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Studying the DNA of organisms that live today can increase our understanding of how life evolved billions of years ago. For his PhD research, Julian Vosseberg delved into the DNA of contemporary organisms to find out how complex cells like those of plants, fungi and animals once evolved from simple, bacteria-like cells.

Tom van Nunen defended his thesis at the department of Electrical Engineering on February 8th, 2023. More than 43 million people worldwide are blind.

When our minds wander during performance of a task, our fine motor movements become slower, less direct and more complex. The deeper our minds wander, the more erratic our fine movements become, indicating greater detachment from the present environment. Our brains process stimuli from the external environment more weakly and brain activity becomes more similar to brain waves that are present during sleep.

Patients whose drug treatment is matched to their DNA, suffer 30 percent fewer serious side effects. This is the result from a study published by a team of international researchers, including Vera Deneer , associate professor of clinical pharmacology at the Utrecht Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS) and her colleague Heshu Abdullah-Koolmees , in The Lancet.

Rising sea levels, more frequent extreme precipitation and drier summers will put increasing demands on our dikes in the future. Over the next thirty years, 1,500 kilometres of dikes will need to be strengthened in the Netherlands alone. Ecologists from Radboud University and Wageningen University & Research claim that an increase in the number of flowers and herbs that are grown on dikes will already go a long way towards solving the problem.

Children born prematurely often have problems with their lungs. Can stem cells help repair their damaged lungs? Biologist Tim Wolfs is researching it with support from Longfonds (Lung Fund). The lungs of premature children are unfinished. In addition, the lungs often suffer additional damage. This can already happen during pregnancy, for example due to an infection in the amniotic fluid.

Sorry! De informatie die je zoekt, is enkel beschikbaar in het Engels. You are not logged in yet to My study choice Portal. Login or create an account to save your programmes. In a study published in Nature Genetics, researchers of Amsterdam UMC teamed up with colleagues from the Complex Trait Genetics department of VU Amsterdam and the Million Veteran Program to scrutinize the genetic similarity of twelve psychiatric disorders.

Biologists provide first evidence of chimpanzees communicating about a cultural practice. Chimpanzees communicate with each other to coordinate a specific type of grooming. Biologists from Utrecht University noted this behaviour using extensive video observations, making it the first reported evidence that communication and cultural behaviour are closely intertwined in chimpanzees.

Utrecht University has appointed Stefan Rüdiger as Professor of Protein Chemistry of Disease. Chemist Rüdiger and his group aim to tackle diseases that are caused by protein misfolding, such as Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease. They focus on how chaperones, proteins that aid other proteins to fold into their proper shape, control protein quality.

By growing in colonies of different sizes, the fungus Aspergillus niger is more effective in breaking down cellulose and more resistant to stress. Microbiologists from Utrecht University report these findings in an article in the scientific journal mBio. Aspergillus niger is widely used for the production of protein mixtures, which play an important role in the manufacturing of, for instance, biofuels or bioplastics.

Is the inside of a plant cell more like a liquid or a solid? While this may sound like an odd question, research carried out at the University of Amsterdam demonstrates it can be either, depending on how much light you shine on it. Chloroplasts within plant cells constitute an active form of matter that undergoes dramatic phase transitions.

Every human body starts out as one single cell: a fertilized egg. This cell develops into all kinds of cell types: skin cells, liver cells, blood cells. Although these cell types look and function differently, they all contain exactly the same DNA. Tuncay Baubec and his research group try to understand how the same genetic code is used to build the more than 200 different cell types in our body.

This week, the biodiversity conference takes place in Montreal, after it was postponed by Covid-19 in the Chinese city of Kunming last May. That postponement was worrying, says Professor of Land Use and Biodiversity Merel Soons , because time is running out for nature conservation. The reason our biodiversity is declining so much is well known.

Unique genetic research shows that the Ashkenazi Jewish community has been a virtually closed group since the 14th century. The international and interdisciplinary Genetic Legacies project examined DNA from the teeth of dozens of medieval and contemporary members of the community from the German city of Erfurt.

A vast amount of money is involved in Alzheimer's disease research. However, scientists have been unable to achieve substantial clinical results in recent decades. In a recent analysis of the situation, Utrecht University historian of science Bert Theunissen and his colleague from Erasmus University Rotterdam Noortje Jacobs now argue that a deadlock has developed that makes progression unlikely.

Treat heart failure in type 2 diabetes with simple nutritional supplements? That seems too easy to be true, but researchers at Maastricht UMC+ have discovered that a particular mixture of amino acids could provide a cure for diabetic heart failure. A crucial step in addressing a problem facing a growing group of patients.

Tiny droplets in our cells can accelerate the accumulation of protein deposits in diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, but they can also hinder this accumulation. While they will worsen the accumulation if the proteins stick to the edge of the droplets, the situation actually improves when they are incorporated into the droplets.

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have a higher chance of suffering from brain-related problems such as anxiety, depression and memory problems. PhD candidate Charlotte Pelgrim discovered that inflammation in the brain and a less protective barrier of the blood vessels in the brain may play a role.

A breakthrough at the University of Twente is bringing new brain-like computers one step closer. An international group of researchers led by Professor Christian Nijhuis has developed a new type of molecular switch that can learn from previous behaviour.

By presenting his research findings at a major international meeting, Joeri Zwerts experienced how he makes societal impact as a scientist. Last month, Zwerts spoke at the general assembly of global forest certification organization the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). At this meeting, he presented his research about the effect of FSC conservation measures on wild mammal populations in Gabon and Congo.