evolution of the genomes

❝This discovery furthers our

understanding of the relation between genome structure and the speed of protein synthesis.❞

for archaebacteria (a kind of bacteria living in

age across species and indicate that its evolution

extreme habitats), bacteria, and eukaryotes – a

in different organisms has been clearly driven by

group which includes fungi, plants and animals.

the appearance of tRNA modifications.”

They discovered that the structure of genomes was adapted to the activity of these enzymes, which differ for bacteria and for eukarya and are absent in archaea.

This

SÒNIA ARMENGOU

finding

paves the way to many applications. One of these is

“We don’t know exactly why these enzymes

in biotechnology,

appeared or why they are different in bacteria

where it will allow

and in eukaryotes, but it’s clear that they con-

improvement of the

tributed to the separation of the genomes of

industrial produc-

these two groups,” explains Ribas de Pouplana.

tion of proteins:

The enzymes, called UMs in bacteria and

“We now have an-

hetADATs in eukaryotes, have the capacity to modify tRNAs, a key component of protein translation machinery. Thanks to these tRNA modifications, the translation from a gene to a protein is more efficient. “This discovery furthers our understanding of the relation between

other

parameter

with which to optimize the synthesis of proteins from a gene,” explains Eva, who started

Group Leader Lluís Ribas de Pouplana with ”La Caixa” Foundation PhD student Eva Maria Novoa in front of the Gene Translation Laboratory

Eva Novoa: “I noticed something strange in my data”

PHOTOS ON PAGE: LUCA TANCREDI BARONE

cience, 10% inspiration,

vinced him, and the results ended up in Cell.”

90%

“About a year and a half ago, I was

The main scientific goal of Eva’s the-

transpiration. Sci-

working on a side project on archaebacte-

sis was not hampered by this new research.

entists love to use this

ria,” recalls this radiant and somewhat shy

“I had to study the design of drugs against

saying all the time. Eva

scientist, “when I noticed something strange

malaria using both computational and ex-

Maria Novoa, a PhD

in my data: the distribution of tRNA had a

perimental approaches. And we managed to

student sponsored by the

weird pattern, and it differed from the tRNA

accomplish both successfully,” she clarifies.

”la Caixa” Foundation,

of bacteria and protozoa.”

had her inspiration when she was working on The Novoa et al. Cell paper celebratory bottle of cava

something interesting might be at stake.

something not directly related to her thesis.

One thing that Eva learnt is that “if your

Ribas’ group has been working on the

boss supports you, good ideas won’t get lost

differences in the genetic content of the

along the way.” It’s an important lesson she’ll

tRNA that might justify species differentia-

take with her in the next stages of her prom-

tion. When Eva consulted her boss, he gave

ising career in the US or Germany, where she

Thanks to her spirit

her a chance. “I had some ideas,” she says,

plans to do her postdoctoral work.

of observation and curiosity - two of the

“and he gave me three weeks to show him it

best qualities of a good scientist - she sensed

was worth investigating. Apparently I con-

in vivo

April 2012

| Issue 18

LUCA TANCREDI BARONE

Histology, a new service for IRB Barcelona scientists

New director for the PCB After almost seven years as director of the PCB, Fernando Albericio left this position at the beginning of March 2012 to return to full-time research with the Chemical

Institute. The new

and Molecular Pharmacology Programme at

Histology

IRB Barcelona.

service

will be mainly but not exclusively - used by the four Oncology groups.

The responsibility of directing the PCB now falls upon Salvador Maluquer, UB professor of Finance, who was appointed director by the PCB Board of Trustees in March.

be a self-service setup,” points out the technician of the new facility. “I will be in charge of the equipment and will

Newcomer Begoña Domínguez will be in charge of setting up the eagerly awaited service

make sure everything runs smooth-

Salvador Maluquer, new PCB director

t is one of a growing list of services

ly, even when I am not physically there, as

and facilities which aim to support

might happen at night or in the weekends. I

IRB Barcelona scientists. The Insti-

will also give training on how to optimally

tute is now ready to launch its new His-

operate the equipment to all scientists re-

tology service, made possible thanks to

questing it. An important part of my job will

Executive Master in Public Administration.

the funding awarded as part of the Severo

be to support the scientists that I am not di-

Prior to his position at the PCB he was re-

Ochoa centres of excellence scheme.

rectly working with but who need to process

sponsible for the budgets of the Catalan

samples independently.”

