The CICECO team participating in the BetterBone project, “Metabolite-activated 3D stem cell differentiation into bone,” has achieved a major milestone by securing beamtime at the renowned European synchrotron facility, Diamond Light Source.

Following proposals submitted in July and September, the team was granted 7 days and 5 days of beamtime, respectively, to explore stem cell differentiation through infrared spectroscopy at nano- and microscopic scales.

The July proposal received 7 days of commissioning beamtime at the cutting-edge MIRIAM/B22 nano-IR end station. This pioneering platform will enable the team to study stem cell osteogenic differentiation with exceptional spatial resolution. Commissioning beamtime, crucial for establishing new instruments for routine research, involves testing highly characterized systems and tackling ambitious scientific challenges. The proposal was led by Paula Marques from the University of Coimbra.

Building on this success, the team’s September application secured 5 additional days of beamtime for FPA imaging via micro-IR. This method takes advantage of the synchrotron’s unparalleled brilliance to examine cells under varying conditions. The proposal, headed by Mariela Nolasco of the Computational SpectroscopyLab group and BetterBone team, received approval from the evaluation panel earlier this week.

Together, these awards represent a substantial investment from Diamond Light Source, with beamtime costs averaging €25,000 per day, amounting to over €300,000 in total support, including travel and accommodation for the research team. Both beamtime missions, which will include on-site work by the team, are scheduled for the first half of 2025.

The BetterBone project, directed by Ana Gil from the University of Aveiro and funded by FCT, brings together CICECO researchers and collaborators from the University of Coimbra, led by Paula Marques.