Chromatin originated in ancient microbes one to two billion years ago

Genomic and proteomic analysis reveals that the regulatory role of chromatin is a eukaryotic innovation

13-Jun-2022 - In almost every human cell, two metres-long DNA has to fit within a nucleus that is just 8 millionths of a metre wide. Like wool around a spool, the extreme space challenge requires DNA to wrap around structural proteins called histones. This coiled genetic architecture, known as chromatin, ...

Abundant ‘secret doors’ on human proteins could reshape drug discovery

Identification of hidden vulnerabilities on surface of ‘undruggable’ proteins could transform treatment of disease

11-Apr-2022 - The number of potential therapeutic targets on the surfaces of human proteins is much greater than previously thought, according to the findings of a new study in the journal Nature. A ground-breaking new technique developed by researchers at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona ...

Epigenetics key to daily production of 10 billion blood cells without mistakes

Study reveals a gene key for blood cell specialisation

10-Aug-2020 - Just one in 2,000 bone marrow cells are hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), but these are the source of the ten billion blood cells humans make every day. In a new study published, researchers from the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), in Barcelona, show that the epigenetic regulator Phf19 is ...

New company brings together microbes & genomics to improve health, agriculture & industry

The biotechnology company Microomics is a spin-off from the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) and the Catalan Institute for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA) specialized in microbiome analysis

08-Mar-2018 - There may be as many as one trillion species of microbes on Earth. Human beings are estimated to have ten times more bacteria than cells in our bodies. In short, microbes are of the utmost importance for our health and life on Earth, and form part of numerous biotechnological processes. Far from ...

Why are genetically identical individuals different? Ask your mum!

04-Dec-2017 - Does the age of a mother influence the traits and characteristics of her progeny, and how? A team of scientists at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona have addressed these questions by studying tiny, genetically identical C. elegans worms. "Our lab has long been interested in ...

The genome of Leishmania reveals how this parasite adapts to environmental changes

27-Nov-2017 - Leishmaniasis is an important human and veterinary disease caused by Leishmania parasites that affect 12 million people in over 98 endemic countries. The disease is now emerging in Europe due to climate change and massive population displacement. The parasite is known to rapidly adapt to novel ...

Engineering bacteria to design vaccines

Combining gene engineering and biotechnology to design a veterinary vaccine chassis based on the bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae

12-May-2015 - The EU-funded MycoSynVac project combines gene engineering and biotechnology to design a novel veterinary vaccine chassis based on the bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae. By combining their systems biology expertise with cutting-edge synthetic biology methodologies, researchers will engineer a ...

Presentation of the 2013 Eppendorf Award for Young European Investigators

This year’s research prize awarded by Eppendorf goes to Spain

17-Jun-2013 - The British scientist Ben Lehner, Ph.D., ICREA Research Professor, EMBL-CRG Systems Biology Unit at the Centre de Regulació Genòmica, in Barcelona, Spain, has won the 2013 Eppendorf Young Investigator Award. Lehner, born 1978, receives the Eppendorf Award for his discoveries concerning the ...

First-ever blueprint of a minimal cell is more complex than expected

EMBL and CRG scientists reveal what a self-sufficient cell can't do without

01-Dec-2009 - What are the bare essentials of life, the indispensable ingredients required to produce a cell that can survive on its own? Can we describe the molecular anatomy of a cell, and understand how an entire organism functions as a system? These are just some of the questions that scientists in a ...