news 2020

An interdisciplinary team of bio-engineers and economists from KU Leuven has mapped out how wood could replace petroleum in the chemical industry. They not only looked at the technological requirements, but also whether that scenario would be financially viable. A shift from petroleum to wood would lead to a reduction in CO2 emissions, the researchers state in Science .

The lab of professor Xavier Saelens (VIB-Ghent University) is quickly mobilizing to try to find a treatment for the viral infection caused by the corona virus. Since the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak was reported by China in December 2019, the number of confirmed cases of the virus is increasing rapidly, with cases now reported in 28 countries.

Ghent's focus is on Van Eyck and the Ghent Altarpiece in 2020. Lots of people from Ghent University are also involved in this year of celebration. We have been putting a number of them in the spotlight. This week: Peter Vandenabeele. In Ghent, it's all about Van Eyck and the Ghent Altarpiece in 2020.

Insect-based fat is a sustainable and healthy alternative to butter. When in bakery products less than half of the butter is replaced by insect fat, one can hardly taste the difference, according to research at Ghent University in Belgium.

Ghent's 2020 focus is on Van Eyck and the Ghent Altarpiece. Lots of people from Ghent University are involved in this year of celebration.

Why are Ghent University researchers studying the motor skills of sports journalist Maarten Vangramberen? Much has to do with the matter of how world records are made.

Biomedical scientists at KU Leuven have discovered that a defect in the ATP13A2 gene causes cell death by disrupting the cellular transport of polyamines. When this happens in the part of the brain that controls body movement, it can lead to Parkinson's disease. With more than six million patients around the world, Parkinson's disease is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders.

In Ghent, it's all about Van Eyck and the Ghent Altarpiece in 2020. One of the highlights is undoubtedly the return of the restored painting to St. Bavo's cathedral.

In brief  (18 seconds of reading): Olivier Feron , a UCLouvain researcher, studies how cancer spreads through the body via metastasis His major discovery was that cancer cells multiply by using lipids as food. His latest discovery, published in the scientific , is that lipid storage promotes cancer invasiveness A new drug currently being tested to treat obesity may also help fight metastasis Olivier Feron, a researcher at the University of Louvain (UCLouvain) Institute of Experimental and Clinical Research, seeks to understand how metastases form from a tumour.

Herman Goossens (UAntwerp) is following the events closely to ensure health and security of European citizens.

Researchers from KU Leuven and University Hospitals Leuven have managed to engineer living implants in the lab by mimicking how bone tissue is created in an embryo. The technology paves the way for bone-regenerating tissue implants created on an industrial scale using 3D bioprinting. The researchers expect the first living implants to be available to patients in four years.

Oxytocin, often dubbed the 'love hormone', is known to promote social bonding. Researchers at KU Leuven have now discovered that administering oxytocin to adult men with autism makes them more open to close emotional bonds with others. The hormone has positive long-term effects as well. A team led by Professor Kaat Alaerts (KU Leuven) recruited 40 adult men with autism spectrum disorder to take part in their study.  "In a first stage, we examined the amount of oxytocin produced by the participants themselves.

Bioscience engineers from KU Leuven in Belgium have developed a new antibacterial strategy that weakens bacteria by preventing them from cooperating. Unlike with antibiotics, there is no resistance to this strategy, because the non-resistant bacteria outnumber resistant ones. The findings are published.

Researchers at the University of Manchester in collaboration with CMT theorists (M. Andelkovic, S. Milovanovic, L. Covaci and F. Peeters) have uncovered interesting phenomena when multiple two-dimensional materials are combined into van der Waals heterostructures (layered 'sandwiches' of different materials).

An interdisciplinary team of scientists from KU Leuven, the University of Bremen, the Leibniz Institute of Materials Engineering, and the University of Ioannina has succeeded in killing tumour cells in mice using nano-sized copper compounds together with immunotherapy. After the therapy, the cancer did not return.

Freestanding clusters of twenty gold atoms take the shape of a pyramid, researchers discovered. This is in contrast with most elements, which organize themselves by forming shells around one central atom. The team of researchers led by KU Leuven published their findings in Science Advances . Clusters composed of a few atoms tend to be spherical.