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Modesto Orozco, head of the Molecular Modelling and Bioinformatics” lab explains to “El Temps” that “simulation in biology has started up very slowly because of the complexity of systems, but its potential is limitless".
Orozco talks about the main projects being undertaken in the lab at IRB Barcelona, in collaboration with the BSC, giving special mention to the Human Brain Project, and the prediction of resistance patterns to AIDS treatment with the Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol and IRSICaixa. He also speaks about the EGA project (European Genome-phenome Archive), which gathers genomic data on the entire European population, and the PanCancer project, which seeks to bring together all genetic information on cancer patients with the aim to discover the cancer fingerprint and to decipher what happens in each case.
For Modesto Orozco the practical application of biosimulation is currently in the field of drug design and as an example he mentions 13 FDA-approved drugs. "Practically all blockbusters, drugs expected to have a turnover of more than a million dollars, have arisen from biosimulation."
Read the interview with Modesto Orozco in “El Temps” (PDF)
About IRB Barcelona
The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) pursues a society free of disease. To this end, it conducts multidisciplinary research of excellence to cure cancer and other diseases linked to ageing. It establishes technology transfer agreements with the pharmaceutical industry and major hospitals to bring research results closer to society, and organises a range of science outreach activities to engage the public in an open dialogue. IRB Barcelona is an international centre that hosts 400 researchers and more than 30 nationalities. Recognised as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence since 2011, IRB Barcelona is a CERCA centre and member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST).
