National Biotechnology Centre (CNB-CSIC)

Ischaemia-reperfusion injury is one of the causes of damage caused by diseases such as myocardial infarction. A study published in the journal Science has used base editors, a gene-editing tool derived from CRISPR, to modify a key protein in the hearts of mice. According to the authors, the intervention allowed them to recover their function after a heart attack and could potentially be used in a wide range of patients, as it does not depend on the presence of a specific mutation.

Several media outlets are reporting cases of "camel flu" or MERS-CoV at the World Cup in Qatar, including three French national team players. However, no cases have been confirmed and the news reports speak of non-specific symptoms that could be due to any other infectious condition. This coronavirus, discovered in 2012, has a high case fatality rate and before the start of the competition, the WHO had already asked fans travelling to the country to watch out for possible symptoms.

A team of researchers from the Health Institute Carlos III has published an article quantifying the diagnostic delay of rare diseases in Spain with data from the period 1960-2021. The study reveals that more than half of the patients experienced a delay in diagnosis, that the average delay exceeds six years, and that both the percentage of those affected by the delay and the average time have decreased over the years.

The Spanish Confederation of Scientific Societies (COSCE) has just published a report, submitted to the EU, which proposes and compares different possibilities for reform of the regulatory framework for genome editing techniques.

During Pfizer's appearance before the European Parliament this week, a company executive responded to the question of whether "Pfizer's vaccine was tested to stop transmission of the virus (SARS-CoV-2) before going to market" by saying "no".

A US team has successfully integrated brain-like tissue derived from human stem cells into the brains of newborn rats. The research is published in the journal Nature.

To estimate the effectiveness of two or three doses of vaccines against covid-19 infection and hospitalisation, researchers in Denmark conducted a study of all previously uninfected Danish residents aged 12 years and older. The conclusion of the research, which is published in PLOS Medicine, is that a third dose provided greater protection against infection and hospitalisation with omicron than two vaccines.

The extraordinary plenary session of the Congress of Deputies today approved the reform of the Law on Science, Technology and Innovation. After being passed in the Lower House without any votes against it on 23 June, the bill was approved in the Senate on 20 July with an amendment referring to indefinite-term contracts, which was rejected today in Congress. 

Research published in Nature shows the creation of synthetic mouse embryos derived from stem cells. The embryo model copies the stages of natural rodent embryo development that take place up to day 8.5 after fertilisation and includes regions of the brain, a neural tube and a structure similar to a beating heart.

The variety of current dog breeds is the product of two centuries of human intervention, which has often selected characters for extravagance or supposed aesthetics. Lluís Montoliu, president of the CSIC Ethics Committee until last February, recalls that 15% of current dog breeds have some sort of more or less serious congenital disease.