Every two months, VIB highlights a selection of scientific research and people at the institute. Every newsletter will be loosely centered around a theme, but there will be plenty of room for variety. For the December edition, we zoom in on the very small: the microworld. Expect beer, microbiomes, and vaccines.
MICROBESꓲ ON THE ORIGIN OF IMPACT
Creative with yeast: From breakthrough genetic research to superbeers and more sustainable bioplastics
More than 1 billion pints. This is how much beer is tapped every year thanks to technology developed by the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Microbiology. "And the actual figure is probably a multiple of this," says scientific director Kevin Verstrepen.
His team makes beer tastier, cloudier, or stronger far beyond the national borders. But they also make superior chocolate and optimize industrial applications, such as bioplastics. And that's only part of the story. The center also researches the basic principles of genetics and cell biology. And the common denominator in all of this? Seemingly mundane microorganisms that we have been domesticating for centuries, namely yeast cells.
Camel antibodies and yeast: A promising double act on the way to more sustainable agriculture
Innovative water usage and decreasing harmful crop protection agents usually come to mind when discussing sustainable agriculture. The fight against livestock diseases, however, gets far less attention, even though it's just as crucial for the future of our food production.
For example, up to half of all piglets in nurseries are affected by post-weaning diarrhea. Antibiotics and zinc oxide fell out of favor as a remedy because they harm our health and the environment. Camel antibodies came to the rescue, not for the first time – but now joined by the powers of yeast.
mRNA vaccines against bacteria: Listeria shows the way
The development of a Listeria vaccine by the team of Francis Impens (VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology) opens a route to producing
mRNA vaccines against listeriosis and other bacterial infections.
Most studies on the human gut microbiome are quite short-term. New work by the team of Jeroen Raes (VIB-KU Leuven Center for Microbiology), has now shown that lifestyle might have long-lasting effects on the composition of the gut microbiome.
ExeVir Bio: from next generation Covid therapy to Dengue Fever
ExeVir announced the identification of high-potential VHH platform candidates to generate multi-specific antibodies for Covid-19. As part of its broader efforts to combat infectious diseases, Exevir has also identified a triple mode of action dengue fever VHH program for development.
PEOPLEꓲ ALUMNI MEET-UP, A NEW PI & AN IMPRESSIVE LIST OF AWARDS
Catching up with VIB scientists all across the world
On the eve of the 2nd edition of the VIB Conference on Emerging Applications in Microbes, VIB alumni reconnected with their former colleagues in Leuven and catch up over science and beer.
Katleen De Preter Joins the VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology. She is also a professor at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at UGent. Find out what inspires her, and how she hopes her research inspires others.
In 2022, many VIB researchers received a grant or award, which is a recognition of the incredible research being done here. Of course, these grants and awards reflect the efforts of many people behind the scenes.
The ‘Ghent Gut Inflammation Group’ represents a consortium of
research labs at Ghent University studying diverse aspects of gastrointestinal biology during health and disease. Understanding how the complex interactions between the intestinal microbiota and host immune as well as stromal cells affect both intestinal and extra-intestinal health demands a multi-disciplinary approach.
Next generation sequencing has been and is still revolutionizing discoveries across life
sciences. While established sequencing technologies are now fully embedded in the clinic and diagnostic settings, novel technological advancements spur the next revolution in sequencing technologies. These will open new avenues for research and enable new genomics insights not possible before.
