Theory, Bioinformatics and Computing (TBC) is a research group of the Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio) formed by three researchers, two of them teachers of the ETSE-UV; Vicente Arnau and Wladimiro Díaz, the other researcher is Carlos Peña.

This group applies mathematical methods with high-performance computers for the analysis of large volumes of data. Their main line of research is based on metagenomics, although in collaboration with other groups at the institute, they have a second line based on the sequencing and analysis of the complexity of the genome of species.

The main task is to analyse the DNA present in environmental samples from any environment to find all living organisms present.  One of their most promising discoveries has been through the analysis of the subsoil beneath Mount Tobazo (Canfranc) at a depth of 850 metres, where they have found bacteria from thousands of years ago.

These bacteria come from the moment when the tectonic plate of Spain and France collided, and are kept alive thanks to the humidity of the earth. According to the TBC group, “the great potential of this proposal is that it studies the origin of life on Earth and analyses the possibility of finding life on Mars”.

Link to the TBC website:  https://links.uv.es/L5Irh4l