Recently, the prestigious journal Nature Protocols has published a study in which several universities and research centers at international level have participated, including Tecnun, the School of Engineering of the University of Navarra. The main researcher of Tecnun, Francisco J. Planes, Deputy Director of department of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, explains that "this work, led by the University of Luxembourg, is a collective effort of development and integration of the most advanced algorithms to build and analyze computational models of biological systems as complex as tumor cells, intestinal flora, or optimized and genetically modified bacteria". 

"With the advent of genomics and high-resolution molecular technologies, our knowledge of the various cellular components and their possible interactions has increased. For example, there are currently about 20,000 genes identified in human cells. Experimental analysis of all these genes, in their very diverse contexts, is not feasible in time and cost. Only through computational tools, we can filter and select the most suitable experiments. The tool presented in Nature Protocols brings together different computational strategies that attempt to address this problem", explains Dr. Planes. 

Íñigo Apaolaza and Luis V. Valcárcel, co-authors of this work, are currently developing their doctoral dissertation in Dr. Planes' group. During this time, they have developed (and continue to develop) algorithms for the selection of key proteins/genes for tumor proliferation and growth. These algorithms, which have already generated promising results in different tumors, are now available through the tool published in Nature Protocols. In this way, Bioinformatics researchers from anywhere in the world can take advantage of it to advance in their fight against cancer.