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Laura Orellana, PhD student in Modesto Orozco's lab at IRB Barcelona and part of the IRB-BSC joint programme is featured in a video made by the Barcelona Supercomuting Center to explain the impact of supercomputers on science and on daily life.
Laura is the first scientist to appear, at minute 2, and explains that supercomputers allow researchers to simulate the movements of proteins at the molecular level, watch how they fold and unfold, shedding light on how they function. Abnormal protein movement is key to many diseases. She uses the example of a project that she is working on at MareNostrum in which researchers have simulated an altered protein present in multiform glioblastoma. Thanks to these simulations, the team has been able to visualise the mutations that cause the protein to take on an altered form and cause the uncontrolled growth of this type of tumour cell.
n 2007, IRB and the BSC launched a Joint Programme in Computational Biology, led by Modesto Orozco, who is also director of the Life Sciences programme at BSC.
Watch the video here (appearance by Laura Orellana, from minute 2 to 3:22)
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).
