Barcelona hosts for the first time a specialised course on brain organoids

This week, until July 6, an advanced course on brain organoids is being held in Barcelona. The conference, in which the Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), a research center of the Pasqual Maragall Foundation, participates, offers an overview of the methods for the generation and characterization of these organoids, complex structures generated in vitro that are they resemble human organs and allow research into brain development and related disease mechanisms. The training, a pioneer in the field and organized together with the University of Barcelona and the Center for Genomic Regulation, will offer attendees specialized theoretical and practical content from a dozen international experts.

During the conference, around twenty participants will have the opportunity to generate brain organoid differentiation systems, analyse the brain organoid system, and debate the ethics and regulation of these structures that are revolutionising the fields of developmental and stem cell biology. The course, the first of its kind, has received more than 100 applications from professionals interested in attending. Finally, a total of 17 people representing 17 different nationalities have been accepted.

BBRC postdoctoral researcher Laura García González, member of the Genomics Research Group, will participate as an instructor of the course, along with other reference professionals in the field. In addition, one of the days of the program will take place entirely at the BBRC facilities, where the attendees will visit the Biomarkers in Fluids Platform of the center and carry out a practical session for protein detection in organoid tissue. Paula Ortiz, from the Biomarkers in Fluids and Translational Neurology Research group of the BBRC, as well as Javier Torres and Esther Jiménez, from the Biomarkers in Fluids Platform, will coordinate the activities at headquarters.