The endometrium is a highly dynamic tissue with the capacity to undergo physiological changes in response to steroid hormones in order to synchronize its receptivity to the implanted blastocyst during the “window of implantation” (WOI) between days 20 and 21 of the menstrual cycle.

Until now, the only method to evaluate the endometrium was by ultrasound; however, traditional dating by Noyes criteria have demonstrated not to be related with the fertility status and are affected by the subjectivity of the observer. For that, it was important in reproductive medicine, to objectively identify and diagnose the endometrial receptivity status during the WOI. Now it is possible with the Endometrial Receptivity Array (ERA).

This unique, innovative and objective procedure improves endometrium related evaluations and diagnosis. It defines the transcriptomic signature of human endometrial receptivity. The ERA is a genomic tool composed of a customized microarray and a bioinformatic predictor for endometrial dating and to detect pathologies of an endometrial origin. The ERA includes 238 selected genes, which have been shown to be differentially expressed in the transition from the pre-receptive status to receptive status. The transcriptomic signature was defined by 134 genes. The endometrial dating attempts to classify an LH+7 endometrium in transcriptomic terms with a specificity and sensitivity of 0.8857 and 0.99758, respectively. These results show the diagnostic power of ERA for endometrial dating.

This diagnostic tool is now being used clinically in reproductive medicine and gynecology due to the transcriptomic signature is a potential endometrial receptivity biomarkers cluster. This is the first time that a molecular tool, based on functional genomics can be used clinically in reproductive medicine to evaluate the endometrium, for that, ERA provides a new perspective to the clinician.

Available for clinical use, it will increase implantation rates, consequentially reducing the number of failed cycles, eliminate cost and save valuable time for our patients.

The Institute of Genomic Medicine (Imegen), has made it our mission to comprehend the molecular codes of human disease.  In doing so, we have developed a core business around the analysis of DNA and RNA applied to the molecular study of genetic diseases with the final objective of providing a diagnostic report for clinical use, specializing in the application of this knowledge in developing personalized tests for implementation in our client’s laboratories.

Imegen works very closely with its customers and qualified experts obtain the best data and even more important, a detailed report interpreting the results.  A typical process begins with careful planning in collaboration with medical specialists followed by the selection of the newest and most adequate technology, which is optimized for each clinical case.  Once the study is completed, a detailed report that includes an interpretation of results base on the clinical study.  The processes is designed with the final customer in mind and features fast result delivery, sample pick-up and web access to an integrated management system for easy access to all the information related to the progress of the study from start to finish.

Imegen is a young company, but with many years of experience.  We have built a young Company with a great experience, since Imegen staff has been working in Molecular Biology, Genetics and Genomics for many years. Two of our experts are accredited in Human Genetics, certification granted by the AEGH (Genetic Association in Human Genetics), made up of less than 200 professionals in Spain.

Our commitment to research and quality drives us to a constant updating of our knowledge and structure, in order to obtain the most accurate diagnostic options. We are offering more that two hundred pathology studies and we are capable to design customized analysis in minimal time and with total warranty. We work permanently in communication with medical professionals, giving support and improving continuously the diagnosis and treatment of diseases with a genetic cause.

As genomics experts, we promote and conduct all types of research projects in our areas of knowledge. In addition to participating in its design and development, we are active in searching for other potential partners in the public and private sectors, as well as in selecting the most suitable financial resources applicable in every case. Upon completion of a project we actively participate in the assessment of the results, by authorizing patents or through development and commercialization of new products and services.

One of our objectives is stir up technology transference in Spain. We design and develop personalized tests for the detection of genetic pathologies, to be implemented at customer laboratory.  In addition, we educate the staff, we offer consultation on quality implementation and we make the transference of the necessary technology in situ. As well, we have extensive experience translating to clinical laboratories the obtained results in research projects. We actively promote the exchange and commercial use by companies of the obtained knowledge, in collaboration with public institutions.

ECOTECH TOILET ECO is a certified organic products with the European Ecolabel of the ECOTECH range, created by the company ENDEMIC BIOTECH S.L.. It is a descaling action cleanser formulated with natural raw materials with a high level of biodegradability and suitable for cleaning all washable surfaces such as toilets and bathrooms.

In 2006 ENDEMIC BIOTECH S.L. was the first company in Comunidad Valenciana in certifying a bathroom cleaner. Due to its composition, the product is providing with a beneficial characteristics as the absence of hazard classification and formulation with natural raw materials.

OCU-Compra Maestra is a consumer information magazine, member of the International Organization of Consumers’ Association (IOCU), European Bureau of Consumers Unions (BEUC) and the International Group Testing (ICRT), which has made bathroom cleaner comparative analysis in collaboration with other European consumer organizations.