Government.

Begoña Domínguez (Olesa de Montserrat, 1986) was recruited in February to

The equipment will be purchased in vari-

set up and run this new service which will

ous phases. The service will begin with basic

be located next to Herbert Auer’s Func-

instruments, like microtomes - machines

tional Genomics Facility.

used to cut extremely thin slices of material.

“We are currently in the process of

This set of instruments will also include

purchasing the equipment and organiz-

an automatic processor, which will be used

ing the area where the service will be lo-

for embedding the samples in paraffin, and

cated,” explains Begoña, “and we expect

an autostainer will be added to the tool kit.

to become operational in about one more

This machine serves to stain samples and al-

month.”

lows users to perform immunohistochemis-

Maluquer has many years experience in managerial positions in public administration. He has a solid background in economics. He holds a degree in Economics and an

TANYA YATES

Two new Board of Trustees members IRB Barcelona welcomes two new members of its Board of Trustees who have

As she did when she worked at the

try - a technique widely used by IRB Barce-

Hospital del Mar in Barcelona, in the new

lona scientists to single out a specific protein

group as a result of taking up posts within

facility Begoña will be processing biop-

in a sample.

the Catalan Government.

just been nominated. They will join the

“I am hoping that there will be lots of

Carlos Costante is a physician special-

or freezing them. After this step, the blocks

work to do,” says an ever enthusiastic Be-

ized in hospital management. He is the new

can be cut and stained for scientists to ana-

goña. IRB Barcelona scientists will cer-

lyze later.

tainly not be leaving Begoña twiddling her

sies, and putting them in paraffin blocks

At IRB Barcelona, Begoña will be processing tissues mostly coming from the mutant mice used by scientists in the

thumbs.

LUCA TANCREDI BARONE

director general of the regulation and planification of the health department. Marta Aymerich is also a physician with training at Harvard in public health

and a long career in public administration. She is the new head of research of the health department.

in vivo

April 2012

| Issue 18

PHOTOS ON PAGE: LUCA TANCREDI BARONE, PARC CIENTÍFIC

“This will also

PHOTOS ON PAGE: LUCA TANCREDI BARONE

BioNMR, where experiments meet computation Brüschweiler is also Associate Director for Bi-

tions, and can address the underlying mecha-

ophysics at the National High Magnetic Field

nisms and driving forces. NMR does not come

Laboratory of the University of Florida. “Like

without its drawbacks: it is not a very sensi-

so many things, NMR was invented by physi-

tive method compared to optical spectroscopy.

cists,” he explains. “I had a passion both for

But progress in detection hardware and higher

quantum mechanics and biophysics, so NMR

magnetic fields have really helped to overcome

was the natural harbour for my interests.”

some of these limitations.”

In the late 1970s and early 1980s it became

Computation was the other topic ad-

increasingly clear that NMR had potentially

dressed in the BioNMR workshop. “This

powerful biochemical applications, namely

meeting is a stimulating combination of exper-

the study of large molecules. “Back then, the

imental and computational approaches. Proper

main game in town was crystallography,” says

interpretation of data relies increasingly on

Brüschweiler, “but biochemists always real-

computational methods. But we have to make

f there is a country associated with Nu-

ized that dynamics, kinetics, and molecular

sure that what we predict computationally re-

clear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), it is

interactions played a fundamental role to re-

lates to reality,” concludes Brüschweiler.

Switzerland. Of the four Nobel prizes

ally understand proteins.”

awarded to researchers working in the field

X-ray crystallography is a very useful

putation and BioNMR is so exciting. So

of NMR, three are Swiss nationals: Kurt

technique that has been used since the 1950s

much progress has been made in recent years

Wüthrich (Chemistry, 2002), Richard Ernst

to determine macromolecular structures. “It

by combining a wide range of experimental

(Chemistry, 1991), and Felix Bloch (Physics,

is enormously powerful, but in the end one

measures with a number of computational

1952).

sees only snapshots of protein structures. In

methods.”

