news 2023

A Universitat de València (UV) and IIS La Fe team, integrated in the Biomedical Research Centre in Network of Hepatic and Digestive Diseases (CIBERehd), has proven the potential of metabolomics for the study of hepatotoxicity of new medical drugs thanks to its relevance as a discovery tool of new biomarkers.

From November 13 to 19, the third Global Plastics Treaty Meeting was held in Nairobi (Kenya), which tried, albeit in vain, to find an agreement to hold "countries and companies accountable for their action, or inaction, on plastic pollution and its impact on our health, environment and economy". World leaders have set themselves a date to further discuss the issue in April 2024 in Ottawa, Canada, but in the meantime, plastics and microplastics continue to produce pollution, primarily in waters around the globe.

IBiS research has discovered new phenotypes of neural tube defects in the loop-tail mouse model resistant to folic acid supplementation. These findings not only broaden our understanding of the disease, but provide valuable tools for future research into the prevention of conditions such as spina bifida.

A team of scientists from the Complutense University of Madrid, the Institute of Catalysis and Petrochemistry of the CSIC (ICP-CSIC) and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center have added a new function -through computational methods- to a defense protein of the strawberry anemone (Actinia fragacea ).

A research team led by the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE) and Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) has identified the most widespread genetic contribution by Denisovans to date. The study reveals that the genetic variant observed, which affects zinc regulation, could have signified an evolutionary advantage in our ancestors' adaptation to the cold.

Research conducted in a mouse model identifies the neurobiological mechanism responsible for alterations in the memory of young individuals exposed to alcohol during pregnancy and lactation. This study proposes a therapy that can reverse the deficit, paving the way for treating a disorder that is underdiagnosed in humans.

The poisonous mushroom Galerina marginata colonised Antarctica about two million years ago from northern Europe or America A research team including Isaac Garrido, from the University of Valencia (UV

New research published in a high impact journal shows that there could be "one Ring to rule them all" orchestrating brain dynamics, in some ways similar to Tolkien's famous poem in The Lord of the Rings. The study has identified a ring of regions of the prefrontal cortex which sits at the top of the hierarchical system governing brain dynamics.

Rosario Gil: "In Valencia we are developing a system to fight the tiger mosquito plague with the bacterium Wolbachia " Rosario Gil García is a professor at the University of Valencia (UV) in the Department of Genetics and a researcher at the Institute of Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), a joint centre of the UV and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).

Reducing the population of the Asian tiger mosquito in Valencia by inoculating males with the Wolbachia bacteria investigated A team of researchers from the University of Valencia (UV) is working on

Scientists from the European research project Micro4Biogas have discovered and characterised a new taxonomic order of bacteria which specialise in the decomposition of organic matter and could hold the key to improving biogas fuel production. The order, which they have dubbed Darwinibacteriales, is one of the most abundant in biogas-producing tanks but had never been characterised scientifically before.

Pioneering research by the University of Valencia and the CSIC uses bacteria viruses against Xylella fastidiosa in the Balearic Islands Pilar Domingo-Calap, researcher at the Institute of Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), a joint centre of the University of Valencia (UV) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), directs research with phages (bacterial viruses) that has started treating crop plants affected by the bacteria Xylella fastidiosa in the Balearic Islands.

Researchers from the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) and CSIC have studied the effect of lamivudine, a drug used in the treatment of HIV, in a transgenic model of Alzheimer's disease. The results, published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences , suggest that retranscriptase inhibitors may be a promising strategy to be developed in the field of neurodegenerative diseases.

19-month-old toddlers already use natural logical thinking, even before they learn to speak, to deal with uncertainties about the world. This natural logic contributes to their learning process, both in terms of language and in other fields of knowledge. This is one of the main conclusions of a study led by UPF's Center for Brain and Cognition, that has been published today in the journal Current Biology .

Researchers from the Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), a joint centre of the University of Valencia (UV) and the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), among other centres, have discovered that the Pigment-Dispersing Factor protein gene (PDF), which is part of the insect circadian clock (responsible for daily rhythms), is also found in the pea aphid.

Researchers from the Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), a joint centre of the University of Valencia (UV) and the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), among other centres, have discovered that the Pigment-Dispersing Factor protein gene (PDF), which is part of the insect circadian clock (responsible for daily rhythms), is also found in the pea aphid.

An international research team in which the Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), joint centre of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and the University of Valencia (UV) participate, has just published a study in the journal Microbiome which reveals the presence of beta-lactones, a group of little-studied substances with pharmaceutical potential generated by symbiotic bacteria that inhabit the skin of a species of nudibranch, a sea slug.

A study by UPF and ULiège reveals new insights into consciousness, which establish the basis for treating disorders such as vegetative state in the future. Currently, the diagnosis of people with consciousness disorders is mainly based on their behavioural response to external stimuli. However, this study examines the underlying brain activity of people with these disorders, laying the foundations for improving their diagnosis and treatment in the future.

An international team led by Postdoctoral Researcher Margarita Salas of the University of Valencia Rafael Marquina, has studied the fossil remains of small vertebrates recovered from the Illa Grossa, the largest island of the archipelago of Columbretes.

An international study on the effect of circadian clocks in different tissues shows that there is a minimal network required for the control of glucose levels in the body. This finding has clear implications for diabetes and other age-related diseases. Collaborative work by teams at the Department of Medicine and Life Sciences ( MELIS ) at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), University of California, Irvine (UCI), and the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) has shown that interplay between circadian clocks in liver and skeletal muscle controls glucose metabolism.