Centre for Genomics Regulation

Centre for Genomics Regulation (CRG) The CRG is an international biomedical research institute of excellence whose mission is to discover and advance knowledge for the benefit of society, public health and economic prosperity. The CRG believes that the medicine of the future depends on the groundbreaking science of today. This requires an interdisciplinary scientific team focused on understanding the complexity of life from the genome to the cell to a whole organism and its interaction with the environment, offering an integrated view of genetic diseases. The CRG is integrated with the CNAG, the National Centre for Genomic Analysis, whose mission is to carry out projects in genome analysis that will lead to significant improvements in people’s health and quality of life.

The CRG covers a wider range of topics. We can offer the successful candidates training and learning of specific skills in one or more the disciplines and research lines outlined below.

• Bioinformatics and Genomics: Groups at Bioinformatics & Genomics programme cover a wide range of topics: from computational biology of RNA processing, comparative bioinformatics and comparative genomics to gene function and evolution and genomic and epigenomic variation in disease. The programme also hosts the EGA team at the CRG, which together with EMBL-EBI, manages the European Genome-Phenome Archive (EGA).
• Cell and Developmental Biology: The Cell and Developmental Biology programme focuses on the interactions between intercellular signalling systems and the cytoskeleton and how this contributes to the spatial organization and information processing ability of cells and groups of cells. It has an emphasis on systems with strong genetics (Drosophila and zebra fish) and uses multidimensional phenotypes grounded in genomics and proteomics.
• Gene Regulation Stem Cells and Cancer: The interests of the programme span from mechanisms of gene expression and epigenetic regulation to the molecular basis of cellular decisions involved in tissue homeostasis and cancer. Mechanistic and biological studies of gene regulation span the whole pathway of gene expression, from chromatin organization in the cell nucleus to mRNA translation in the cytoplasm. Transcriptional regulation groups study the chromatin structure and regulation mediated by steroid hormones, effects of dosage imbalance of chromosome 21, epigenetic mechanisms in leukemia and stem cells, single cell epigenomics in lymphomas and epigenetic regulation of cancer metabolism. RNA biology groups study the identification and control of RNA modifications, the regulation of alternative splicing and the regulation of cytoplasmic polyadenylation and mRNA translation.
• Cell reprogramming studies include differentiation and transdifferentiation in the hematopoietic system, and somatic cell reprogramming and tissue regeneration by cell fusion and epigenetic reprogramming in embryogenesis and the germline.
• Systems Biology: The research groups in the Systems Biology program cover a wide range of topics: from dynamic gene regulatory networks to systems neuroscience, and employ a wide range of model systems to address these issues, including prokaryotes, cell lines, C. elegans, Drosophila and mice. Underlying this diversity, however, are the common goals of combining systematic and quantitative data collection, using computational models, going beyond molecular descriptions and arriving at a deeper dynamic understanding of complex biological processes.
• CNAG: CNAG-CRG is one of the major genome analysis centres in Europe, covering next-generation sequencing and data analysis. Activities cover whole-genome, targeted, transcriptome, epigenome and single cell sequencing applied to human and non-human species. Projects are supported from study design, through the laboratory, sequencing and data analytical procedures to the interpretation of results. CNAG-CRG has participated to multiple international initiatives such as the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC), the International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC) and the International Rare Disease Research Consortium (IRDiRC). CNAG-CRG has a dedicated Single Cell Team which is involved in the Human Cell Atlas (HCA), a Population Genomics Group and a de novo Assembly and Annotation Team. CNAG has developed the RD-Connect platform for rare disease research (platform.rd-connect.eu) and actively participates in the MatchMaker Exchange (GA4GH) and Beacon initiatives (GA4GH) and recently started work on the Solve-RD project.
• Core Facilities: The programme of Core Facilities offer services and training in advanced technologies such as light microscopy (including super-resolution microscopy), proteomics, genomics, tissue engineering, FACS, biomolecular screening and protein technologies.
• COVID19 Projects: Several CRG groups and facilities have started focusing on projects to navigate the uncharted territories posed by the recent coronavirus pandemic. CRG researchers are collaborating with several partners partners, both locally in Barcelona and further afield, to understand the virus and explore novel treatments. They also contributed by donating supplies, equipment and other items to local hospitals, and by coordinating a diagnostic platform at research institutes (the ORFEU programme).