Life and matter sciences events

Coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the beginning of the Human Genome Project, we gathered several experts to underline the importance of the recovery of the specialty of Clinical Genetics and analyze its future in the National Health System. This online conversation was attended by Eric D. Green, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) of the National Institute of Health (NIH) of the USA, who collaborated notably in the Human Genome Project. Green assured that "genomics must be integrated into conventional medicine.”

One of the great current challenges of medicine is the implementation of personalized therapy protocols that are adjusted to the patient’s individual needs. In this regard, the knowledge we have achieved in the molecular mechanisms that are involved in diseases and the response of organisms to drugs is essential. The great challenge that we must address now is to transform this knowledge into valuable products that can be easily applied in the clinical field. To achieve it, we need the collaboration between basic researchers and biotech companies, as well as political and economic agents that can facilitate this process.

This conference addressed the development of pharmaceutical quality systems, the design, and the digitalization the industry is undergoing, and which has promoted the use of complex modeling and simulation tools associated with conventional methods in the pharmaceutical development. Likewise, we discussed the alliance of nanotechnology and biotechnology in the development of nano-vaccines, vaccines that in addition to giving an expected immune response, have been nasally administered and have thermostable properties.

Recent biomedical research has proved the determining role of the microbiota in the state of intestinal health. Its ability to counter invading microorganisms and toxic-carcinogenic substances and to produce, from indigestible constituents of the diet, short-chain fatty acids and metabolites with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties has significant effects on the large intestine, which also affect the whole body and reaches the brain. This session focused on the characteristics and mechanisms of the intestinal microbiota-inflammation-colon cancer interconnection.

Nanotechnology is based on exploiting the properties of nanometric materials (with sizes of the order of millionths of a millimeter) for various applications. One of the areas where the most relevant applications can be expected is the so-called Nanomedicine. In this conference, Professor Liz Marzán focused on a special type of nanomaterials that are based on noble metals, such as gold, and their optical properties, as tools to understand the behavior of biological systems and design personalized diagnostic methods.

Speaker: Luis Liz Marzán. CIC biomaGUNE

Replacing fossil fuels is a necessary technology to achieve the net zero emissions (NZE) target by 2050, as planned for the EU. This goal cannot be achieved without a significant role of solar energy. This conference analyzed the open scenario since the energy transition and the role of solar energy to advance towards the NZE objectives, emphasizing that it is a profound transition, with a complete transformation of technologies, infrastructure, social and industrial objectives. This creates opportunities for science, innovation, and business, but only when the complex interrelationships of transformation are understood, going beyond the current valuation and evaluation models that are still used by many international agencies.

Speaker: Gabriele Centi. University of Messina, Italy, and European Research Institute of Catalysis

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