Rafael Brüschweiler during the BioNMR Meeting in Barcelona last March

Rafael Brüschweiler’s (Zürich, Switzer-

contrast, NMR, which is a non-destructive

land, 1962) passion grew in that environment

method, provides an unparalleled level of in-

(he was one of Ernst’s students in the late

formation about protein structure and dynam-

1980s). Trained as a physicist, he is now one

ics,” maintains the scientist.

of the world’s experts on the development and

Understanding the dynamics of proteins,

application of NMR methods for studying the

how they move and interact is fundamental

structure, dynamics, and function of proteins

to unravel how they perform their functions.

and small molecules.

And NMR is capable of this under physio-

In vivo met him in Barcelona in March

logical conditions. “With crystallography you

when he was participating in the BioNMR

have to fill in the dots between the free protein

workshop, co-organized by IRB Barcelona

and the moment you see the complex with a

scientists and promoted and sponsored by the

ligand. With NMR we can see both at the same

EU Project Bio-NMR.

time, we see how two molecules bind to each

Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry,

“This is why the interface between com-

LUCA TANCREDI BARONE

One relaxed moment of the conference held last March in the Institut d'Estudis Catalans

other, change their shapes and internal mo-

Tightening bonds with India While faced with times of recession, most

of the National Center of Biological Sciences

our relations with Indian science and develop

Western countries have downsized their in-

(NCBS) of Bangalore, India, said during a visit

future collaboration and students exchanges,”

vestment in research. In the Far East, however,

to IRB Barcelona and CRG at the beginning of

answered Joan J. Guinovart.

countries such as India have chosen to increase

March. “At NCBS we do a broad spectrum of

Also accompanying Vijay Raghavan were

their education and research budgets, a tactic

research in a thriving campus,” recalled Vijay

Jitu Mayor, Madhu Venkadesan, Madan Rao,

sure to further bolster their remarkable growth.

Raghavan.

Aswin Sai Narain Shesasayee and Raghu Padin-

This is what K. Vijay Raghavan, Director

“We are very interested in strengthening

jat, all scientists at the NCBS.

From left to right: Joan J. Guinovart with K. Vijay Raghavan, Director of the NCBS; IRB Barcelona’s student Jalaj Gupta and postdoc Rima Chaudhuri with Madhu Venkadesan and Aswin Sai Narain Shesasayee; Julien Colombelli shows how the ADM facility operates.

in vivo

April 2012

| Issue 18

Viewpoint: How has Renato Dulbecco’s science affected your work as a scientist at IRB Barcelona? virologist, biophysicist and cancer researcher who passed away

in February, just a few days before his 98th

Travis Stracker, Group Leader of the Genomic instability and cancer laboratory

Daniele Tauriello, Postdoc fellow in the Colorectal cancer laboratory

birthday. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1975 together with David Baltimore and Howard Temin “for their discoveries concerning the interaction between tumour viruses and the genetic material of the cell.”

“I

performed my doctoral work in virology at the Salk Institute, just

One of the axes of the research at IRB Barcelona is cancer research, and we have

a few floors below the lab of Re-

nato Dulbecco.

tried to discover how Dulbecco’s prolific and

I remember working in tissue culture

fundamental work can be considered a lega-

and first making the connection between the

cy for many researchers today. We have asked two of our scientists to

share with In vivo readers their thoughts on how Dulbecco’s insights continue to influence their daily research.

name on my bottle of tissue culture media and the quiet Nobel laureate upstairs. I later had the opportunity to meet with him in order to get his input on a project, and I was impressed with how interested, patient and down to earth he was for such a renowned scientist. His contributions to biological research cannot be overstated. They permeate everything we do, from our cell culture techniques and gene expression vectors to our access to ever expanding databases of genome sequence. His inspiring contributions will continue to influence research in the biomedical sciences for the foreseeable future.”

“L

ike my own family, Renato Dulbecco is from the south of Italy and relocated to Torino.

