• Dr. Maria Pia Cosma (CRG) and Dr. Melike Ladakamyali (ICFO) are recognized for their study on DNA packaging and cell pluripotency.
• The collaboration between biologists and physicists allowed for a multidisciplinary approach that led scientists to view and even count, for the first time, the smallest units for packaging our genome.
• A joint patent has been filed by ICFO and CRG, who are now exploring business opportunities to further the application of their findings.
• The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology’s (BIST) missions include promoting cutting-edge research in science and technology within an environment of multidisciplinary scientific excellence, and fostering technology transfer.
The Barcelona City Council through the Institut de Cultura de Barcelona has announced the 2015 “Premi Ciutat de Barcelona” awardees. The study conducted by group leader and ICREA research professor at the Centre for Genomic Regulation, Dr. Pia Cosma, and group leader Dr. Melike Lakadamyali at the Institute of Photonic Sciences, both members of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), has been recognized in the Life Sciences category.
The researchers were recognised for their “recent work published in the journal Cell, which offers a new vision of how DNA is organised and packaged as well as the functional consequences of this packaging in gene expression, differentiation and cell fate in stem cells”.
The study is a clear example of an outstanding successful collaboration between biologists and physicists from two of the leading research institutes in Europe. One of BIST’s missions is to promote this type of cutting-edge research in science and technology within an environment of multidisciplinary scientific excellence.
In line with another of BIST’s goals – to promote technology transfer – ICFO and CRG have filed a joint patent and are now exploring business opportunities to market the classification and determination of the degree of pluripotency of stem cells before their use in cell therapy or research in biomedicine. This example reinforces the importance of multidisciplinary collaborations in search for the advancement of science.
About the “Ciutat de Barcelona” Prize
Through this annual prize, the Barcelona City Council recognises high quality creativity, research and production carried out by individuals, groups or entities in Barcelona. The award ceremony took place on February 15th at the Saló de Cent of the Barcelona City Council.
External links:
CRG news: Super-resolution microscopes reveal the link between genome packaging and cell pluripotency (2015/03/12)
ICFO news: ICFO in Cell (2015/03/12)