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3DSecret project, coordinated by INL, targets metastasis patterns in breast cancer

Cancer remains the second most prevalent cause of mortality in developed countries, only behind cardiovascular disease. Critically, rather than the primary tumour, it is estimated that metastases are responsible for up to 9 in every 10 cancer deaths. The 3DSecret project, coordinated by INL, aims to unravel stochastic patterns that drive metastasis by combining a set of bleeding edge technologies: microfluidics, spectroscopy, nucleic acid sequencing, and artificial intelligence. The project, which unites partners from Portugal, Spain, Italy, and the UK, will use a multifactorial approach to study circulating tumour cells from the blood of breast cancer patients and identify patterns of cancer cell aggressiveness. The project kicked off in January, and a team of researchers from the Medical Devices research group at INL have successfully achieved the growth of cancer spheroids containing hundreds of breast cancer cells, originating from one single cell (figure below). The capacity of studying metastasis at the single-cell level avoids the averaging errors introduced by studying large cell populations and has the potential to allow the identification of cell-specific factors that can lead to the establishment of metastasis. The consortium has also designed a clinical protocol together with 2CA at Braga Hospital, which will allow utilising the […]

INL Colloquium with Andrew deMello, Professor of Biochemical Engineering at ETH Zurich

Today INL hosted another captivating colloquium with Andrew deMello, Professor of Biochemical Engineering in the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences at ETH Zurich. His work focuses on combining optical microscopy and flow cytometry techniques to enable high-throughput imaging of cells within dynamic environments, offering a wealth of possibilities for biomedical research and diagnostics. At the INL Colloquium, Andrew emphasized that while modern flow cytometers excel at high-speed processing, they often require significant sample and reagent volumes, and they lack spatial resolution within individual cells. In response to these limitations, deMello’s research has revolved around leveraging microfluidic systems for precise manipulation and high-throughput processing of micron-sized objects. He also explores innovative optical detection methods that allow the capture of clear images of swiftly moving objects. Andrew de Mello’s presentation at the INL Colloquium shed light on the cutting-edge technologies and methods that are poised to reshape how we understand and analyse cellular dynamics. The event unfolded at INL’s auditorium with a diverse audience of researchers keen on unravelling the latest developments in the field of microfluidics for blood diagnostics.

World Food Day 2023: INL is working towards a sustainable agri-food system

World Food Day is an annual event that highlights the importance of addressing global hunger and promoting sustainable agriculture. With the global population expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, the need for a robust and sustainable agri-food system has never been more critical. The INL Food Cluster is committed to foster innovation in agriculture and food production. INL researchers are at the forefront of this mission, striving to create a resilient, efficient, and sustainable agri-food system. Their multidisciplinary approach combines nanotechnology, biotechnology, and advanced materials to create solutions that enhance food quality, safety, and availability. This video showcases INL’s nanotechnologies to build a future food system that is sustainable and able to secure healthier, tastier, authentic, and safer foods, optimising and monitoring the processes all throughout the different parts of the whole food value chain.

UT Austin Portugal Annual Conference 2023

INL hosts the UT Austin Portugal Annual Conference 2023 next October 24. The event is the Program’s largest knowledge-sharing and networking initiative and serves as an ideation exercise that explores how the Program can help shape the future of Portugal’s scientific and technological landscape. With the theme “Modelling the Future”, the agenda includes insightful discussions around topics such as Clean Energy, Advanced Computing and Nanotechnologies, networking moments and an E-Poster exhibition. Attendance for this event is free of charge, but registration is required.More information here. Registration here.

Quantum dots: the nanoparticles behind the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023

As the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023 was attributed to Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus, and Alexei I. Ekimov, INL acknowledges some of the work done by research groups using quantum dots: the chemical particles discovered and synthetized by these scientists. Quantum dots are nanoparticles with semiconducting properties. This means that their size directly influences their capacity to absorb and emit light in a range of specific colours. These particles are so small that their structure is largely governed by the laws of quantum mechanics. We can explain their functionality with a metaphor: the electron wave gets confined inside a ‘box’, i.e., inside the tiny particle, affecting its optical properties. So, regardless of being chemically identical, large quantum dots emit red light while the small ones emit blue. Independently, Ekimov and Brus were able to demonstrate and understand the size-dependent quantum effects in particles. Later on, Bawendi came up with the effective synthesis of quantum dots with well-defined size and with high optical quality. Synthetising quantum dots with different sizes and shapes is very important, since their applications vary according to their multiplicity. From medical imaging to everyday uses, like TVs with Qled screens, there’s ground for researching immense […]

Spintronics for neuromorphic computing: a breakthrough in energy-efficient information processing

In a recently published paper, the Spintronics research group describes a spintronic circuit as a basic programmable computing unit for neuromorphic computing. This circuit connects multiple spintronic devices with different functionalities in one circuit using a single fabrication process, which paves ways to fabricate complex neuromorphic computing systems. Neuromorphic computing offers a hopeful way to tackle some significant problems we face in technology, like the high energy consumption when processing a lot of data at once, which is similar to how our brains work. The idea behind neuromorphic computing is to handle information using many small processing units all at once. These units can be quite simple and can be set up in different ways. So, a good implementation needs to be energy-efficient, take up less space, and work quickly. It should also be able to grow and adapt for use in networks with millions of devices. INL researcher Tim Böhnert explains that “the computer memories should keep their memory over long periods and the processing units should activate above a certain threshold value. Thus, we are looking for other important properties such as non-volatility of the memories and non-linearity of the processing component.” In this paper, researchers investigated one […]

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