news 2020

From stars in another galaxy to a microscopic virus that has taken hold of the entire Earth: in this overview we present the most-read news items about research at KU Leuven in 2020. Bioscience engineers and economists from KU Leuven mapped out how wood could replace petroleum in the chemical industry.

In an international study led by KU Leuven and Pennsylvania State University, researchers have identified 203 genes that play a role in the shape of our face. Their study was published. The genetics behind the shape of the human face are difficult to decipher. In 2018, KU Leuven Professor Peter Claes and international colleagues, from Penn State, the University of Pittsburgh and Stanford University School of Medicine, already identified 15 genes that can be connected with specific areas of the face.

In a noisy room with many speakers, hearing aids can suppress background noise, but they have difficulties isolating one voice - that of the person you're talking to at a party, for instance.

New research has shown that the antidepressant sertraline helps to inhibit the growth of cancer cells. The substance acts on a metabolic addiction that allows different types of cancer to grow. This is shown by a study on cell cultures and lab animals performed by various research labs of KU Leuven.

In brief: Patrice Cani (UCLouvain) and Claude Knauf (INSERM) have discovered a 'jammer' that blocks communication between the gut and the brain, thus preventing proper regulation of sugar and causing insulin resistance in people with diabetes They also discovered that a lipid produced by our body helps prevent this dysfunction and regulate sugar level, thus mitigating diabetes and intestinal inflammation.

Researchers have identified for the first time the mechanisms by which communication between cells controls the identity of stem cells from the mammary gland and prostate. The mammary gland and prostate are composed of two different cell types: basal cells and luminal cells. These two cell types are maintained by separate basal and luminal stem cells.

For the first time ever, neurophysiologists of KU Leuven, Harvard and the University of Kyoto have succeeded in reversibly disabling a connection between two areas in the brains of primates while they were performing cognitive tasks and their whole brain activity was being monitored. The disconnection had a negative impact on the motivation of the animals, but not on their learning behaviour.

Evolution seems to be a story of continual progress. The weak will perish, according to Darwin's law. Nevertheless, genetic defects that at first glance might make an organism weaker can increase its long-term chances of survival. At first sight, evolution seems to be a story of continual, step-by-step progress.

The world is eagerly awaiting one or more vaccines to protect us against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We will only be able to fully resume our lives when we are immune to the infection.

As humanity fights against the coronavirus, the battle against antibiotic resistant bacteria continues Scientists at UCLouvain have succeeded in capturing unique images of protein soldiers that help bacteria resist drugs. This discovery is published in the prestigious scientific The image recordings will make it possible to develop new attacks on bacteria and thus produce Article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41589-020-0575-0 The resistance of bacteria to antibiotics is a major health problem.

The measles virus may have emerged as early as the 6 th century BCE, an international team of researchers reports. The finding is based on a virus sample found in Germany that dates back to 1912. It is the oldest human RNA virus genome that has been sequenced to date. The study was published in Science .

Software for the analysis and visualization of single-cell data is one of the projects that will receive funding as part of CZI's Essential Open Source Software for Science (EOSS) program. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) announced $3.8 million in funding for 23 grants to support open-source software projects essential to biomedical research, enabling software maintenance, growth, development, and community engagement.

The accumulation of one particular protein in the brain is at the basis of three very different age-related conditions. Until recently, nobody understood how this was possible. Research by the Laboratory for Neurobiology and Gene Therapy now reveals that the shape of the protein determines the clinical picture.

Neurobiologists at KU Leuven have discovered how the signalling molecule Neuromedin U plays a crucial role in our learning process. The protein allows the brain to recall negative memories and, as such, learn from the past. The findings of their study on roundworms have been published Communications.

In the event of a bone fracture, fatty acids in our blood signal to stem cells that they have to develop into bone-forming cells. If there are no blood vessels nearby, the stem cells end up forming cartilage. The finding that specific nutrients directly influence the development of stem cells opens new avenues for stem cell research.

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.

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.

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.