The Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming" (BSRC Al. Fleming,

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Ερευνητικό Κέντρο Βιοϊατρικών Επιστημών "Αλέξανδρος Φλέμινγκ") is a governmental, non-profit research organisation based in

Vari Vari () is a southern suburb of Athens and former municipality in East Attica, Greece along the Athens coast. The ancient Athenian deme of Anagyrous was situated here. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Vari-Vo ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. The Center is named after the scientist

Alexander Fleming Sir Alexander Fleming (6 August 1881 – 11 March 1955) was a Scottish physician and microbiologist, best known for discovering the world's first broadly effective antibiotic substance, which he named penicillin. His discovery in 1928 of wha ...

and his widow, Amalia Fleming "created the conditions to set up" this Center.

History

In 1965,

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of par ...

Amalia Fleming established the Hellenic Foundation for Basic Biological Research "Alexander Fleming", which she named in memory of her husband and fellow scientist

. The next year in 1966, the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

granted to the foundation 128000 square meters of land in

, a suburb of

. Construction started in 1968, however it was interrupted in 1971 after the arrest of Amalia Fleming for actions against the

military junta A military junta () is a system of government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''Junta (governing body), junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the Junta (Peninsular War), national and local junta organized by t ...

. Construction then resumed in 1975 and ended in 1993, thirteen years after Amalia's death. A 6000 square meters building was built on the site, which was financed mainly by the 1st EU Framework Program. Two years later, in 1995, the Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming" was established and it started operations in 1998. It is under the supervision of the General Secretariat of Research and Technology of the Ministry of Development and Investment.

Research

Since the beginning of its operations in 1998, the Center develops basic as well as translational and

applied research Applied science is the application of the scientific method and scientific knowledge to attain practical goals. It includes a broad range of disciplines, such as engineering and medicine. Applied science is often contrasted with basic science, ...

programs in

biomedical Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine)

sciences. Currently, the Center hosts 14 research groups distributed in 4 Institutes (Immunology, Molecular Oncology, Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cellular & Developmental Biology). Over the short period since its establishment, BSRC Al. Fleming has gained extensive visibility in the European science arena.

Mission

B.S.R.C. Fleming promotes cutting-edge

research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

, aiming to understand molecular mechanisms of complex biological processes in

health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

and

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that adversely affects the structure or function (biology), function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical condi ...

. They are also committed to contribute to innovation in

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

, by developing novel therapeutic and

diagnostic Diagnosis (: diagnoses) is the identification of the nature and cause of a certain phenomenon. Diagnosis is used in a lot of different academic discipline, disciplines, with variations in the use of logic, analytics, and experience, to determine " ...

methods, focusing on

immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity ...

and

inflammation Inflammation (from ) is part of the biological response of body tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. The five cardinal signs are heat, pain, redness, swelling, and loss of function (Latin ''calor'', '' ...

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

, and

neurodegenerative diseases A neurodegenerative disease is caused by the progressive loss of neurons, in the process known as neurodegeneration. Neuronal damage may also ultimately result in their death. Neurodegenerative diseases include amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, mul ...

Main areas of research

Functional genomics Functional genomics is a field of molecular biology that attempts to describe gene (and protein) functions and interactions. Functional genomics make use of the vast data generated by genomic and transcriptomic projects (such as genome sequen ...

and

proteomics Proteomics is the large-scale study of proteins. Proteins are vital macromolecules of all living organisms, with many functions such as the formation of structural fibers of muscle tissue, enzymatic digestion of food, or synthesis and replicatio ...

; Molecular and cellular

immunology Immunology is a branch of biology and medicine that covers the study of Immune system, immune systems in all Organism, organisms. Immunology charts, measures, and contextualizes the Physiology, physiological functioning of the immune system in ...

;

Animal models A model organism is a non-human species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the model organism will provide insight into the workings of other organisms. Mod ...

of human disease;

Transcriptional Transcription is the process of copying a segment of DNA into RNA for the purpose of gene expression. Some segments of DNA are transcribed into RNA molecules that can encode proteins, called messenger RNA (mRNA). Other segments of DNA are transc ...

and post-transcriptional mechanisms of

gene regulation Regulation of gene expression, or gene regulation, includes a wide range of mechanisms that are used by cells to increase or decrease the production of specific gene products (protein or RNA). Sophisticated programs of gene expression are wide ...

;

DNA repair DNA repair is a collection of processes by which a cell (biology), cell identifies and corrects damage to the DNA molecules that encode its genome. A weakened capacity for DNA repair is a risk factor for the development of cancer. DNA is cons ...

; Stem Cell differentiation;

Epigenetics In biology, epigenetics is the study of changes in gene expression that happen without changes to the DNA sequence. The Greek prefix ''epi-'' (ἐπι- "over, outside of, around") in ''epigenetics'' implies features that are "on top of" or "in ...

; Learning and memory;

ECM ECM may refer to the following: Economics and commerce * Engineering change management * Equity capital markets * Error correction model, an econometric model * European Common Market Mathematics * Lenstra's Elliptic curve method for factor ...

biology. Fields of excellence: Molecular mechanisms of disease (

metabolic syndrome Metabolic syndrome is a clustering of at least three of the following five medical conditions: abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high serum triglycerides, and low serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Metabolic syndro ...

, CNS disorders).

Animal models

Fleming's researchers have established transgenic

animal models A model organism is a non-human species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the model organism will provide insight into the workings of other organisms. Mod ...

for

rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects synovial joint, joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and h ...

inflammatory bowel disease Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine, with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (UC) being the principal types. Crohn's disease affects the small intestine and large intestine ...

and

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

and these models have served as a basis for multiple collaborations with the international

biopharmaceutical A biopharmaceutical, also known as a biological medical product, or biologic, is any pharmaceutical drug product manufactured in, extracted from, or semisynthesized from biological sources. Different from totally synthesized pharmaceuticals, t ...

industry in the evaluation of novel therapeutic compounds, or as tools for collaborative R&D.

Facilities

The Center is equipped with Core Units which include: an

Expression Profiling In the field of molecular biology, gene expression profiling is the measurement of the activity (the expression) of thousands of genes at once, to create a global picture of cellular function. These profiles can, for example, distinguish between ...

Facility, a

Flow Cytometry Flow cytometry (FC) is a technique used to detect and measure the physical and chemical characteristics of a population of cells or particles. In this process, a sample containing cells or particles is suspended in a fluid and injected into the ...

Facility, a Protein Chemistry Lab, a Transgenics and gene targeting Unit, and a BioIT Unit, all of which serve internal collaborations, as well as external partners in academia and industry. The Center also runs an Innovation and Enterprise Unit that facilitates the protection and exploitation of the Center’s research and technologies.

Animal House

BSRC Al. Fleming operates its own Animal House, which houses approximately 22,000

mice A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

Fleming’s Animal House
provides husbandry of animals and services to the biomedical research community since 2001. It covers an area of approximately 900 m2 within the Center and is equipped with highly automated systems that provide the best possible conditions for mouse reproduction and maintenance. Its main activities include mouse hosting and supply (genetically altered mice, such as transgenic, knockout lines and chemically induced mutants developed by BSRC Al. Fleming researchers), phenotyping services, as well as education and training courses. The Animal House has 6 different Facilities-Units of SPF status and is currently the largest Mouse Animal House in Greece in terms of number and variety of mice. The Facility became a full member o
EMMA
in 2009.

References

{{authority control Medical and health organizations based in Greece Buildings and structures in Athens Medical research institutes Organizations based in Athens 1995 establishments in Greece Research institutes established in 1995