The medical field is on the verge of a revolution, all thanks to... light. Medical devices will soon become so small and inexpensive that they will become part of everyday equipment. The driving force behind this technological revolution is photonics. ‘It is the fastest growing ‘‘enabling” technology we know’, says Roel Baets, head of the Photonics Research Group.
Researchers at Ghent University (UGent) have discovered enzymes that can cure age- and diabetes-related blindness. Nearly 200 million people worldwide suffer from these diseases. Thanks to financial support from one UGent alumnus and the Industrial Research Fund (IOF), the researchers are now working on eye drops made using these enzymes.
It is always important to protect your skin from the sun’s harmful rays, but even more so in the summer. But what kind of sun cream is it best to use?
No, it’s not futuristic fiction: a contact lens with technology that imitates the effect of the human iris. It’s a hi-tech accomplishment that Ghent University and imec will now market: the spin-off Azalea Vision will continue developing and commercialising the contact lens.
RNA, or ribonucleic acid, was long seen as a mere messenger between DNA and proteins. Today, however, we know RNA does far more than that. It is an exceptionally useful instrument and the target of new treatments in the pipeline. OncoRNALab researchers have now compiled the most comprehensive ‘RNA encyclopaedia’ in the world.
In the simplest terms, health is the sum total of the effect of genes, behaviour, and surroundings. But of course we can’t just change our genes. So, if we want to avoid getting ill, it’s more productive to consider our behaviour and our surroundings as they are the things we can influence. Ghent University, KU Leuven, the University of Antwerp and Hasselt University are pooling their expertise in the first large scale ‘exposome’ research project in Flanders.
A test that ‘weighs’ whether and how much corona you have, but can also recognize flu and perhaps even cancer. That’s what molecular biologist Maarten Dhaenens and PhD student Bart Van Puyvelde have been working on for the past year. “This way of testing offers so many possibilities for the future.”
Epilog, a spin-off company from Ghent University, is rapidly becoming a global player in localizing certain disorders in our brains. They have already shown their worth in the treatment of epilepsy, and the techniques look promising when it comes to identifying dementia and sleeping problems.
Why do we almost always receive vaccines via injection? Wouldn’t a pill be much easier? It would of course, but creating an oral vaccine is anything but easy. Ground-breaking research by Professor Eric Cox and Professor Bert Devriendt (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine) may well change this.
Would you be able to trust the diagnosis of an app in the same way as a doctor’s? What happens with your personal data? A research team led by Heidi Mertes, lecturer in medical ethics, will be examining in the coming years the ethical concerns raised by these questions.
Kinderoncoloog Bram De Wilde staat met zijn onderzoek mogelijk voor een doorbraak. Ondanks de farma-industrie: "De groep patiënten is te klein voor de farmabedrijven, dus zij investeren er niet in." En dus moest de financiering van elders komen.
If you get cancer, it often means intensive medical treatment right away. But cancer patients are more than just their illness, and treatments are more than just medical help. Professor Tessa Kerre emphasizes the importance of kinder care. The Ghent University reading project is a good example of this.