And like Dulbecco, who moved to California, I also had the pleasure of living there for a while to train in molecular genetics. His pioneering research not only led to his name appearing on our flasks of culture medium; he also worked on the cell-transforming T-antigen (the T in HEK293T cells, the focus of my thesis) and helped uncover the molecular basis of viral gene integration. Whist the discovery of enzyme reverse transcriptase facilitates modern day transcriptomics, the nature of the link between tumour viruses and the genetic origins of cancer was a key insight into the mechanisms of carcinogenesis. As if his legacy of lab techniques, concepts, and public engagement (e.g. on cancer prevention, or as the foremost protagonist of the human genome project in 1986) was not enough, Dulbecco continued to make major contributions to the field of cancer stem cells. And this is the same direction that our lab is going to look for answers about the big question of tumour metastasis.”

Japan’s consul general and consul visit the Institute

ideiro Tsubaki and Norio Sudo,

by Consul Sudo. Tsubaki and Sudo together

Consul General and Consul of

with IRB Barcelona director Joan J. Guinovart

Japan in Barcelona respectively,

have expressed their desire to strenghten fu-

visited IRB Barcelona in March.

ture collaborations and explore possibilities for student exchanges between IRB Barcelona

The occasion for the visit of the Institute

and Japanese science centres.

was a lecture given by Koji Eto, from the

Among others, the consuls met with Japa-

Center for iPs Cell Research and Application (CIRA) in Kyoto, Japan, who spoke on induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) on 29 March.

From left to right, Hidehiro Tsubaki, Joan J. Guinovart and Norio Sudo

dominated the field ever since.

iPS cells were invented in 2006 by Shinya

On the day of the talk, Eto was accompa-

Yamanaka, director of the CIRA, who has

nied by both the Consul General Tsubaki and

nese-born postdoctoral fellow Kazuya Hashiyama, who works in Cayetano González’s

Cell division laboratory and took the occasion to present them with the results of his research using Drosophila.

in vivo

April 2012

| Issue 18

PHOTOS ON PAGE: MASSIMILIANO MINOCRI/GIANLUCA BATTISTA, LUCA TANCREDI BARONE, PNAS, SÒNIA ARMENGOU

enato Dulbecco was an acclaimed

FACES TO NAMES

IN BRIEF A new Student Council In January, IRB Barcelona PhD students

Sporty folks

were called to vote for the new members of the IRB PhD Student Council. Two from each of the Programmes form the Council: Sabine Klischies, Pablo Barrecheguren, MariThe newly elected members of the Student Council

ano Maffei, Michela Candotti, Giorgia Testoni, Eduard Noguera, Benjamí Oller, María

Tintoré, Sylwia Gawrzak, Natalia Trempolec. We wish them the best for their new tasks.

Third Symposium of Biotechnologists Delia Zafra, technology transfer officer at IRB Barcelona, took part in the yearly symposium of the Association of Biotechnologists of Catalonia (ASBTEC) at the University of Vic on 23 and 24 March. The goal of the roundtable was to bring together biotechnology students and junior professionals to foster interaction and networking for future collaborations. “It was an excellent occasion for IRB Barcelona to network with professionals spanning from CEOs of newly created biotech companies to marketing or business development executives,” explained Delia. The Innovation department also took part on 27 March in a speed dating event held at ESADE (a world-renowned business school) which aims to open up new projects and partnering opportunities for MBA students.

Closing meeting for the DIOMED Project The three-year long transnational cooperation for technological innovation in the development of molecules for the treatment of diabetes and obesity (DIOMED Project) held its final meeting on 28 March. IRB Barcelona was one of the four centres participating in the project supported by the European Regional Development Fund. Antonio Zorzano’s team worked on the identification of genes responsible for the development of insulin resistance, obesity or type 2 diabetes, and helped to unravel the role of mitochondria and autophagy dysfunction.

