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VIB Blog

On our blog, you can find content curated by the VIB community. Discover our research through the eyes of our scientists.Want to be kept...

Get to know the researchers driving cutting-edge research at VIB and delve into the latest advancements in life sciences.

VIB Blog: Insights and innovations in life sciences research

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On the 10th and 11th of December, the 5th edition of the Next-Generation Synthetic Biology Conference will take place in Ghent, Belgium. Earlier editions of this conference had a strong focus on Genome Engineering, while the upcoming conference will put the spotlight on Synthetic Biology. In this double interview with Prof. Tom Ellis (Imperial College London) and Prof. Sven Eyckerman (VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology), two members of the organizing committee, we deep dive into the world of Synthetic Biology, present research, and future perspectives.

Conversations with experts: engineering the future of Synthetic Biology

On the 10th and 11th of December, the 5th edition of the Next-Generation Synthetic Biology Conference will take place in Ghent, Belgium. Earlier...

Meet the editor behind The Optimist, a magazine featuring inspiring stories, helpful advice, and a touch of humor to navigate the challenges of academia.

The Optimist: a magazine for and by PhD Students

Meet the editor behind The Optimist, a magazine by and for PhD students

Thriving through the 'valley of shit'

Meet Silke Vanderhaeghe, Editor at The Optimist, a magazine written by and for PhD students. She's also wrapping up a PhD in Ludo Van Den Bosch's Laboratory of Neurobiology at the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research and reMYND. As she finishes both her studies and her tenure as Editor, we catch up with Silke about her experience.

Interview with Stein Aerts, Director of VIB.AI: the Center for AI and Computational Biology

Leading the charge of AI in life sciences

Little more than a year ago, VIB’s 10th research center, VIB.AI: Center for AI & Computational Biology was launched. Heading this new endeavor is Prof. Stein Aerts, Scientific Director of the new center focusing on applications of artificial intelligence and computational biology. We sat down with Stein to reflect on the past year and to discuss what the future holds for this exciting new field of research.

Learn about the research on the role of TRP channels in chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) and the promising insights it offers into this debilitating condition.

Translational research on TRP Channels in chemotherapy pain

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a debilitating side effect experienced by many cancer patients undergoing treatment. Despite...

From bench to bedside: translational research on TRP channels in chemotherapy pain

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a debilitating side effect experienced by many cancer patients undergoing treatment. Despite its prevalence, effective treatments or preventive measures remain elusive. For Pain Awareness Month, we chat with Heleen Marynissen and Silvia Pinto who are researching the role of TRP channels in CIPN. By bridging the gap between rodent models and human studies, their research offers promising insights into this condition.

Discover insights in single-cell neuroscience from leading voices Prof. Bart De Strooper and Prof. Valeriya Malysheva as they share their perspectives on the field's evolution, next breakthroughs, and the potential impact of AI.

Two experts on the future of single-cell neuroscience

For the third edition of The Brain Mosaic, we sat down with two members of the organizing committee who are leading voices...

Conversations with experts: the next frontier of single-cell neuroscience

For the third edition of The Brain Mosaic, we sat down with two members of the organizing committee who are leading voices in the field of single-cell neuroscience. The first is Prof. Bart De Strooper, who leads the lab for the research of neurodegenerative disease at the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research. He goes into conversation with Prof. Valeriya Malysheva, who heads the Computational Neurobiology lab at the VIB-UAntwerp Center for Molecular Neurology. Their work dives deep into the mysteries of the brain at the cellular level, and they are united by their shared enthusiasm for the future of the field—though they also offer a word of caution. Here’s what they had to say about their research, the evolution of the field, and the next big breakthroughs.

The modern life sciences are driven by collaboration. As researchers unravel more and more of life’s mysteries, they increasingly depend on each other’s expertise to find answers. The advent of new technologies has the same networking effect...

Building community in life sciences research

A conversation with co-affiliated group leaders at the VIB Center for AI & Computational Biology 

Building community

The modern life sciences are driven by collaboration. As researchers unravel more and more of life’s mysteries, they increasingly depend on each other’s expertise to find answers. The advent of new technologies has the same networking effect, and machine learning is a prime example of this – AI has applications across levels of biological organization, from genes, over tissues, to organisms and populations. VIB’s Center for AI & Computational Biology (VIB.AI) uses the latest computational and AI strategies to address biological questions and challenges that span different disciplines. As a result, the center has built a community of VIB PIs from other VIB research centers, which pioneers a way of working that embodies science’s increasing emphasis on collaboration and interdisciplinarity. But what does such a co-affiliation mean for their work?

Discover how research at VIB is aiding the plant-based industry by modifying plant cell walls to enhance biomass processing.

Engineering cell walls for a sustainable plant-based future

-written by Lennart Hoengenaert, a postdoctoral researcher at the VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology

Explore VIB’s state-of-the-art single-cell neuroscience research, where we uncover the complex brain structure, study the aging brain, and understand brain disorders - all to find solutions for some of humanity's most pressing medical challenges.

Advancements in single-cell neuroscience at VIB

Exploring the advancements in single-cell neuroscience at VIB

Revealing the brain’s secrets, one cell at a time

The human brain is an enigma. This complex organ governs our thoughts, emotions, and actions, yet much of its inner workings remain mysterious. We still struggle to understand how brain diseases develop and how to effectively prevent or treat them. Fortunately, neuroscience paces ahead. The latest step forward? Single-cell research.

TReND (Teaching and Research in Natural Sciences for Development in Africa) is a non-profit organization supporting scientific capacity-building across Africa. They run cutting-edge biomedical training courses and work with African researchers to advance their research goals by sharing tools, equipment, and expertise. We talk with Artemis Koumoundourou, a Postdoctoral Researcher in the laboratory of Joris de Wit at the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research and Executive Director at TReND, to find out more about how she got into it, what they've been working on, and how researchers can get involved.

Building Scientific Capacity in Africa: Artemis Koumoundourou's Story with TReND

TReND (Teaching and Research in Natural Sciences for Development in Africa) is a non-profit organization supporting scientific capacity-building...

Discover how dendritic cell vaccines can potentially improve long-term survival in late-stage ovarian cancer patients.

Dendritic Cell Atlas: A Game-Changer in Anti-Cancer Therapy

-written by Aarushi Audhut Caro, a PhD student at the VIB Center for Inflammation Research

Dendritic cell atlas: roadmap to a better anti-cancer therapy

One out of two patients with advanced-stage ovarian cancer dies within five years after diagnosis. Ovarian cancer is often called a silent killer because the symptoms associated with it are very vague and common, including bloating, loss of appetite, belly pain, and frequent urination. As a result, 80% of the patients initially either disregard these symptoms or are misdiagnosed. By the time the correct diagnosis of ovarian cancer is made, the patients are often in the late stages in which the cancer has already spread to other parts of the body. In many cases, this is too late! Interestingly, the majority of late-stage patients occasionally respond positively to the therapies they are provided with, and it appears that the cancer is gone. But eventually, the cancer comes back. Only this time, it’s much more aggressive and does not respond to therapies any longer. Ultimately, it is the late diagnosis and therapy resistance that eventually leads to low five-year survival in ovarian cancer patients. So, it is obvious that we need new therapies that are not only effective but have long-term effects so that late-stage ovarian cancer patients can live more than five years.