The analysis consists in compare various product criteria, the characteristics and cleaning capacity of fifteen leading products on the market. It compares the price, if the amount of the product coincides with the announcement on the label, the product is checked for debris tarnish, if they really have an anti-scale effect, its hazardous characteristics, and if the label is correct.

The overall result of the study was good, especially with the anti-scale. The bathroom cleaner can cost twice as cleaners, but its ability to clean is good or very good.

ECOTECH TOILET ECO finished fourth just one point of difference the product was in third place, and fifteen points on the other Ecolabel product in the study, that was at fourteenth number. The study highlights their effectiveness in lime combating, as well as has passed their demanding aggression test against materials used.

El hecho de que ECOTECH TOILET ECO no posea clasificación de peligro y esté formulado con materias primas de origen natural en base a ácidos más débiles, le otorgan una condición óptima, no agresiva, para su manipulación.

The biotechnology sector is one of the fastest growing industries in the Valencia region. Its demand for highly qualified employees is driving the creation of programs to mold current students into innovative researchers and providing existing workers the specialized skills they need to lead biotechnology organizations.
The University Polytechnic of Valencia has recently seen the graduation of its first students participating in their Biotechnology degree. The degree is designed to produce professionals able to research, innovate, and develop biotechnological solutions in all aspects of the sector.  Furthermore, the success and interest in the field has lead to the development of a Master in Biomedical Biotechnology focused on developing bench to bedside research techniques.

The Catholic University of Valencia has also seen the need to offer a comprehensive curriculum for those interested in the Life Sciences but don’t want to follow more traditional paths such as biology, medicine, nursing or agricultural engineering. Their Biotechnology Degree allows these students to fulfill their vocation studying a new discipline with strong ties to research and industry. The curriculum follows the new model of university instruction (European Higher Education Area) focusing on the needs of students and their acquisition of a series of abilities, capacities and competences. In order to reach these goals, the university is hiring a new teaching team with years of experience in the various frontiers of Biotechnology (genomics, natural products, microbial engineering, biofuels, proteomics, sythetic biology, etc.) who will work with existing professors to offer a clear path from academia to the private sector.

Furthermore, BIOVAL is currently finishing the 2nd year of its Business Biotechnology course. Aimed at recent graduates and biotechnology professionals, the program is designed to offer a broader view of the intricacies of working in a biotechnology company. The course features current specialists in Finance, R&D, Human Resources, Patent Law, Business Development, etc. to offer a practical view of the sector as well as develop professional abilities such as negotiation, presentation skills, and time management skills. The overwhelming success of the first 2 editions will lead to the opening of a third in the near future. The program’s mix is unique in offering a business perspective to a technically dominated field is highly desired by both companies and individuals looking to increase their marketability and professional network.

Both the industry and more traditional university oriented programs are developing a highly trained pool of talent that will lead the Valencian biotechnology sector to a prosperous future.

It’s clear that functional food will have a very important impact, as it is the only subsector of the food industry that has grown consistently in double digits in the last 5 years.  Functional products are of increasingly high interest for the European consumer, a trend that began in Asia and is continuing to spread worldwide.  The industry is acutely aware of this and is looking for the best way to implement these ideas in a wider range of products.

I believed 4 years ago that when the new EU regulations on the use of health claims in food came into effect, it would establish a new market for the sale of these products; consequentially, this will necessitate a greater investment in research to obtain clear validation into the advertised physiological properties of the food product.  However, we should keep in mind certain limitations.  While these new products require pre-clinical and clinical studies, the food industry is not the pharmaceutical industry.  The traditional animal models are too slow and expensive for use in the food industry’s time frame and cost structure.  The implementation of new models is vital to assure the long-term growth and profitability of functional products.  New advances in “-omic” technologies offer an interdisciplinary approach with simpler animal models that do not sacrifice rigorous scientific standards and subsequently, offer a solution to tradition models.  Of course, the final stop before clinical studies continues to require result validation with classic animal models.

Both the yeast Saccharomyces cervisiae and the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans are perfect example of organisms that can be employed in this manner.  They are well established in biological research, their genomes have been completely sequenced and a collection of mutants exists with both gain and loss of function in many of their genes. The amassing of this molecular knowledge combined with genomics and metabolomics allows us to define metabolic pathways of functional ingredients in less time and at less cost than with conventional mouse models.  Valencia is particularly advanced in this area of research and partnership between Biopolis S.L., the Prince Felipe Research Institute and the Investigation Center of the La Fe Hospital has further developed models for use in the medaka fish.  However, I must emphasize that traditional research into mouse models should not be abandoned.

