SciLifeLab is constantly looking for ways to develop new technologies and methods. Covid-19 is one example of how Vicente and his colleagues listened to emerging needs and solved a problem in a short period of time. A former colleague and friend in China needed help developing a better diagnostic tool for the new virus. The solution was to modify an established method for analysing genetic material so that it could be used for the novel coronavirus. In April 2020, they presented a test that could be used without advanced equipment. Vicente is pleased that the test has proved particularly useful in low-income countries, including countries in South America and Africa, as well as in India.

 

“We are very pleased that we were able to use our expertise to help people during the pandemic. It is relatively unusual for those of us working in basic research to have the opportunity to act quickly and make such a practical contribution,” Vicente says.

 

SFSG brought Vicente to Stockholm

“I received a Swedish Foundations Starting Grant, SFSG, in 2016, and it was essential in enabling me to establish my lab here in Stockholm,” Vicente says.

 

SciLifeLab is a place where people with different backgrounds and ideas come together. Vicente’s team consists of 16 members with extensive international experience – a team that enjoys coming to work.

 

“For me, it is essential to build a group in which people enjoy working together. That means recognising that every individual brings their own experience and knowledge. The key is to listen, ask questions and remember that everyone thinks differently,” Vicente says. He also believes it is crucial to listen to what society needs help with more broadly, so that research efforts are directed towards the right areas.

 

Groundbreaking interdisciplinary project

Together with several other researchers, Vicente was also awarded a Synergy Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) in 2023. The EPIC project focuses on mRNA research, and in this interdisciplinary international project, the researchers study the complex processes that govern how cells use genetic information.

 

“When we ‘crack the code’ of mRNA, we can better understand and manipulate genes to produce desired effects. If DNA is a book, then mRNA provides the instructions for how the book should be interpreted. At the heart of the project is understanding this process of interpretation. Our international team combines expertise in genetics, systems biology and synthetic biology with machine learning. This may enable us to focus on understanding the evolution of gene regulation. We work on the fundamental mechanisms that govern different processes, for example in cancer. To solve a problem or alleviate a disease, we need to understand how life works at a fundamental level,” Vicente says.

 

New technology for studying bacterial responses to antibiotics

Vicente’s lab has also developed a new molecular method that makes it possible to rapidly detect how bacteria respond to antibiotics, even in complex mixtures of bacteria. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are a serious and growing problem. The technology will facilitate studies of interactions between antibiotics and bacteria and enable faster diagnosis. It could provide a simple way of measuring bacterial responses to antibiotics within minutes. Ragnar Söderberg foundation has also contributed funding to this research.

 

“We are now continuing our work to develop a user-friendly diagnostic tool for healthcare professionals. A rapid test for detecting antibiotic resistance would be a useful tool for doctors, helping them choose more targeted treatments and potentially reducing the overuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics,” Vicente says.

 

New cancer therapies

“We are also focusing on gaining a more fundamental understanding of how identical cells can respond differently when exposed to the same stimuli, and how cancer cells can survive treatments that should have eliminated them,” Vicente says.

 

Vicente and his team study the underlying molecular mechanisms to generate knowledge that could lead to better cancer therapies. Genetic differences are key to understanding how cells behave. Mutations, for example, can make some cancer cells more aggressive than others or more susceptible to a particular drug.

 

“We are trying to identify and understand the small, non-genetic differences between cells that cause them to behave differently. At the moment, we are studying complex conditions such as leukaemia, where we hope to contribute to the development of better treatments. We believe this knowledge will provide a basis for new therapies that prevent cancer cells from developing resistance to drugs,” Vicente says.

 

Understanding how everything fits together

Vicente grew up outside Valencia. After studying biology at university in Valencia, where he obtained his PhD, he moved to Heidelberg in Germany. There, he spent seven years as a researcher at EMBL, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory. He has now worked in Sweden for eight years and plans to remain here with his family.

 

“I have always been interested in how things work. When I was a child and my grandfather’s tractor broke down and needed repairing, I would be there to see how everything fitted together. At school, I became interested in biology and genetics at an early age, and in upper secondary school I chose to focus on the life sciences. Becoming a doctor was not for me. I wanted to pursue research so that I could help solve problems that need to be solved,” Vicente concludes.