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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...

Op onze blog vindt u inhoud samengesteld door de VIB-gemeenschap. Ontdek ons onderzoek door de ogen van onze wetenschappers.

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A conversation with science communicator Bethan Burnside and artist Júlia Mota Albuquerque

At the intersection of diversity, art, and science 

At the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research, a collaboration by the Inclusion & Diversity Committee (IDC) brought forth a week-long celebration of diversity and a beautiful mural that stands as a testament to inclusivity. We sat down with Bethan Burnside, a passionate science communicator and member of the IDC, and Júlia Mota Albuquerque, the Brazilian freelance artist behind the mural, to delve into the inspirations, challenges, and impact of their joint endeavor.

A closer look at VIB’s EU Twinning projects: Twin4Promis and PhasAGE

Science without borders

For over two decades, EU Twinning projects have fostered scientific collaboration between EU Member States. These partnerships between universities enable the exchange of knowledge, expertise, and best practices. The life sciences, after all, thrive on international collaboration.

In honor of his 90th birthday and impressive career

An interview with Marc Van Montagu

Professor Emeritus Marc Van Montagu turned 90 this month. On the occasion of this festive news and in honor of his spectacular career, we arranged an interview with him. Marc Van Montagu was the founder of the transformation technology with Agrobacterium tumefaciens, he was the director of the Department of Genetics at VIB-UGent, and he founded the companies Plant Genetic System (PSG) and Cropdesign, along with Johan Cardoen and Dirk Inzé. He has received several prestigious awards, nine honorary doctorates, and is a member of eleven academies. He has published more than 1100 articles and has been cited over 90,000 times. Sufficient reasons, therefore, to be granted the title of "Baron" by the Belgian royal family in 1990.

Sometimes, scientific discoveries in disease processes come from unlikely organisms, such as cockles or diseased flatfish 

Under the sea: Recent VIB research on aquatic organisms leads to cancer insights 

Every living organism, from the tiniest plankton to the largest whale, contributes a unique chapter to the story of our planet. With each discovery, we gain fresh insights, new perspectives, and sometimes groundbreaking revelations in the life sciences. In the ever-evolving world of science, breakthroughs come in all shapes and sizes, from transmissible cancers in cockles to potential anti-cancer agents discovered in flatfish bacteria.

For Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) Awareness Month in October we interviewed Alessio Silva, a third-year PhD student studying the disease. Alessio is based at the Ludo Van Den Bosch Laboratory of Neurobiology at the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research.

Progress Toward a Better Understanding of Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease

Hi Alessio! Tell me more about how you ended up doing research in Leuven.

Little organisms, big impact: how microbes help us battle chronic Inflammatory Bowel Disease. 

MIMOSA project reviewed.

In 2019 the MIMOSA project, funded by the VIB Grand Challenges Program, was kicked off. The goal was to alleviate Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) using the intestinal microbiome. Together with partners at KU Leuven, UZ Leuven, and the Imelda Hospital in Bonheiden, some great progress has been made. Time for an overview of the past 4 years. What are the achievements? And which further investigations are envisioned?

In a world grappling with climate change, the potential of biotechnology to combat global warming remains largely untapped. Enter BIOPET, a VIB Grand Challenges Project that focuses on reshaping pet food production through biotechnology. The initiative aims to craft specialized fats known as lipids via ‘yeast factories’ fueled with side streams from food production. This will offer a sustainable alternative to traditional pet food ingredients while aligning with global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and antibiotic use.

BIOPET: transforming pet food for a greener world

In a world grappling with climate change, the potential of biotechnology to combat global warming remains largely untapped. Enter BIOPET, a VIB...

Bringing together Flemish expertise to accelerate the development of precision medicine for Alzheimer’s disease. 

The PRISMA consortium

Alzheimer’s disease is the world’s leading cause of dementia as it accounts for up to 80% of dementia cases. Alzheimer’s disease is the result of a complex interplay of both genetic and environmental factors, but it remains poorly understood to this day. The PRISMA consortium has the ambition to create new insights about the disease by answering the following questions:

Engineering gut microbes for disease detection and drug production

the MiStiC project

Developing new drugs is a journey that requires significant resources and knowledge. A promising strategy involves harnessing the power of microbes in so-called microbial synthetic in vivo cell therapy systems to produce natural products with medicinal properties. The MiSTiC ERC (European Research Council) project led by Joleen Masschelein (VIB-KU Leuven Center for Microbiology) investigates the potential of beneficial, human-associated microorganisms to produce complex natural products for chronic intestinal disease treatment. This approach can potentially revolutionize drug development, as it addresses challenges of complexity and scarcity while offering new, sustainable routes to personalized medicine.

An interview with Prof. Thomas Voets for Pain Awareness Month

Turning up the heat on pain research

Most of us are familiar with the painful, eye-watering sensation that comes with taking a bite out of a red hot chili pepper. But what puts the kick in these chilies?