How will Genomics influence food in the future?
I believe think it will radically influence how we eat.  Companies are continuously racing to lower the cost and time required in sequencing genomes and in a few years, we will without a doubt have a routine method available that permits us to know the mutations present in the genome of any individual whose negative affects can be minimized by nutritional intervention. This will allow us to open the doors to nutrigenomics and begin to base our eating habits on our own genetic passport.

We cannot forget that at the current date, there are 1214 genomes of distinct animals, plants and microorganisms sequenced and that there exists more than 6900 projects sequencing other genomes.  Without a doubt, we are at the beginning of a major revolution in the study of biology as it unravels the genetic blueprint of different organisms.  Many of these sequencing projects feature an increasing amount of organisms of interest to the food industry such as rice, bread yeast, or grapes.  This molecular knowledge offers endless possibilities for the improvement of physical-chemical, organoleptic, or nutritional characteristics of food.  Valencia is uniquely positioned to offer a complete solution to this problem with a wide variety of diverse companies working on everything from modeling techniques to sequencing and ingredient development.

What do you see in the future of food technology?
The research and innovation in food products is undergoing a revolution caused by the use of new understanding and technology generated by the life sciences as well as other new technologies such as the use of artificial intelligence in processes and nanotechnology.  More and more we need to stop speaking of the food technology, and more of food science and technology:  fewer tubes, more genes, and more algorithms for processing control.  We should be pioneers in helping food companies in the implementation of this new understanding in both food and nutrition.

This event brought together researchers and academic professors and R & D and Marketing responsibles.

NUTRACITRUS has received the Malta Polyphenol 2009 Award for the most innovative company.

NUTRACITRUS premium product is NUTRAGRANATE, a pomegranate extract purified to punicalagins and polyphenols, perfectly soluble in water, with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. ORAC values are superior to 7,000 µmol Trolox equivalent per gram of extract, whereas nutrition experts recommend a 4,000 ORAC daily intake to ensure health benefits.

Scientific studies carried out in an in vivo model, demonstrated antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits in a gut inflammation induced situation.
NUTRAGRANATE is recommended to add in:
• Dietary supplements
• Functional beverages
• Functional foods
• Cosmetic products

Reference:
González-Sarrías, A. et al. “Disimilar in vitro and vivo effects of ellagic acid and its microbiota-derived metabolites, urolitins, on the cytochrome P450 1A1”. J. Agric. Food. Chem. (2009) 57: 5623-5632.
González-Sarrías A. et al. “Occurrence of urolithins, gut microbiota ellagic acid metabolites, and proliferation markers expression response in the human prostate gland upon  consumption of walnuts and pomegranate juice”. Molecular Nutrition and Food Research. In press.
Larrosa, M. et al. “Anti-inflammatory properties of a pomegranate extract and its metabolite urolithin-A in a colitis rat model and the effect of colon inflammation on the phenolic metabolism”. Journal of Nutritional Biochemestry. In press.

The Kit Bioalarm Legionella developed by Biótica, Bioquímica
Analítica, S.L., has been validated for the detection of Legionella
pneumophila in waters through the two expert laboratories,
Laboratorios Labaqua, S.A. and Iproma, S.A. Validation of the
Biótica´s kit is part of an effort to effectively respond to the
prevention of Legionellosis, which represents a considerable challenge for public health.

The Bioalarm Legionella Kit is a immunomagnetic beads-based tool for monitoring the level of Legionella pneumophila both natural and man-made aquatic environments.  It could help avoid costly impacts of prevention strategies for Legionella pneumophila, which is responsible of 90-98 % of the cases.

The Bioalarm Legionella Kit is intended to enhance the ability of government and industry to test Legionella pneumophila, which has been implicated in several recent outbreaks, including cooling waters, hospitals and hotels. These bacteria represent a fatality rate of 12-15 % that can easily extend up to 50% in cases of immunocompromised patients. This kit helps the companies to improve their measures to prevent infective levels in risk environments.

The Bioalarm Kit is being introduced into the water safety testing market with this Validation, obtained in December 2009, as part of Biótica initiative to serve a broader range of customers, such as laboratories and industry. It is a fast immunomagnetic-based method that detects intact cells of the pathogen in filterable water samples, allowing companies and laboratories to make a quick and reliable detection, in a user-friendly format without special training and instrumentation. This kit enables testing laboratories to obtain results in less than 1 hour, which is significantly faster than culture-based methods, which can take up to fifteen days.

