Inari’s agricultural revolution hits Europe with a new site in Ghent
Inari, a U.S. company revolutionizing agricultural R&D, have just opened up their first overseas office in Ghent, Belgium. Partnering with Belgian life sciences and agriculture institutes VIB and ILVO, Inari aims to take advantage of the local talent and resources in their efforts to increase water and nitrogen-use efficiencies in crops such as maize, soy […]
What’s next for CRISPR crops in the EU?
Genetically Modification Organisms (GMOs) is one of the most hotly debated topics in the news today. Resistance to GMOs has in the past been huge and strict regulations have followed. In July this year, the topic made headlines yet again when the European Court of Justice ruled that organisms obtained using modern forms of mutagenesis, […]
Can weeds be programmed to exterminate themselves?
Walking through a forest on a breezy September day, the very air seems to crackle with colour and life. The irony is, of course, that as you walk through trees with golden, crimson leaves, the vast majority of the plant material surrounding you is, in fact, dead. Plants have a complex way of regulating the […]
How CRISPR/Cas9 is improving drug development using zebrafish
CRISPR/Cas9 came to the attention of scientists everywhere over five years ago. Ever since it hit the main stage, the gene editing technique has stayed in the spotlight, and for good reason. CRISPR/Cas9 has undeniably stretched the boundaries of what is possible when it comes to genetic manipulation; but to what end? BioVox wanted to […]
DNA as a storage device for big data
Sometimes science fiction seems to become real right in front of our eyes. Slowly but surely, our genes are revealing all their secrets to us. We are currently able to read our genetic code faster, and understand it better, than ever before. This generates a huge amount of data; could it be possible to use […]
Two genes work together to trigger childhood leukemia
Two known cancer-causing genes, HOXA9 and JAK3/STAT5, are cooperating to trigger acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a common form of childhood cancer. Although both genes were already known to play a significant role in leukemia, research by the VIB-KU Leuven Centre for Cancer Biology group showed that the interaction between the two caused cancerous cells to develop […]
European collaboration project set to track all human cells
Over sixty leading European scientists are uniting in an ambitious project to track every cell in the human body. The FET-Flag LifeTime project will use and develop new technologies to monitor how cells change over time, through ageing and disease. Two Belgian scientists, Prof. Stein Aerts and Prof Chris Marine, both from VIB-KU Leuven, are […]
Big data, big produce – Trends in agri-biotech
In the last few decades, with the introduction of GMOs, the agricultural industry was turned upside down. Major consolidations between companies took place, while sustainability and big data have become ever more important. BioVox had a conversation on the most important trends within the agri-biotech sector with Johan Cardoen, Managing Director of VIB, and with […]
Politicians should consider the consequences of not deploying GM technology
Genetic modification (GM) technology can offer solutions so that farmers can more efficiently grow crops with less environmental impact. Despite many GM crops being developed in Europe, none of them have reached European farmers. This is largely due to the procedure of getting GMOs approved. While it is sensible that we ask ourselves whether there […]
The Cystic Fibrosis association pushes research to the next level
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a life-threatening disease, for which there is currently no treatment. There are some drugs on the market that, in certain cases, can alleviate the symptoms. In this article, we give a brief overview of the newest developments within this field and show how patient organizations can make a difference. CF is […]
New cures for hereditary diseases around the corner?
Hereditary diseases are caused by mutations or deletions in (single) genes that lead to either dysfunctional or inadequate levels of proteins. RNA- or DNA-mediated gene supplementation and gene editing are next-generation disease-modifying therapies for such diseases. Gene supplementation/gene editing allows the root of a hereditary defect to be tackled in a single corrective action with […]
Very promising cancer treatment: RNAi immunotherapy
RXi Pharmaceuticals was co-founded by Craig Mello, PhD, the co-recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Medicine for the discovery of RNA interference (RNAi). To advance the use of RNAi into therapeutics, RXi has developed a novel and proprietary self-delivering RNAi platform, termed sd-rxRNA®, that has many advantages over its competitors in the RNAi space. […]
Personalized healthcare, a long-awaited revolution
Although it’s already 2017 and medicine has made great progress in the last decade, healthcare is often still very generic, following a “one size fits all” approach. To better monitor our health, implanted medical devices and wearables are becoming more commonplace. The collected data can be used to customize treatment and even to simulate a […]
Diagnosing rare genetic conditions within minutes
Moon is a new software package that, within minutes, diagnoses patients who suffer from rare diseases. All the software requires are the patient’s symptoms and sequencing data. Moon then applies artificial intelligence to find the causal mutation. This software is the first of its kind on the market. Moon is developed by the Leuven-based company […]
Designer yeast: synthetic genome closer to reality
Five entirely synthetic yeast chromosomes were created this year. By 2018 every chromosome is expected to have a synthetic couterpart, resulting in en entirely synthetic genome.