Biotech and Space: Interview with Francesc Gòdia, director of the MELiSSA pilot plant

Francesc Gòdia is a Full Professor of Chemical Engineering at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) since 1993. Teaching activities in Biotechnology and Chemical Engineering. Coordinator of the Biotechnology Doctoral Program at UAB. His research activity is focussed on Regenerative Technology for Life Support in Space and Animal Cell Technology for the production of biopharmaceuticals, recombinant

COVID-19 vaccines: factors contributing to a ‘fast-track’ development

Domenica Sardone, Regulatory Program Associate Director, Roche Ltd. The COVID-19 pandemic has demanded a new global approach to vaccine development. There has been unprecedented international attention, cooperation and especially use of resources, enabling pharmaceutical companies and governmental bodies to act at speed in the interest of public health. During this challenging times and considering the

Interviewing Enrico Costanzo, Group Innovation Manager at Cereal Docks

What is the activity of your company? Cereal Docks Group is a family business generating eight hundred million euros of revenues. Our core business is focused on the primary transformation: transforming agricultural raw materials (like soy, sunflower and rapeseed) into ingredients like cakes, oils and lecithins mainly for feed and food industries but also for

Interview with Magdalini Theodoridou, Civil Engineer and PhD in Conservation Science

I was born and raised in Greece. I hold a PhD in Conservation Science from the University of Bologna in Italy and diploma in Civil Engineering (5-year studies) from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece. I have worked as a research and teaching fellow in Italy, Hungary and Cyprus, with scientific contributions to the design

Interview with Lorena de Oñate, postodoctoral researcher in the Innovative Genomics Institute, led by Prof. Doudna, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Laura Moro, Ph.D. As you all know, this year Nobel Prize in Chemistry was recently awarded to Prof. Emmanuelle Charpentier and Prof. Jennifer A. Doudna who discovered one of gene technology’s sharpest tools: the CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors. We spoke with Lorena de Oñate, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher from Barcelona currently working at the Innovative Genomics

Bioethics and Genetic Modification: Back to Gattaca

Alexandre Bretel In the common imaginary, genetic modifications belong above all to the field of science fiction. But some techniques have already been in use for several decades, and new ones raise unprecedented ethical questions. The CRISPR-Cas9 technique thus allows very precise modifications to be made to the genome, which would make it possible to

Are gene-based vaccines the future of immunisation?

Traditional or conventional vaccines exploit two approaches: either the introduction of live attenuated infectious agents that replicate within the host without causing disease or the introduction of specific antigens that trigger an immune response. Recently, a revolutionary strategy based on gene-based vaccines −either DNA- or RNA-based− has been proposed. This strategy involves the direct introduction of a DNA or RNA sequence encoding the antigen or antigens against which an immune response is sought, and relies on the in situ production of the target antigen (1). This means that the cell’s machinery uses the instructions contained in the introduced genetic material to make virus antigens that the immune system reacts to.