"What is it? A hotel? Offices? A convention center? A large archive?", many who walk around the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park, dedicated to research in biomedicine and health sciences, must be asking themselves. It is a building that is worth looking at. Elliptical in plan and with a sloping roof, its facade is made of wooden slats, which act as sun filters. Designed by architects Manel Brullet and Albert de Pineda, it has a large open interior courtyard that "maximizes" natural light.Gone are the days when a large part of the research in this country was carried out in prefabricated modules and basements without sunlight. It is pleasant to work here, three steps from Barceloneta beach. "It is an inspiring place to do science. Scientists really enjoy coming here," comments Reimund Fickert, Director of Communication and Institutional Relations of the Park.Every time I visit, what I see most are refrigerators and freezers. Of course, almost all samples from the experiments that are done have to be preserved. I don't doubt that if the power goes out, they have energy autonomy. Not like in my house – and in other homes – where when the power goes out, you curse having so many peas and frozen fish from a while ago. Jordi Camí, Director General of the Park, an expert in neuroscience and scientific policy, is guiding me. As we walk, Camí expresses his concern about AI. "In the world of science, AI is a real tsunami. We cannot foresee all the consequences it will have. Humans are 'bad' at making predictions," he comments. "The technological side will become increasingly important." Camí notes that the major research challenges, in almost all fields, are the ethics and regulation of AI.Meanwhile, I spot in the distance a couple paddleboarding in the sea. It's the most primitive navigation system, from before the sail. And suddenly, I return to reality, and some of the possibilities that are opening up –and are already being implemented– with AI come to mind: the analysis of medical images, which allow detecting signs of cancer, fractures..., the review of "scientific literature", the design of experiments... The paddleboarding couple has now disappeared. There are no athletes in the sea.The wave of the Olympic Games pushed the initiative for this research park, but it was not easy to get it off the ground. The project met with political reticence and took years to become a reality: it became operational in 2006.

The 2025 edition of the "la Caixa" Foundation's Health Research Call has selected 34 new cutting-edge biomedical research projects, each with up to one million euros in funding. This eighth edition of the call, which received 714 proposals for basic, clinical, and translational research, is specifically aimed at addressing health challenges in various fields: neuroscience, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, oncology, infectious diseases, and enabling technologies in any of these areas. Among this year's selected projects at Catalan institutions are those focused on improving beta cell maturation for diabetes treatment, creating a reliable system for testing drugs for spinal cord injuries without the need for animal testing, and targeting the tumor microenvironment to unlock the immune system.

There are currently more than 900 million people over the age of 65 in the world and in 2050 there could be 2,000 million, explains Francesc Posas, director of the Institute of Biomedical Research, a pioneering institution in launching a programme on ageing. Much has been said about the socio-economic challenge this poses, both in terms of pensions and care for these people, but perhaps it is good to stop seeing it just as a problem and consider it for what it is, one of the great milestones of humanity in the last two centuries. It is clear from the graph that accompanies the opening of the dossier that we dedicate today to research on longevity and ageing. In 1800, the life expectancy of the European population was 33.3 years. Granted, many children died and this brought the average down a lot, but the truth is that very few reached old age and most of them died before they had reached what we now consider to be the end of youth. Hygienic measures and the introduction of sewage pipes, sewerage as it is known today, brought about a revolution, and by 1900 life expectancy had risen to 42.7 years, almost ten more. And the average rose still further when penicillin was discovered around 1930, which together with the first vaccines managed to reduce infant mortality. In 1950, however, life expectancy in Europe was still 62 years, and since then it has risen to almost 80 years (78.6) in 2019.

The pandemic, beyond its drama in terms of mortality, disease and social and economic devastation, will have left us with some useful lessons for the future. Much has been said about how the impact of human activity on the environment has been proven with the significant drop in pollution. Also of the wonderful example of scientists from all over the world working at the same time to learn more about the virus and thus know how to act and how it can be fought with vaccines. Or the paramount importance of the entire health system and its spirit of sacrifice despite the lack of resources. Today we talk in our dossier of another effect that may be interesting for the future: the disease affects men and women differently, and this demonstration has shown that the same thing happens in other cases without the focus or the means to demonstrate it so clearly.