EU Supported Research Program Completed in Szeged

Based on the previous results of the staff of the Biological Research Center (BRC) in Szeged, SE Hungary, a health and environmental research program implemented with EU support of about HUF two billion has been completed at the institution belonging to the Eötvös Loránd Research Network, Péter Heffner, head of the application office at BRC, informed the state news agency MTI.

The aim of the program was to research the foundations of unsolved health problems at the societal level in Hungary. The spread of infectious diseases, the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains, the development of malignancies, the general health problems associated with aging and the protection of the environment – these problems all need urgent solutions, but at least mitigation.

The four-and-a-half-year project was built on three pillars: unicellular research to combat infectious and genetic diseases, the molecular background of individual development, regeneration and aging in animal model organisms, cell cultures and artificial tissue models, and the complex interactions of light and plant systems. The priorities of each pillar were different, however, there were a number of synergies between the individual programs, both in terms of molecular biology problem-solving and methodological approach. The complete study of proteins, lipids, metabolic products, bioinformatics analyzes were performed in all three areas with a fundamentally similar concept and toolkit.

The project produced significant basic research results, which were published in journals of the highest prestige in the field, and – in accordance with the practice of successful research in the BRC – the individual sub-tasks were interrelated, with a continuous exchange of information.