Ministry and Government of Catalonia formalize agreement on National Genome Analysis Center in Barcelona
Minister Cristina Garmendia visited Barcelona on 18th January to sign an agreement between the Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Government of Catalonia and the Barcelona Science Park (PCB) to create the new National Genome Analysis Center (CNAG) in Barcelona. The CNAG, thus, joins the other nine top-notch large infrastructures in Catalonia. The Minister pointed out that this center “will allow Barcelona to have a unique science facility in Europe and become the headquarters of the largest genome research project in the country in an important area like cancer.”
This facility will be created with support from both public administrations, which will provide a joint investment of 30 million euros. The subsidy will be given to the Barcelona Science Park –which will house the CNAG–, because it will be in charge of executing the first phase of the project.
R&D to improve cancer detection and treatment
The mission of this new center is to drive modern genomics in Spain and ensure that the country is competitive in this key area. The first pilot project this new center will work on is connected to sequencing tumor samples, under the framework of Spanish participation in the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC). The ICGC aims to obtain an exhaustive description of the genomic, trascriptomic or epigenomic alterations present in 50 types and subtypes of tumors to improve the detection and treatment of these pathologies. Eight leading countries in human genome research are participating in this project: the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, China, India, France and the United Kingdom.
Additionally, the CNAG will provide scientific/technological support for research centers, universities, hospitals and companies in the biotech and healthcare fields to help them carry out R&D&i projects based on the large-scale characterization of genomes. It will also foster Spanish participation in wide-reaching international genomics research projects and training of highly qualified technologists.
The director of the new CNAG will be researcher Ivo Gut, one of the most prestigious European scientists in this area.