news 2020

Recerca Anti-NMDAR encephalitis is an autoimmune brain illness that is often mistaken by a psychiatric disorder since it causes psychoses and other behaviour alterations. Despite having these similarities, the illness does not respond to common antipsychotic treatments. A new study by the University of Barcelona and the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS) shows these symptoms would be caused by alterations in the quantity of dopaminergic receptors D1R and D2R in the hippocampal area of the brain.

Recerca The interests of science, technology and society should not prevail over those of the individual. Guaranteeing this principle is one of the main tasks in the research ethics committees (CER), interdisciplinary collegiate bodies set by the law which analyse the scientific validity of research studies and its social value, and which study the rights and interests at stake.

Recerca A research team from IDIBAPS-Hospital Clínic and the University of Barcelona has led an international study to develop an epigenetic clock that can trace how much the cancer cells have multiplied in the past. Thanks to this clock, they can predict the future growth of the tumour and clinical evolution of patients, so they could define treatment strategies according to the biological risk of the tumour.