The Human Technopole Director, Marino Zerial, has been awarded the 2024 Mercurio Prize in the “Research and Development” category, in recognition of the excellence of his research in the field of cell biology. Zerial, renowned for his studies on the mechanisms of endocytosis and cellular transport, has made significant contributions to the understanding of cellular dynamics, with potential therapeutic applications for diseases such as liver conditions.

Researchers from Human Technopole, the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology and Bicocca University established a method for developing brain assembloids that allows reproducing salient aspects of the antero-posterior polarity of the human cerebral cortex in vitro and opens new possibilities for disease modelling. The study is published in Nature Methods.

An international collaboration between Human Technopole, Fudan University, the University of Edinburgh, and the SCALLOP Consortium identified hundreds of proteins in human plasma related to human behavioural traits and neuropsychiatric disorders. These proteins are potential targets for drug repurposing and novel therapeutic interventions for mental disorders. The findings are published in Nature Human Behaviour.