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The INL – International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory carried out an evacuation simulation of the INL buildings, today morning, July 3rd. Several agents linked to the civil protection of Braga were involved, namely Firefighters and Security Forces. This exercise aimed to test the response capacity of the INL and civil protection agents in Braga in the context of an emergency situation. This is an action in accordance with the Technical Regulation on Fire Safety in Buildings in force. The total evacuation of people working in the INL buildings was part of the self-protection measures within the scope of the aforementioned regulation, and took place, after the alarm sounded, under the coordination of those responsible for the areas and in accordance with the protocols in force. We work every day to avoid occurrences of this kind, but we have to be prepared in case they happen, for those who work at INL and for those who live close to us.

hOLIVEcream – healthy creams based on olive oil enriched with red fruits

Currently, some strategies are focused on developing “clean label” products, which consider the current sustainability requirements, rely on natural products, and present a healthy nutritional profile. In this context, the project hOLIVEcream project aimed to create new creams that use vegetable fat and incorporate red fruits for pastry and bakery products. These products guarantee healthy lipidic profiles, with low saturated fat and high antioxidant content. INL researchers were in charge of developing and characterising the new formulations. Decorgel has partnered with INL has obtained so these new solutions could be incorporated into creams to be used in pastry and bakery products. This project brought significant advantages, with the development and introduction in the market of noel products that currently do not exist internationally. INL researchers thoroughly investigated the new fats to be incorporated in bakery and pastries, including textural, sensorial, rheological (deformation) and structural evaluations, at the micro and nanoscale. Buse Gurbuz, a researcher in the Food Processing and Nutrition research group at INL, explains that “all formulations were designed considering the characteristics of the products already used in the pastry sector, as a slight modification could alter the sensory perception of the final baking product”. Olive oil, an endogenous […]

Closing event of the Baterias2030 Project

The closing event of the Baterias2030 took place yesterday at gnration, in Braga with all the partners and Braga City Council. Since 2018 and during the last years, the team involved in the Baterias2030 focused the work on the development of technologies applied to batteries of the future and their transfer to the urban environment. The project’s strategic goal was based on disruptive solutions, reliable, sustainable, easily scalable, capable of being integrated throughout the value chain and accessible to the consumer and was aligned with European strategies in terms of decarbonization and sustainable cities, and the coordination with technological agendas to ensure the strategic positioning of the Batteries 2030 in the national panorama. 23 entities took part in the consortium of the Baterias2030 project which was conceived based on energy storage and production technologies with a high potential to evolve beyond the current state-of-the-art and the willingness on the part of business and scientific co-drivers to collaborate and contribute in terms of the development of technologies and/or their application in the market. The last years also counted on the collaboration of the Braga City Council in the implementation of the living laboratory for decarbonization. According to Pedro Salomé “…today we finished the […]

Meet Andrea Cruz, contributing to the first prototype of the LIFESAVER project

At INL since 2016, can you tell us a bit about your journey? My name is Andrea Cruz, Portuguese, and I come from a small village 36km from Braga called Forjães. After completing my degree in microbiology from the faculty of Biotechnology in Porto, I decided that it would be good for my professional career to have an abroad experience, and I did a master’s in science from Montfort University UK. This great experience led me to pursue a PhD in Health Sciences from Minho University that has been conducted between the Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS) from Minho University and the Trudeau Institute (USA). In 2016, I joined INL with a Marie Curie fellow to develop point-of-care devices for detecting biomarkers in the context of different disease diagnostics. Since then, I have worked on this interface between medicine and nanotechnology, mainly identifying clinical biomarkers and developing biosensing strategies and lab-on-chip devices for medical applications. I am a staff researcher of the Nanodevices group, working on the LIFESAVER research project funded by the European Commission under the Green Deal. The Lifesaver project involves fourteen European institutions, including universities, research centres and companies, working together, sharing knowledge, and driven by […]

CTBio – Crossborder Biotech Cluster closing event at INL

The closing session of the CTBio – Cross-Border Biotechnology Cluster project took place, this week, at INL – International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory. All the partners – Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Cluster Tecnoloxico Empresarial das Ciencias da Vida (BIOGA), Consorcio de La Zona Franca de Vigo, Universidade do Minho (UMinho), and INL – Laboratorio Iberico Internacional de Nanotecnologia met and showcased all the impressive outcomes of the project. During the working months, the team involved in the project was able to create three sectorial hybridization workshops for the design and development of new business methods based on the synergies of different sectors of the Euroregion in addition to 22 biotech projects and SMEs advised, through the hybridization between the strategic, technological and biotech sectors of the Euroregion. The CTBio – Cross-Border Biotechnology Cluster project was co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund FEDER through the Interreg Spain – Portugal program (POCTEP) and sought to reinforce the positioning of this CTBio Cluster as a reference structure for the business dynamization of the biotech sector in the Euroregion, while increasing its scope of action and laying the foundations for the future creation of the Iberian Cross-Border Biotechnology Pole.

INL researchers develop a new model to predict toxicity of nanomaterials

Engineered nanomaterials based on metal oxide nanoparticles offer many promising applications – from cosmetics and sunscreens to diagnostic devices and textiles. These nanomaterials offer exciting technological properties. However, it is crucial to understand their interaction with the biological environment, such as marine, atmospheric and terrestrial ecosystems. Alarmingly, emerging studies suggest that engineered nanomaterials might present toxic effects on human lungs, and there is still no international consensus on the metrics and exposure limits of these nanomaterials, as toxicity studies are usually conducted in non-human laboratory models. Researchers from the Nanosafety research group at INL are innovating and using in silico experiments to predict the toxicity of engineered nanomaterials – i.e., these toxicity studies can be performed using an artificial intelligence-assisted and data-driven framework. João Meneses, the leading author of this study, explains “We developed a machine learning model to predict the potential human lung cell toxicity induced by metal oxide nanoparticles exposure”. The group has successfully shown that it is possible to build a simple, easy-to-interpret, and robust model aligning with the principle of Safe-by-Design. João adds that the recently published study “could pave the way for efficient decision-making, prediction, and mitigation of the potential occupational and environmental risks associated with engineered nanomaterials”. This […]

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