We launch the Basque Biomodels Platform for Human Research

Achucarro Basque Center for Neuroscience (ACHUCARRO) and Biofisika Institute (BIOFISIKA, CSIC-UPV/EHU) research centers, in collaboration with the Fundación Biofisica Bizkaia, have created a research platform called “Basque Biomodels Platform for Human Research ( BBioH)”. This platform aims to develop “human cell biomodels”, that is, a kind of “avatars” for the study of human biology, both in health and in diseases.

The synthetic creation of biomodels or avatars of organs, which in the case of the brain are called “cerebroids”, are used to study the functioning and development of neurological diseases in human cells, as opposed to the animal models used in the past and to this day . These biomodels represent a next step in research, towards structures more similar to human ones, and in which the concept of personalized or precision medicine can be introduced, since models can be created with specific cell types, from patient samples with particular pathologies.

The creation of this platform is part of the IKUR strategy of the Department of Education of the Basque Government, and in the Complementary Plan for Biotechnology applied to Health financed with Next Generation funds from the European Union, managed by BIOFISIKA. Both co-finance the more than 200,000 euros for the creation of this infrastructure. At its launch, the platform already employs 2 scientists and another 2 people with a technical profile. The platform is located in the facilities of the ACHUCARRO, in the Science Park of the UPV/EHU in Leioa.

The BBioH platform offers its services for the generation and characterization of human cell models, both to the two partner entities (ACHUCARRO and BIOFISIKA), and to the rest of the scientific-technological agents in our territory, as well as internationally.

ACHUCARRO and BIOFISIKA maintain a long-term collaboration developing the knowledge and technology to be able to launch this platform. The scientific coordinator is Dr. Fabio Cavaliere, and in his team there are currently three people with a technical and research profile. This new resource is also circumscribed in the approaches of the Plan for Science, Technology and Innovation 2030 of Euskadi; the Smart Specialization Strategy (RIS3), and more recently, it has received decisive support from the funds of the IKUR 2030 Strategy of the Department of Education.