news 2019

Researchers from VIB-Ghent Universitiy Center for Medical Biotechnology and other collaborators, developed a novel approach to better understand a basic defense mechanism of our immune system. Central is ISG15, a small protein with a role in the immune system. With the newly developed method, scientists can now identify and study proteins tagged with ISG15, allowing them to unravel its many functions in fighting disease, potentially leading to novel antimicrobial drugs.

Researchers from KU Leuven have discovered that the presence of yeasts can alter the chemical composition and thus the nutritional value of nectar for pollinators such as bees. The study discovered that yeasts can even boost bee health and colony fitness. "Research into the role of microbes in our ecosystem is of vital importance to safeguard bees." It is not widely known that pollen and floral nectar contain yeasts.

Why do some patients with Crohn's disease still suffer from abdominal pain, even when their treatment is successful? With funding from the Helmsley Charitable Trust, researchers from Belgium and Sweden will spend the next three years examining the underlying mechanisms of this pain. Approximately 3 out of 1000 people have Crohn's disease, which is characterised by intestinal inflammation.

KU Leuven researchers combined DNA data with long-term genealogical records to explore questions of biological fatherhood in Western Europe over the last 500 years. These days, it's easy to resolve questions about paternity with over-the-counter test kits. Now, KU Leuven researchers have put DNA evidence together with long-term genealogical data to explore similar questions of biological fatherhood on a broad scale among people living in parts of Western Europe over the last 500 years.

For the first time ever, researchers from KU Leuven have carried out tests on human brains in the area that is responsible for our vision. This research method is unique. The results have been published in PLOS Biology . To gain a better understanding of the human brain, researchers can rely on several methods.

Our brain cells, and more specifically the channel proteins in the cell wall, need lipids - or fat - to function properly. These are the findings of an international study led by the Laboratory of Structural Neurobiology at KU Leuven. The researchers identified the structure of these proteins in the presence of a lipid molecule at the atomic level for the first time.

Research at KU Leuven suggests a cause for the neurodevelopmental disturbances experienced by a third of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The discovery suggests possible underlying mechanisms of these problems, which appear targetable by therapeutic interventions in a cellular model. Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an inherited neuromuscular disorder in which the muscles, including the heart and respiratory muscles, progressively become weaker.

Researchers at KU Leuven have developed a new research model to grow and study the human variant of the norovirus. The virus could thus far only be studied through a variant that occurs in mice. The new model, that is described in the journal PLOS Pathogens, should allow researchers to develop a treatment for stomach flu.

Biomedical scientists at KU Leuven and the University of Trento have used gene correction to fix two mutations that cause cystic fibrosis. The breakthrough involved a petri dish with 3D cell structures, or organoids, from cystic fibrosis patients. Cystic fibrosis is the most common genetic disorder in Belgium.

Patrice Cani, professor at UCLouvain, and his team conducted the first pilot study in humans to observe the impact of the bacteria Akkermansia (ingestion for 3 months), particularly on the reduction of cardiovascular risk factors. The results are published in the scientific journal Nature Medicine .

Older people have trouble understanding speech, even if their hearing is fine. That's one of the conclusions of a new study by the Research Group Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology (ExpORL) of KU Leuven. The results underline the importance of tests to measure if people with seemingly normal hearing have really understood a message.

Predicting what someone's face looks like based on a DNA sample remains a hard nut to crack for science. It is, however, getting easier to use such a sample to filter the right face from a face database, as an international team led by KU Leuven has shown. Their findings were published. Our physical appearance, including our face, is hardwired into our genetic material.

A collaborative study between the University of Antwerp and McGill University allows PET scanning on animals without the use of anesthesia. Have you ever spent half an hour trying to take the best photo of your pets but they won't stay still in the perfect angle? This is also true for small animal imaging research using positron emission tomography (PET).

WeChangeForLife: 256 researchers, specialists in issues related to environmental degradation, have changed their habits for the planet Why? Scientists have a duty to set an example : they must act according to their knowledge and what they know is right and show that it is possible. Other objective? Call on politicians.

5 Flemish universities reveal innovative state-of-the-art biotech research No less than 25 technologies in drug screening, therapy development, MedTech, digital health and AI will be showcased or pitched by the five Flemish universities at Europe's leading life sciences conference in Ghent.

Imec, UZ Leuven, KU Leuven, Ghent University, Agilent, Western Digital and BlueBee develop unique hybrid cloud platform for fast and cost-efficient whole genome sequencing and analysis. Today, on the occasion of the international DNA day, imec, a world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies, and its partners revealed their Genome Analytics Platform (GAP) platform, a unique platform that can perform a full genome analysis of 48 samples in only 48 hours and at an acceptable cost.

Our brain relies on 2D information to create a 3D image of the world. Human beings use a different part of their brain to do this than monkeys, says an international team of researchers led by neurophysiologists Marcelo Armendariz and Wim Vanduffel (KU Leuven & Harvard Medical School) in collaboration with a team from Cambridge.

What happens inside a cell when it is activated, changing, or responding to variations in its environment? Researchers from the VIB-Ghent University Center for Inflammation Research have developed a map of how to best model these cellular dynamics. Their work not only highlights the outstanding challenges of tracking cells throughout their growth and lifetime, but also pioneers new ways of evaluating computational biology methods that aim to do this.

The main aim of this research was to look into scientific methods for developing welfare guidelines for captive reptiles. The Green anole lizard (Anolis carolinensis) was used to study the effect of long term captivity and specific stressors (environmental provisioning, handling and cage size) on both males and females.

A new treatment for a common type of stroke may soon be possible, thanks to a discovery by an international team of researchers. In a study published today in the Journal of Experimental Medicine , researchers successfully used a new approach that significantly minimized brain damage caused by stroke in mouse models.