news 2018

A major discovery at UCL in the fight against bacterial infections: Jean-François Collet and his team have discovered a new protein, CnoX, which plays a major role in defending bacteria against our immune system. Thanks to this discovery, UCL researchers will be able to develop a system that neutralises this protein and thus weakens the defence of bacteria against immune system attacks and contributes to the development of new antibiotics.

Researchers and clinicians at VIB, KU Leuven and University Hospitals Leuven have identified a genetic mutation that causes a rare form of the autoimmune disease lupus. They discovered the mutation in one Belgian family's DNA. Lupus is an autoimmune disorder, meaning that the body's immune system mistakenly attacks its own tissues.

Introduction: Kristof Titeca (UAntwerp) about illicit ivory trade (Washington Post). As if Mark Zuckerberg didn't have enough to worry about, Facebook is being accused of harboring yet another illicit activity: making it easy for international wildlife traffickers to sell elephant ivory, rhino horn and tiger teeth, reports the Associated Press.

Scientists from KU Leuven and UCLA reveal why male and female cells behave differently after being reprogrammed into stem cells. Using a patient's skin cells to restore his vision? Thanks to a promising technique known as cell reprogramming, this science fiction scenario may soon become reality. The technique allows scientists to make stem cells from, for instance, a patient's skin cells.

Introduction: Biodiversity decline and climate warming are two important challenges for mankind. New research shows the possibility to address both problems at the same time, in the tropical rain forest. That is the core message a team of Belgian scientists brought along, back from an expedition in the rain forest of the DR Congo.

Approximately 4 million people worldwide currently suffer from Parkinson's disease, and this number is only expected to increase. The most frequent genetic causes of the illness are mutations in the gene responsible for controlling the production of protein LRRK2, which includes two enzymes: a kinase and a GTPase.

The new technique was developed by Professor Tom Francart and his colleagues from the Department of Neurosciences at KU Leuven in collaboration with the University of Maryland. It will allow for a more accurate diagnosis of patients who cannot actively participate in a speech understanding test because they're too young, for instance, or because they're in a coma.

Interneuron migration controls cerebral cortical growth and its impairement could lead to macrocephaly A team from the University of Liège has discovered a new crosstalk between the migrating inhibitory interneurons and the stem cells that generate the excitatory neurons. The researchers discovered that this cellular dialogue controls the growth of the cerebral cortex and that its impairment leads a cortical malformation previously associated with autism in mice.

Researchers from KU Leuven and the universities of Pittsburgh, Stanford, and Penn State (US) have identified fifteen genes that determine our facial features. The findings were published. Our DNA determines what we look like, including our facial features. That appeals to the popular imagination, as the potential applications are obvious.

UCL Research - press release Johann Mignolet , post-doctoral researcher in the laboratory of the professor Pascal Hols, did a major breakthrough on bacterial behavior during his researches at UCLouvain (Life Sciences Institute) . He discovered that a bacterial inhabitant of the human gut produces a small molecule, called pheromone, to inform the whole bacterial population on what is the best timing to release antibacterial molecules (bacteriocins) and steal genes from the cadavers.

A research team led by Prof. Julie Bakker (GIGA-ULiège) and Prof. Ulrich Boehm (Saarland University, Germany) has made a major advancement in our understanding of how the brain controls sex. Using female mice as a model, the researchers found that a hormone in the brain, (appropriately) called kisspeptin, drives both attraction to the opposite sex and sexual behavior.

KU Leuven scientists present a new way to generate oligodendrocytes, building blocks of the brain that play a crucial role in neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis and ALS. The method makes it much easier to study these cells and explore their therapeutic potential. KU Leuven scientists present a new way to generate oligodendrocytes, building blocks of the brain that play a crucial role in neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis and ALS.

KU Leuven scientists present a new way to generate oligodendrocytes, building blocks of the brain that play a crucial role in neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis and ALS. The method makes it much easier to study these cells and explore their therapeutic potential. All stem cells are immature, and pluripotent stem cells are the most immature among them: they can give rise to all different cell types of the body.