New EMBL tissue biology centre to open in Barcelona

The Spanish Government and EMBL, the life science research facility, have agreed to open a new site dedicated to tissue biology and disease modelling.

Based in Barcelona, the researchers will investigate how both tissues and organs develop. They will also see how they function and how preventing failures in these processes could help fight disease. EMBL Barcelona will have cutting-edge facilities for microscopy and modelling technologies to assist this research.

EMBL Director-General Iain Mattaj said: “Tissue biology and disease modelling is an exciting field, where we expect breakthroughs in fundamental research and also in terms of future medical applications. EMBL Barcelona will be in a unique position to lead those advances.”

Researchers will hope to discover aspects of tissue biology that will enable them to control, make and heal tissues and organs – providing a means of treating birth defects, cancer and diseases of the immune system. The scientists will be housed at EMBL Barcelona, on the campus of the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB), and also benefit from the institute’s relationship with the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) which is based on the campus.

Director of CRG, Luis Serrano, said: “At CRG we have a partnership with EMBL since 2006, and we’ve already made significant discoveries as a result of our collaboration. This will continue in the future, and we will strengthen those links further now that EMBL will be physically present on site.”

EMBL is an intergovernmental organisation that was established in 1974 and is supported by more than 20 member states.