A new ICREA Academia member Congratulations to Modesto Orozco for being awarded one of the 12 new ICREA Academia Prizes. ICREA (Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies) aims to foster quality investigation and attract talent to Catalan public universities. Modesto Orozco holds a joint professorship at the University of Barcelona.

efore devoting her efforts to excellence at IRB Barcelona, Samira Jaeger (1981, Magdeburg) was a different type of

champion. Her specialties were not numbers and drugs, but parallel bars, balance beams, and vaults. Samira achieved German champion level in 1999. “I started artistic gymnastics when I was six,” explains Samira. She joined Patrick Aloy’s Structural Bioinformatics lab and Modesto Orozco’s Molecular Modelling and Bioinformatics lab last October as a postdoctoral fellow through the EU’s Marie Curie COFUND programme. “My dream back then was to take part in the Olympics in 2000 in Sydney. But an injury stopped me before I could. Anyway, chances to make it were small. The German team did not qualify; only two girls took part in the games.” Despite the disappointment, Samira did not become disheartened. “I was 18 and I wanted to finish school and go to university,” she recalls. “It was perfect timing to concentrate on studying. I was interested in biology, and bioinformatics was growing back then, so it was a perfect combination for me. In my spare time I coached some kids

Best presenter Congratulations also to Núria Aiguabella from Antoni Riera’s Asymmetric synthesis lab who won a prize for the best presentation at a symposium on organic and inorganic compound synthesis. The event was organized by the Catalan Chemistry Society as part of the Young Researchers’ Days in Palma de Mallorca last February.

IRB Barcelona football league crowns new champions As the 2011-2012 seasons draws to a close, the team Moleculé rose to the top of the

PHOTOS: JORDI LANUZA, LUCA TANCREDI BARONE

Samira Jaeger in front of the Camp Nou football stadium

in gymnastics. I thought I would end up in sports journalism, but things turned out differently.” With a PhD from the Humboldt University in Berlin, Samira also spent a short time in Cambridge, UK. Her main interests now are simulations and data mining to discover valuable hidden information on drugs in existing databases.

tables and took home the league trophy.

When asked about it, she admits that she can’t

Congratulations to: Chiara Castellazzi,

really compare the emotions she felt about sports

Camille Stephan, Rodrigo Arroyo, Nicolas

and those she feels about science. “Maybe I was

Lecland, Victor Alcalde, Nahuai Badiola,

more passionate when I was an athlete. That was

Victor Buzon Redorta, Radoslaw Pluta,

like a serious hobby. Now my passion is more

Carlos Sánchez, Manuel Alonso, Matthew

rational. I really like what I do, but now it is a

Ingham, Juan Carlos Monasterio, Eduard

real job, an interesting and exciting one, and not

Noguera, Rodolfo C. Scorians.

a hobby.”

LUCA TANCREDI BARONE

in vivo

April 2012

| Issue 18

SCIENCE BITES

➲

Better than the original

In collaboration with the company BCN Peptides, PhD student Pablo MartínGago, in a team led by Antoni Riera and Maria Macias, has synthesized and characterized the three-dimensional structures of several somatostatin analogues using solution NMR. One of the analogues shows ten times greater stability in blood and is more selective than the natural hormone. The new peptide is also more active than the two analogues currently available on the market. The study provides structural data on the many conformations of the natural hormone somatostatin for the first time. The results are published in the first February issue of Angewandte Chemie.

➲

Adaptable falciparum

Alfred Cortés, Núria Rovira-Graells and other scientists in Lluís Ribas’ lab, in

collaboration with the Barcelona Centre for International Health Research and Nanyang Technological University, have published in Genome Research a paper revealing a new mechanism that enables the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum to adapt to common fluctuations in its environment. The scientists discovered that more than 5% of the genes expressed in some parasites are repressed or silenced in other genetically identical parasites.

➲

Triple helix described

A team led by Modesto Orozco, in collaboration with Ramón Eritja and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, has managed for the first time to extract trustworthy structural information from a triple helix DNA in gas phase. This was the last structure pending to complete the atlas of

classical DNA structures in gas phase, work that has taken Orozco’s group more than ten years of dedication. The study, obtained exploiting the Mass Spectrometry Facility, could avail the development of antigen therapy and appeared in April in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

➲

Sweet news for diabetes studies

A deficiency of a single protein, Mitofusin 2, in muscle and hepatic cells of mice is sufficient to cause tissues to become insensitive to insulin, thus producing an increase in blood glucose concentrations, the most common condition prior to the development of type 2 diabetes. This important result, obtained by a group led by Antonio Zorzano, was published in March in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.

in vivo

April 2012

| Issue 18

NEW AT IRB BARCELONA

SPOTLIGHT

“The author’s experience is every editor’s priority”

he job of an executive editor of a scientific journal is fundamental to ensure that the highest quality papers get published regularly. In

other words, it consists of “managing the whole process,” as Katherine Brown (Leeds, UK, 1979) defines her work at Development, where she currently holds this position.