The study has been published in an article in the Journal, Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, and has been carried out within a project of the Centre of Biotechnology at the University of Dresden (Germany) which has counted on the collaboration of the CIPF-CSIC Laboratory.

The discovery consists of the identification of an important mechanism involved in the regulation of a process known as “apoptosis” or programmed cell death. The researchers have discovered that the inhibition of the so called “death proteins”, the regulators of this process, takes place primarily in the mitochondrial membrane.

A study aimed at discovering more efficient drugs

One of the main objectives of the research into cancer is the induction of apoptosis in tumoural cells, in particular those resistant to chemotherapy treatments. Enrique Pérez Paya, Head of the Peptides and Proteins Laboratory at the CIPF-CSIC, and one of the authors of the article states that with this research “we have tried to investigate the molecular mechanism and get close to it, to understand it better, as a first step in order to develop drugs in the future”.

One of the most important families of proteins for maintaining the balance in the molecular mechanism of apoptosis are the “Bcl” proteins. Amongst its contributions to the project, the CIPF has contributed to the design, preparation and purification of the peptides and proteins necessary for the study. “Two interesting proteins will be chosen, one of them pro-apoptotic, called “tBid” which induces cell death, and the other anti-apoptotic, called “Bcl-xL”, which inhibits cell death. Through various techniques these proteins were prepared for the research”, explains Pérez Payá.

From the results of the study, the scientists have proved that the interaction between the proteins which induce and proteins which inhibit cell death is not the same when

they are found in dissolution (in the cytosol of the cell) to when analysed in mitochondrial membrane models.

These results open new possibilities to develop new medicines which block the “Bcl-xL” protein in the membrane, and represent the location of a new molecular target to develop drugs more directed towards breaking down the complexes of these proteins when they are inserted in the mitochondrial membrane, with the aim of increasing their effectiveness.

“Distintivos PACTEM NORD a la Corresponsabilidad Territorial” (II edición)

Respect and Promotion of the Environment

The award is a direct reflection upon the dedication the company has placed on the importance of creating environmentally conscious and sensitive products, a strategy that has greatly differentiated it from other companies of the sector and is the reason for being awarded this prize. This award, in conjunction with previous awards won of this type; serves to future motivate EDYPRO to continue its differentiation strategy of focusing on the environmental needs of others. . Present at the act were D. Lorenzo Agustí, President of Consortium PACTEM NORD, D Felipe Codia, General Manager of Employment and Labour Insertion of the Valencian Service of Employment and Formation (SERVEF), D. Juan José Medina, The First Vice-president of the Deputation and Mayor of Moncada, as well as other diverse Mayors and Deputies of the Valencian Region. .

From its conception, EDYPRO has worked with the Conventional and Future Ecological Agriculture as consequence of its overall objective to create environmentally sound products. EDYPRO’s fertilizer products are registered in the CAAE as suitable products for the Ecological Agriculture.

EDYPRO’s research and investigation is dedicated to meeting the future Agriculture needs in order to obtain maximum production with maximum quality and zero residues. EDYPRO’s R&D department uses biotechnology in order to create products which rely on natural defence systems and improve immune function for all living organisms.

EDYPRO, as institution, strives and achieves the production of healthy agricultural products that have been produced carefully and conserved to maximize its natural properties for the consumer, creating a beneficial labour for society in general.

Knowledge of the substances which the embryo uses as culture medium, where it develops and receives nourishment as well as the products it releases into this medium, gives us new, valuable information on its future viability which has until now been unknown. The research work completed by Instituto Bernabeu and The University of Alicante has been recognised by the scientific community through its publication in the prestigious North American journal, “Fertility & Sterility”.

The collaborative project between Instituto Bernabeu, IB BIOTECH and the research group headed by Dr Marhuenda of the Biochemical department at The University of Alicante has led to the development of an innovative technique capable of identifying and quantifying components in the embryo culture medium which serve as markers of the embryo’s implantation ability. This allows a more objective selection taking into consideration future viability and its subsequent development into a successful pregnancy.

Until now the morphological classification (microscopic visualisation) has been the only non-invasive tool available to select the more viable embryos which will then lead to an evolutive pregnancy. The understanding of the metabolic behaviour of an embryo helps us to adopt the best solution to situations where what seem to be good quality embryos do not implant and ones which were placed in the low-quality group do.

Through this new and innovative method a relation between embryo metabolism and its implantation capability in the uterus has been established without damaging the embryo. In this way a new, harmless tool is available to select embryos which are better prepared to develop into a successful pregnancy. This implies two advantages: the increase of pregnancy rates in assisted reproduction treatments and the decrease in multiple birth rates.

For further information: www.institutobernabeu.com / www.ibbiotyech.com