The latest news about the CMCiB. For more news of research at the IGTP, please see our main website.
News
The first projects on SARS-CoV-2 in lab-designed mini human organs gets underway
The Centre for Comparative Medicine and Bioimage of Catalonia (CMCiB), of the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), will be the second centre in Catalonia to work on the SARS-CoV-2 virus obtained directly from patients. Until now most work has taken place with artificial viruses that can only infect once. Research staff of IrsiCaixa and the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE) have started to work on the virus in the CMCiB to study the infection of organoids; mini organs designed in the laboratory to simulate human lungs and brains. Organoids are already being used in research and their use in studies into COVID-19 will provide better understanding of infection by SARS-CoV-2 and the capacity of different drugs to eliminate it from these tissues.
A new paper shows how the CMCiB will shine a new light on neurobiology
A review paper with first author Marc Melià-Sorolla of the Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology Research Group and published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences highlights a porcine model as the most suitable for stroke research in the future. The CMCiB-IGTP is equipped to carry out this type of research and the group led by Teresa Gasull are already showing the potential of the non-invasive bioimaging technology.
The CMCiB, ready for advanced research on SARS-CoV-2
The Centre for Comparative medicine and Bioimage (CMCiB) of the IGTP has its level 3 biological containment laboratories (BCLL3) ready to receive new projects related to the study of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. These facilities are biological containment areas designed for work on microorganisms that cause infectious diseases, especially those with a high risk of transmission through the diffusion of aerosols.
Virtual lungs to understand the dynamics of tuberculosis lesions within the lungs
The study focusses on understanding the mechanisms that keep the infection latent without the infected person developing the disease. 90% of people infected never develop the active disease, understanding this mechanism so that we can identify them is key to eradicating tuberculosis. The research has been carried out in virtual lungs, developed by computational modelling techniques. These are the first results to be published by the 3Rs Programme at the Centre for Comparative Medicine and Bioimage (CMCiB) which aims to minimize the use of animals in pre-clinical research.
Spain currently has 124,300 active cases of COVID-19 according to the mathematical model developed by the UPC and IGTP
Madrid, Catalonia, Castile and León and Castile la Mancha are the autonomous regions with the highest accumulated numbers of active cases, in contrast, the Canary Islands, Cantabria, La Rioja, Murcia and Asturias have the lowest numbers of active cases. The data forms part of the study of the evolution of the pandemic based on mathematical models being carried out by the multi-disciplinary team of researchers of the UPC and IGTP.
100 RESPIRA ventilators from GAPInnova delivered to the SEM to continue clinical trials with COVID-19 patients in other hospitals
The emergency ventilator RESPIRA, developed by GPAINNOVA, with the support of the Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute and the University of Barcelona have passed the first stage of the clinical trial with the first two patients affected by COVID-19 successfully. With the first phase complete, the study can be expanded to other hospitals in the region. Thanks to the support received from the public, companies and administrations today the first 100 emergency ventilators c have been delivered to the SEM for distribution.