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.
We live in the post-antibiotic era. At least that’s what the World Health Organization (WHO) says. And not without foundation — it suggests some ten million people will die annually from antibiotic-resistant bacteria by 2050 if we don’t act now. Furthermore, there are more cancers than now. And so it is a feverish search for alternatives. Ghent University researchers have already come up with a promising breakthrough.
Baby Pia, there can’t be anyone in Flanders who doesn’t know her. Suffering from a rare muscular disease, she was in the eye of the storm during the fall of 2019. A medicine that could save her life came with a dizzying price tag of almost 2 million euro. The debate surrounding too expensive medicines caught fire. But did it change anything?
At Ghent University, many researchers work hard each day to improve cancer treatment and thus extend our life expectation. However, research takes time. Tremendous time. And money. Postdoctoral research Dr. Heleen Dewitte knows all about it.