Juan Bautista Blanco-Canosa (Cee, 1977) joined IRB Barcelona in January for the next step in his eventful career. Born in Galicia, he obtained his PhD in chemistry in Santiago designing and synthesizing mimetic peptides targeting DNA. During his PhD, he spent four months at MIT. After that, he moved to San Diego where he worked at the Scripps Research Institute for four years, until 2010. At IRB Barcelona he is a Ramón y Cajal fellow. “IRB Barcelona was one of the best options in chemistry,” he explains, “and I liked the research lines in Fernando Albericio’s lab. In addition, this centre has an international vision which I find appealing.” Juan Bautista will be dwelling on the development of chemical methods to synthesize proteins in dissolution and he will continue studying nanoparticles in biological systems.

“This is a different job from that of academic editors, who are in charge of handling what we call ‘primary papers’ and decide which ones get published,” explains Brown, who holds a PhD from MRC-LMB in Cambridge. The EMBO journal was also her first editorial experience: she worked there as an academic editor for three years.

Maryline Malfroy (Lons-le-Saunier, France, 1974) has filled Xavi Lopez’s position as purchasing officer. She has been living in Barcelona for the last 16 years, and she worked for 12 years in a completely different field: construction. In Parex Group, the last company she worked for, she had reached the position of head

“This is a new challenge for me,” says Brown re-

of purchase. “I liked the idea to have to face a complete change of

ferring to her new position, “and I am learning a huge

mentality,” she explains. “In my position, I hardly touch science directly, but I am happy

amount about the publishing process and how to make

to feel part of a nobler endeavour. Definitely science is a much more long-term invest-

it more useful for scientists.”

ment for the future of a country than construction.” The first weeks at IRB Barcelona According Brown,

who

vis-

have been exciting for her. “I have landed on another planet,” she says, “one where you work with flies and frogs, and not with wires and cement.”

ited IRB Barcelona in February to meet with some of the sci-

PHOTO: LUCA TANCREDI BARONE

entists of the Institute, “every editor’s priority is the author’s experience. As an author, you want Development’s executive editor Katherine Brown

to know that, if your paper is submitted to a journal, you will be

treated fairly, consistently and reasonably quickly.” If this process runs smoothly, “you can have a good experience as an author, so even if the response is negative, the process has been useful to you and you have learnt something from it,” she says.

ON THE MOVE After concluding her postdoctoral fellowship in Antonio Zorzano’s lab, Jana Sánchez (Madrid, 1981) has moved on to take a new postdoctoral position at the University Medical Centre (UMC) in Utrecht, the Netherlands. During this new step in her career, Jana will keep concentrating on autophagy, one of her specialties at IRB Barcelona. This time she will study this process in yeast. Jana was also member of the DIOMED project (see page 6), to which she contributed with her research on the protein DOR. Within her research, she performed a screening in order to look for compounds able to activate its expression. “At IRB Barcelona I have learnt all I know about autophagy.” she mantains. “In Barcelona there were so many groups and facilities that it was easy to conduct experiments. I am ready for a new challenge and in Utrecht I am already full-speed, with lots of meetings.”

“Another thing I care about is the online functionality of the journal. Nobody reads print copies any more,” concludes Brown, “and the online version of the journal is a very important aspect to take care of.”

Development works with a hybrid model: they charge subscriptions, but authors have the option to pay to guarantee immediate open access publication.

LUCA TANCREDI BARONE

Follow IRB Barcelona on Twitter: @IRBBarcelona

In vivo, issue 18. 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: Luca Tancredi Barone. Contributors: Sònia Armengou, Tanya Yates. Legal deposit: MU-29-2012. This document has been printed on recycled paper. To subscribe or unsubscribe from In Vivo, send an e-mail: info@irbbarcelona.org. © IRB Barcelona 2012.