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Dr. Barbara Gravel of the AI Laboratory at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and the Interuniversity Institute of Bioinformatics at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), has developed innovative bioinformatics techniques that shed new light on the genetic causes of complex diseases. Her PhD research focused on understanding how combinations of genetic variants, rather than single mutations, contribute to conditions such as cardiac disorders, hearing loss, visual impairment, and male infertility.

A research team led by Professor Claudia Spits at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) has made significant strides in understanding and improving the safety of stem cell therapies. Stem cells hold immense potential to repair damaged tissues due to their ability to differentiate into various cell types.

The brain contains many cell types, from the prominent neurons to the lesser-known microglia. The latter are integral to the brain's immune system and play a crucial role as the brain's cleanup crew. A recent study conducted by researchers from the University Hospital Bonn and the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) at the University of Luxembourg, in collaboration with colleagues from France, Hungary, and Germany, highlights that microglia establish connections with neurons through tunnelling nanotubes.

A multidisciplinary team of researchers from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, University of Mons, VIB-VUB Center for Structural Biology and KU Leuven has deciphered one of the most fascinating but least understood chemical defence adaptations in the Animal Kingdom: glue. In a newly published article in Nature Communications , they report on how changes in the structure and expression of two proteins underlay the parallel evolution of defence glues in distantly related frog lineages.

Early in the pandemic, scientists at the University of Luxembourg started to use their expertise to better understand the virus, its acute symptoms and longer-term consequences, and find effective responses against its propagation. Even if the crisis has passed, researchers are still investigating different aspects of the disease.

KU Leuven geneticists discover two separate population groups that coexisted in early medieval Flanders The early medieval period in Flanders is a period that is not very well-known, because of the limited historical and archaeological sources. A unique discovery from the seventh century in Koksijde allowed KU Leuven geneticists to use DNA research to reveal the ancestry of the people who inhabited Flanders during this time.

What environmental impact can a contraceptive molecule have? Recent work by UNamur researchers answers this question, and has just been published in the journal Environment International. This work is the fruit of a three-year collaboration with Mithra, a Belgian biotech company committed to transforming women's health with innovative alternatives, particularly in contraception, funded by SPW Research.

Scientists at EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), led by Prof. Friedhelm C. Hummel and post-doctoral fellow Pierre Vassiliadis (EPFL and UCLouvain Institute of Neuroscience), have successfully tested a new technique enabling deep stimulation of the human brain, without surgery or implants, for potential therapeutic purposes.

An interdisciplinary team from the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) at the University of Luxembourg, together with international collaborators, established that a combination of small variations in genes regulating mitochondria, an important component of human cells, is associated with a higher risk for Parkinson's disease.

A ULB team has discovered how blood vessels in the brain are formed and how they differ from other vessels in the body. A major breakthrough that could lead to new therapeutic approaches . Cardiovascular disease, including myocardial infarction and stroke, is the world's leading cause of death, claiming around 18 million lives a year.

VUB researchers show xCT protein is key link in inhibiting pancreatic cancer growth and limiting mood disturbances The xCT protein, which plays an important role as a transport molecule in the cell, could play a part in cancer treatment in the future, researchers at VUB have discovered. Their work is the result of a collaboration between the research groups of neuroscientist Ann Massie of the Laboratory of Neuro-Aging & Viro-Immunotherapy and pancreatic cancer expert Ilse Rooman of the Laboratory for Medical and Molecular Oncology.

Scientists at UCLouvain have discovered that the balance between two proteins plays a decisive role in brain development. The study is published in the American Association for the Advancement of Science's (AAAS) prestigious journal Science Advances . During embryonic development, cells continuously receive numerous stimuli to which they react via intracellular signals.

Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT), or sleeping sickness, is a neglected tropical disease that affects millions of people and is fatal if left untreated. Most treatments and preventative options, however, are not very effective. New research identifies a protein that could pave the way toward drugs against sleeping sickness.

Chronic liver disease is a serious global health problem that has a severe impact on personal quality of life. A major characteristic of chronic liver disease is liver fibrosis, where certain liver cells, called hepatic stellate cells, become activated and produce scar tissue that damages the liver. At present, no specific drugs are available to treat this condition, partly because we know too little about the activation process for the stellate cells, and no specific targets have been identified to date.

How are our cells able to detect tiny asperities in their support, the extracellular matrix, which bind them together - By what mechanism - Do they manage to modify their behavior in response to these small reliefs - These are the questions to which a team of cell biology researchers from UNamur and UCLouvain have provided major answers, which have just been published in the prestigious scientific journal Science Advances.

In a breakthrough discovery, scientists from VIB-VUB Center for Structural Biology unraveled the mysteries of SlyB, a tiny but mighty protein found in the outer membrane of certain bacteria. When bacteria face stress, SlyB acts as a crucial guardian to protect the bacterial cell from dying. This discovery not only deepens our understanding of bacterial survival mechanisms but also paves the way for potential applications in antimicrobial research.

The voice is the most important sound for human beings, providing information about the identity, gender, age and emotional state of the speaker, as well as being the basis of our communication through language and other non-linguistic cues. Adults have a specific brain area that responds preferentially to voice among all other sounds.

High Arctic (left) and Continental Antarctic (right) lake bottoms, covered by dense microbial mats. Credits: David Velazquez An international research team of scientists led by biologists from Ghent University investigated the biodiversity and evolutionary history of microorganisms in Arctic, sub-Antarctic and Antarctic lakes in the first large scale study using DNA.

Bedeloid rotifers, those mysterious microorganisms, display remarkable resistance to desiccation, ionizing radiation and even freezing. Under the direction of Karine Van Doninck - Faculty of Science, a team of researchers is investigating the molecular basis of this exceptional resistance, making rotifers model animals for research .

Peter Claes has successfully identified the genetic factor that accounts for the large variation in the shape of human skulls and faces, before subsequently identifying which of these genes play an important role in the risk of craniosynostosis, a condition where the fibrous sutures of a baby's skull join together too early, preventing the skull from expanding as the brain develops and grows in the first two years of life.