The PRBB at Flickr

Hi there!

There is now a PRBB group in flickr where you can see lots of nice pictures of the PRBB: both of the amazing building and of the many and varied activities that take place here: the beach volley championship, the Open Day, the plays by the theater company PeRaBaBaus, etc.

Here you can see a slideshow of the picutres. Enjoy!


Created with flickr slideshow.

New format of Cell papers - cool!

Today I’ve learned many interesting things. One of them is that Cell has launched this year a new format for the papers they publish, and it looks great! I’ve only had a very quick look at it, but it’s basically much easier to navigate, to inter-relate the different sections, etc.

You can see a video-explanation of how it works here.

And this is how the papers look like:

Some of the new features are:
- There are different tabs for each section (summary, results, etc) and you can move easily from one to the other
- The summary includes a ‘graphical abstract’ and in some cases there’s also a video-interview with the authors
- You can show or hide the affiliations, and when you click on one of them, the names of the authors affiliated to that centre is highlighted, so you don’t have to look at the million tiny symbols you had to do before
- You can see the thumbnails of all the figures, to have an overview, and then click on each of them to see them bigger, with their caption, as usual, but also with links to the places in the paper that refer to that figure!!
- This cross-reference system also works for the references. You can go to each reference and ask where in the paper it is mentioned, and it goes there directly. You can also organise references by author, or year, etc. It also gives you an idea of how these references have been cited in other publications (from Scope)


All in all, a great initiative, I think it will be a real success, and hope others follow suit!

Letter to a young scientist

This is the title of the text that won the "El·lipse award", organised by the PRBB last year for the first time. I already mentioned the El·lipse awards in an earlier post, but we now have the English translation of the winner (written category) - courtesy of Global Talent, so I thought it would be worth posting it heres, so more people can enjoy it!

So, here it is:

Marga Nadal, 1st El·lipse prize of Scientific Dissemination,
in the category of written work




"Letter to a young scientist"

Dear lady,

I received your mail a few days ago and have had it marked with one of those flags until now when I have found a moment of inspiration to answer you. You ask me if research on stem cells will have such an impact as those who understand it foresee, and my immediate response would be no. Even as we scientists have always been proud of being at the margin of fashions, one only needs to have a look at the most prestigious publications of the latest years and one will realize that it is absolutely not true. Scientists and the media who are minimally aware of what we do, have become experts in generating great social expectations and many of us have continued the onslaughts of these gales. Just think for a moment where genetic therapy had to take us and where it has finally taken us. I wouldn't, in any way, want to sin by being pessimistic and I wouldn't want to make you lose this enthusiasm that you have timidly shown towards research, but I would like you to understand that science is still far from being able of resolving all the imperfections of nature. Stem cells, as you know, are the branch parts for excellence, our pantry; their potential to become any cell is absolute at least in the embryonic stage, the very first ones.

The reasoning is therefore simple: if the liver needs a spare liver we only need the stem cells to become liver; if we need neurons, we transform them into neurons and this way, ad líbitum, without limitations. But what needs to be understood is, as always, the mechanism of this metamorphosis. For you to better understand it, if you have never walked along Chillida Leku, you will realize that the sculptures are all different, made of different materials, forms and dimensions and independently of whether you like them or not, they all come from a stone block, of granite, basalt, even of iron or whatever, but the author's imprint is unmistakable.

So, stem cells are the stone block which can be turned into a sculpture, any sculpture, the lining of the scale of the steps at home or simply, remain forever at the quarry. Man or artist is the one who, with his need or expertise, will transform the stone into slab or sculpture. But the stone also transforms by itself: put a stone or sandstone, polished or natural, shiny and white in your house and you will see how it initially will be the envy of neighbours and maybe even someone would want to publish it in a decoration magazine, but you will also see, as just some little time later the stone will have aged, well or badly, but it will have aged, by itself. And the ageing will be different according to whether it has been a humid winter or an especially dry summer, initially very unpredictable, of course.

Stem cells, dear lady, are the stones which can turn into anything the sculptor wishes, and we know it, what we don't know yet is who will sculpt them and how they will age.
I know that with everything I have just told you, I have probably disappointed you or even worse, I will have taken from you in one goes that part of vocation that is essentials to spend a lifetime in a laboratory. I guess this was part of the possibilities you contemplated when you sent me the mail. I also have to tell you that, even if I didn't warn you at the beginning, that I don't consider myself an expert in stem cells and that therefore my opinions shouldn't be regarded too seriously. Even so, dear friend, just think that stem cells are, whatever I may say, a nature's mystery that deserves all the attention of eminent scientists who leave all their energy in the search of sculptors.

Always yours,

TS

Happy new year!!

And here we are again! A bit cold, but Barcelona is still much better than London (where I spent New Year's eve freezing!).
Back at the PRBB, and here's some of the novelties.


- We had a Xmas lunch on December 21, just before the break. Plenty of people devoring the food there was, and enjoying the shows: the PRBB choir singing and the new group of African rythms playing the djembe live. The theater group (called PeRaBaBaus) had also prepared a fantastic video (will post it here later on, watch out for it!), very short but very funny and meaningful - you´ll love it! Here´s some pics:

- The CRG organized for the first time a competition for sculptures based on the structure of DNA. The competition aimed to encourage young people to discover the beauty and complexity of the DNA molecule by exploring new ways of communication and using art as a means of expression, and it was directed to schools. In this first edition, over 180 students participated and submitted a total of 52 sculptures divided in 4 categories. The winners for each category collected their awards on December 14 in a public event sponsored by the PRBB that took place at the park’s conference hall. All of the works where fantastic, and

the winner and finalist sculptures have been displayed at the PRBB reception since then. From this January on, the exhibition will travel to several schools to show the beauty of DNA and to strengthen the links between art and science.

 That's it for now. Have a wonderful 2010, and I hope to see you around here, and I promise to be more constant, too! (that is, until I have my baby!!!!)