news 2025

A study co-led by the UB lays the chemical foundations that will allow the production of tailored alginates to meet the production demand in different industrial sectors Every year, thousands of tonnes of brown algae are extracted from the seabed to obtain compounds such as alginates, a polymer composed of sugars that has high density and strength, offering potential biotechnological applications.

Eighty-five percent of diagnosed cases of lung cancer are non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In this group, 5% of patients show molecular alterations in the ALK gene involved in cell multiplication.

It shows neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects in animal models of the disease. Alzheimer's disease, the most common cause of dementia, is currently incurable. The current drugs available have very limited efficacy and only in mild stages of the disease. A team from the University of Barcelona has developed a promising therapeutic candidate to treat this disease, which affects more than 800,000 people in Spain.

Knowing how wildlife populations change is decisive for improving the management and conservation of biodiversity.

Food fraud occurs when products that do not meet consumer expectations reach the market and, in extreme cases, this can lead to health problems. To combat this misleading and critical practice in the food sector, a team from the University of Barcelona has published new studies presenting technologies to verify the geographical origin of two food products: virgin olive oil - emblematic of the Mediterranean diet - and pine nuts, the most expensive nuts on the market.

The fate of the Universe depends on the balance between matter and dark energy, the fundamental ingredient that drives its accelerating expansion.

The red coral colonies that were transplanted a decade ago on the seabed of the Medes Islands have survived successfully. They are very similar to the original communities and have contributed to the recovery of the functioning of the coral reef, a habitat where species usually grow very slowly.

According to a UC3M and CSIC study The Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), in collaboration with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC in the Spanish acronym), has carried out research to evaluate whether political representatives in Spain respond equally to the demands of women and men. The results of the study, which show a gender inequality in the political response to citizens' demands, could have implications both for the design of future public policies and for the debate on gender equality.

Over the last decade, glaciers in Spain have experienced an accelerated retreat, with a significant loss of extension and thickness.

The results of the excavations at Kach Kouch, published in the journal Antiquity , demonstrate a pre-Phoenician occupation of this geographical area. Most Bronze Age settlements have been documented in European territory. Despite its geographical proximity, the Maghreb has always been absent from these historical narratives, erroneously characterized as an 'empty land' until the arrival of the Phoenicians around 800 BC.

A study published in BMC Biology reveals how tiny changes in the expression of a single gene can lead to big differences in eye size. The study was carried out in two closely related fruit fly species, Drosophila mauritiana and Drosophila simulans , which are model organisms for studies on evolutionary developmental biology.

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), in collaboration with Escuela Politécnica del Ecuador and the ASEPEYO hospitals in Barcelona and Madrid, has developed a system of exercise video games (or exergames) that promotes the rehabilitation of people with mobility problems in their hands and wrists.

The study, now featured on the cover of Science , provides a ground-breaking perspective on the evolutionary history of molluscs. An international team of experts has resolved long-standing questions about the evolutionary history of molluscs, one of the most diverse zoological groups on the planet. The study, now featured on the cover of Science , reconstructs the family tree of molluscs and provides a ground-breaking perspective on their evolutionary history.

Emerging pollutants are compounds - microplastics, oils, dyes, pharmaceuticals, plasticizers, etc. that end up in aquatic ecosystems and can pose an environmental and health risk.

Insulin resistance precedes and predicts the onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2), a chronic disease that causes high morbidity and mortality worldwide. In affected people, insulin is unable to facilitate the uptake of glucose through tissues and organs, leading to an increase in blood glucose (chronic hyperglycaemia).

Physical Review Letters magazine has published a paper by Nicolás Sanchis Gual (UV), Juan Calderón Bustillo (IGFAE), and Adrián del Río (UC3M-UV) which analyses the possible asymmetry of black hole fusions. A paper led by researchers from the Universitat de València (UV), the Galician Institute of High Energy Physics (IGFAE), and Charles III University of Madrid (UC3M) researches the possible existence of asymmetries in the universe through the analysis of the direction of rotation in black hole fusions.

Traditional black holes, as predicted by Albert Einstein's theory of General Relativity, contain what are known as singularities , i.e. points where the laws of physics break down. Identifying how singularities are resolved in the context of quantum gravity is one of the fundamental problems in theoretical physics.

The study investigates epigenetic regulation by placental DNA methylation, opening new perspectives on the relationship between this process and disorders of pregnancy and embryonic development. They identify the crucial role in placental development of a protein, which together with other enzymes, restores partially methylated domains in human trophoblast stem cells.

The results could be used to improve early detection of the disease, which affects 190 million women worldwide. The University of Barcelona has participated in an international study that has found new evidence linking traumatic experiences and stressful events with endometriosis, a chronic systemic inflammatory disease characterized by the presence of endometrial-like tissue outside the uterus.

Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease that manifests itself mainly with skin symptoms (dryness, itching, scaly skin, abnormal patches and plaques). It affects about 2% of the population and is mediated by an altered immune system response that triggers the proliferation of skin cells. Depending on the severity, there are different therapeutic options (topical medications, phototherapy, systemic drugs, etc.), but some conventional treatments can have harmful effects on patients.