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Discovery and research

Gates Foundation commissions large coronavirus study from KU Leuven

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is to provide samples of 15,000 therapeutic molecules to the Gasthuisberg hospital at the University of Leuven, to aid research into therapies to combat the coronavirus COVID-19, De Standaard reports.

VIB achieves important milestone in the development of a COVID-19 drug

Earlier this year, the lab of Xavier Saelens (VIB-UGent) announced the discovery of a unique antibody that is capable of binding the virus that causes COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2). The antibody was developed in collaboration with two research groups in the US. The team has now established that the antibody can neutralize a lab variant of the virus, an important step forward in the development of a potential antiviral drug against the new coronavirus. This progress was made possible thanks to the intensive efforts of various teams in the VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology.

Augustine Therapeutics: bridging the valley of death with VIB Discovery Sciences

Augustine Therapeutics is one of VIB’s latest spinoffs, developing a first-in-class drug for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. The company recently announced a seed-funding round of €4.2 million, led by V-Bio Ventures. We spoke to several of the key persons in Augustine about how the startup is tackling the “Valley of Death”: the no-man’s-land between academia and industry where many potential therapies often fail.

Why everyone needs to be a part of the CRISPR conversation

Hetty Helsmoortel is a science communicator who has dedicated herself to bringing research breakthroughs to a broader audience. In her recent book “De Geknipte Genen”, she tackles CRISPR: a revolutionary gene editing technology whose applications raise tricky ethical questions. We sat down with Dr. Helsmoortel to discuss her views on CRISPR’s potential and why she feels it is so important for the public to be well informed on this technical topic.

Belgian initiatives boosting animal-free innovation

Animals have been used throughout history to understand human physiology and to resolve scientific questions related to health and disease. Nowadays, however, both scientists and the public are pushing for better options to animal testing, and so increasing efforts are being put into developing and promoting these alternative methods. Two such initiatives are being spearheaded by the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB): The Innovation Centre for 3R Alternatives (IC-3Rs) and the RE-Place project.

Montis Biosciences launched with €8.4 million seed financing and a novel approach to immuno-oncology

Leuven, Belgium, Feb 20th 2020 - Montis Biosciences announces its launch with €8,4 million in seed financing from an international investor syndicate to investigate interactions between perivascular macrophages and tumor vasculature. The company’s mission is to exploit these cellular interactions with therapeutics to drive and sustain immune reactions against solid tumors.

Battling antibiotic resistance: new strategy targets bacterial slime

Researchers have developed a new antibacterial strategy that weakens bacteria by preventing them from cooperating. The method involves attacking the protective biofilm produced by the whole bacterial colony, rather than the individual bacteria themselves. Because this results in non-resistant bacteria outcompeting their antibiotic resistant neighbors, the strategy does not promote the development of further resistance.

Signposts inspired by bat sonar improve self-driving robots

To improve sonar navigation systems used by self-driving robots, researchers from Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany have turned to nature for an ingenious solution. By studying the relationship between bats and flowers, scientists found that the plants were reflecting a specific sonar signal to guide the bats. They used this concept to create artificial sonar signposts.

New immune system gene discovered in a Flemish boy

Researchers studying a rare disease have identified a new gene responsible for human immune system regulation. An international collaboration combined information from both mouse models and a single human patient in an effort to find the underlying genetic cause of hemophagocytic syndrome. This discovery could potentially inspire a treatment for the deadly disease and provides new insights into the immune system.

The 2019 Nobel Prize in Medicine: How do cells adapt to changing oxygen levels?

The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to William G. Kaelin Jr, Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza. Their discoveries have paved the way for promising new strategies to fight anemia, cancer and many other diseases. We’re breaking down the research that led to the prize and why this work was so vital for modern medicine.

HIV breakthrough at UZ Gent leads to new hope for a cure

When patients take HIV medication, a small amount of the virus nonetheless stays hidden in the body, preventing a cure. This hiding place has finally been uncovered in a groundbreaking study led by UZ Gent researchers. With this ‘viral reservoir’ identified, researchers may finally be able to develop a cure for this devastating disease.

Meet the men who unraveled the mystery of protein folding

Franz-Ulrich Hartl and Arthur Horwich have been named the winners of the 2019 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research. The award will be granted for their revolutionary insights into chaperone-mediated protein folding, a key process for biological function. The winners will share their insights during the annual award ceremony, which will be celebrated both at the Janssen Beerse Campus in Belgium on September 27 and at the New York Academy of Sciences in the US on October 3, providing attendees with a unique opportunity to meet two of the world’s leading scientists.

Gilead and Galapagos enter into transformative research and development collaboration

Solving food waste one StixFresh sticker at a time

Food waste is a major global issue exacerbated by premature fruit spoilage. A US company, StixFresh, is working together with VIB-KU Leuven Prof Patrick Van Dijck to develop a solution to the problem. The company has created stickers coated in a plant-based antimicrobial formula that protects fruit from fungal infections, extending their shelf life by several weeks.

WELBIO joins ranks with celebrities after a new bacterium is named after the institute

WELBIO has received a truly unique form of acknowledgement: a newly discovered bacterium has been named after the research institute. The human gut microbe was discovered during a project led by Prof. Patrice Cani (WELBIO-UCLouvain), who proposed the name Dysosmobacter welbionis.