From the 3rd to the 8th of September of 2017 Irene Anton, a Ph.D. student from the N&N group, attended a big meeting of Colloids and Interfaces in Madrid (ECIS2017). The event was hosted by the UniversidadComplutense de Madrid. Irene participated with two posters and was awarded with one of the two prizes sponsored by the journal Polymers.
Testing nanocellulose as biomaterial for epithelial regeneration
Encapsulating endothelial progenitor cells’ secretome into magnetic nanocapsules for targeted angiogenic therapies
Thursday 22nd of June of 2017 was the last day of the first edition of the Scientific School on Materials for Biomedical Applications organized by ICMAB (MATBIO2017). A large number of local and international students attended the school and participated actively on the debates, the science dating and the hands-on sessions. Almost all the participants would repeat this experience according to the surveys.
The CSIC will be one of the exhibitors, presenting novel products in nanotechnology: new functionalized composites of nanocellulose and fibrous clays, biosensors for simultaneous detection of several biological samples in solution, nanostructured networks for applications in energy, optical devices, microelectronics, etc., or devices to induce hyperthermia in cells through magnetic nanoparticles, among others.
NANO TECH 2017 will take place in Tokyo (Japan), at the Tokyo Big Sight, from 13-15 February 2017.
Prof. Joel N. Meyer will give a Seminar entitled “Mechanisms of uptake and toxicity of silver nanoparticles in Caenorhabditis elegans“, today, December 15, at 12 pm at ICMAB Conference Room Carles Miravitlles.
Engineered nanomaterials offer great opportunities due to their novel properties. However, there is concern that these novel properties may also result in deleterious effects on human and ecological health that are difficult to predict based only on an understanding of the chemical makeup. We tested a number of nanoparticles (NPs) for toxicity in the nematode model Caenorhabditis elegans, and found that certain silver NPs (AgNPs) were the most toxic of the NPs that we had tested. We therefore extended our studies to characterize environmental factors that might alter AgNP toxicity, as well as the uptake and mechanism of toxicity of AgNPs in C. elegans.
Because much AgNP waste is expected to end up in aquatic ecosystems, we tested the influence of environmental variables on toxicity. We found that higher ionic strength, the presence of natural organic matter, and sulfidation of the AgNPs (expected to occur in many environments after AgNP release) all significantly reduced Ag NP toxicity. Using physicochemical, genetic, and pharmacological rescue approaches, we found that the most toxic AgNPs -generally, the smallest- caused their effects largely via dissolution. Some AgNPs (typically less soluble due to size or coating) also caused toxicity via generation of reactive oxygen species, an effect specific to nanoparticulate silver. This effect was masked by the toxicity of silver ions except when dissolution was very limited. The toxicity of the tested AgNPs was almost never greater than would result from complete dissolution of the same mass of silver. We also found that endocytosis was an important mechanism for AgNP uptake. However, the specific mechanisms by which AgNPs or released silver ion cause toxicity remain unclear. Because AgNPs are used to kill microbes, and mitochondria are endosymbiotic descendants of bacteria, current studies are focused on testing the possibility that AgNPs cause some of their toxicity via disruption of mitochondrial function.
If you would like to arrange a meeting with Prof. Joel N. Meyer please contact: Dr. Anna Laromaine(alaromaine@icmab.es).
Some of the most experienced and renowned researchers in the field, such as Dr. Manel Esteller(Cancer Epigenetics, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute – IDIBELL),Dr. Antoni Trilla (Epidemiologist, Hospital Clinic, ISGlobal), andDr. Patrick Aloy(Structural Bioinformatics and Network Biology, Institute for Research in Biomedicine – IRB), will give Invited Lectures in the symposium.
The symposium will also include some interesting workshops on subjects of specific interest for PhD students, such as “10 tips to get your paper published in high-impact journals and how to avoid rejections” by Dr. Marta Pulido, “The anomaly of women in science” by Dr. Sònia Estradé, “Business and technology transfer in Biomedicine: why the prospect of making money is not that bad” by Dr. Luís Ruiz Ávila or “Planning your Academic Career, with an Open Mind” by Dr. Elisabeth Pain, among others.
The purpose of the workshop is to broaden and spread the theoretical and practical knowledge about innovative methods for rapid detection, enumeration, isolation and characterization of foodborne and waterborne microorganisms and their products.
The workshop will consist on different presentations from researchers and industry, lab sessions and exhibitions. Read the program here.
We hope that Deyaalearns new things and enjoys it!
This morning, November 17th, at 9.30 am there is a session of “Spin-Offs. From Lab to Market”, within the Training Program FUNMAT (Severo-Ochoa Seminars), dedicated to all researchers and PhD candidates of the Institute.
Some members of the N&N group have attented the seminar. It is always good to know what your colleagues are working on and to have information about patents and spin-offs creation. In our group, Anna Laromaine is cofounder of the spin-off OsmoBlue, which aim is to produce electricity from low-temperature heat.
The program of the seminar is the following:
Why a spin-off ? PRUAB (Parc de Recerca UAB) activities in business creation. Presentation of cases and experiences.
Speaker: Julia Palma (PRUAB).
Synergism between Nanomol research group and Nanomol technologies
Speakers: Nora Ventosa and Santi Sala (Nanomol, ICMAB).
Presentation of Oxolutia. Oxolutia path and “lessons learned”.
Speaker: Albert Calleja (Oxolutia, ICMAB).
Roundtable with some researchers involved in spin-offs creation and other experiences
The Final Meeting of the COST Action on Hybrid Interfaces (HINT) will take place on October 10-12, 2016, at the Reitoria building of the University of Aveiro, Portugal. The meeting aims at sharing the learned lessons on design, control, and dynamics of interfaces in hybrid organic-inorganic materials over the last four years in which the different partners have worked on this topics.
Anna Roig will participate in the meeting and will give a talk on “Bio-screening of protein coated SPIONs: in vitro and in vivo by the C. elegans model” (Monday, October 10, 5.40 pm).
The conference consisted of some interesting debates on “How to measure the excellence and the impact of science”, “Great discoveries and controversy in the media”, or “Science museums and schools: how to develop mutual relations”. The other sessions consisted of different workshops about science, education, communication, social media, etc. A special mention to the session by Ignacio Morgado (from the Institute of Neuroscience of the UAB) on “Perceptual illusions: is the world how we see it?“, in which he made the audience realize that a lot of what we see, smell, hear… is only in our brain.
Fix the eye for one minute in the cross on the top-left side of the picture, and then move the eye to the right side. If everything works, you will see a greenish colour. Repeat for the bottom-left cross, and then you will see a yellow colour on the bottom-right. Does it work?
Also, a special mention for Escolab, a platform that organizes visits to Catalan research centers for secondary students, and Pendulum, an association that brings the kids to the nature for a scientific picnic in the middle of the Montseny Natural Park, among other scientific workshops and activities.
From the 3rd to the 8th of September of 2017 Irene Anton, a Ph.D. student from the N&N group, attended a big meeting of Colloids and Interfaces in Madrid (ECIS2017). The event was hosted by the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Irene participated with two posters and was awarded with one of the two prizes sponsored by the journal Polymers.
