BEYOND THE LAB

News & media.

Our research in newspapers, science media and conversations — plus the latest from SysBioLab.

In the media.

Coverage & interviews

CaixaResearchEnglish

Interview · 18 November 2025

Taking on antibiotic resistance: a conversation with Marc Torrent

Marc Torrent discusses the challenges of antibiotic resistance, the role of AI in discovery and the lab’s CaixaImpulse-supported search for new antibacterial strategies. The interview connects our research with the wider effort to protect the effectiveness of antibiotics.

Read at CaixaResearch

La VanguardiaSpanish

Media coverage · 10 June 2025

Hidden antibacterial potential in our own proteins

La Vanguardia reports on our search for antimicrobial sequences within heparin-binding proteins. The article highlights HBP-5 and the potential of these peptides against resistant Gram-negative bacteria, with comments from Marc Torrent and a photograph of the research team.

Read at La Vanguardia Research paper ↗

News-MedicalEnglish

Media coverage · 4 June 2025

Human proteins inspire a new family of antimicrobial candidates

News-Medical shares the UAB report on antimicrobial peptides discovered in human proteins. It covers the computational search, experimental testing and the promise of HBP-5 as a starting point for further antibiotic research.

Read at News-Medical Research paper ↗

Diari de BarcelonaCatalan

Media coverage · 26 February 2024

Using AI to map the interactions bacteria need to survive

In an ACN report, Diari de Barcelona covers our use of AlphaFold2 to model the bacterial essential interactome. The piece describes the map of 1,402 candidate protein interactions and how their structures could point towards new antibiotic targets.

Read at Diari de Barcelona Research paper ↗

SINCSpanish

Media coverage · 23 February 2024

A structural map of essential bacterial interactions

Science news agency SINC explains how our team used AlphaFold2 to study protein complexes essential to bacterial survival. The report explores the value of these structures for identifying interactions that future antibacterial compounds might disrupt.

Read at SINC Research paper ↗

RNA-Seq BlogEnglish

Media coverage · 10 November 2020

DualSeqDB brings bacterial and host gene activity together

RNA-Seq Blog features DualSeqDB, developed with colleagues at the CRG. The database brings together dual RNA-seq datasets to compare gene-expression changes in bacteria and their hosts during infection, helping researchers explore both sides of the interaction.

Read at RNA-Seq Blog Research paper ↗

FROM SYSBIOLAB

The lab notebook.

Review · 30 September 2026

Antimicrobial peptides: beyond the Petri dish

Why do peptides that work so well in the laboratory often struggle on the way to the clinic? A new review by Marc Torrent examines how the route of administration changes the chall…

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Research highlight · 17 March 2026

A minimal peptide scaffold takes on Staphylococcus aureus

How small can an antibacterial peptide become while retaining useful activity? In a collaborative study, we explored ultra-short lipopeptides built around an arginine–proline–argin…

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Research highlight · 25 September 2025

Can predicted protein structures help us find new inhibitors?

Protein–protein interfaces are attractive but challenging drug targets. Jordi Gómez Borrego and Marc Torrent Burgas compared eight docking protocols across 16 interactions with kno…

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Research highlight · 2 September 2025

Different defensins tackle bacteria and inflammatory signals

Antimicrobial defence involves both controlling bacteria and responding to their inflammatory components. In a collaboration with IRTA, we studied five recombinant bovine β-defensi…

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Research highlight · 2 July 2025

Following both sides of a bacterial infection

What changes as Pseudomonas aeruginosa builds a biofilm on the airway epithelium? With collaborators at Vall d’Hebron, we tracked gene expression in both bacteria and host cells, c…

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Research highlight · 23 May 2025

Finding hidden antibacterial peptides in the heparinome

Proteins that bind heparin may also hide sequences that recognise bacterial lipopolysaccharide. We combined computational screening, peptide synthesis and structural characterisati…

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Research highlight · 2020

Bacteria use imperfect mimicry to hijack the host interactome

Bacterial proteins can mimic host interfaces while retaining distinct structural features. Our work explores how these differences could help identify targets in host–pathogen comp…

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Research highlight · 2018

Cells adjust their tRNA pool under stress

Changes in tRNA abundance can help cells selectively translate stress-related transcripts. We combined experiments, genomic analysis and stochastic simulations to explore this regu…

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