Videos

Developing new drugs often requires a lot of animal testing. But what if we could develop drugs with fewer laboratory animals? That is what Lianne van Os is doing. Based on 1 mouse liver, she makes some 600 mini-livers in the lab to test new drugs against liver disease.

You all know the story of the frog prince, but we bet you haven't yet heard this "sticky" version by evolutionary biologist Shabnam Zaman... She is researching frog glue, a defense mechanism found in certain frog species, that could one day help you 🐸 Watch the video - we're pretty sure you will be glued to your screen. 

"Freeze your eggs, free your career". This was the headline on the cover of the business magazine Bloomberg Business a few years ago. The reasoning: women could freeze their eggs, to focus on their careers and then maybe have a child later. Sounds good for women's emancipation, but how do women themselves feel about it? Philosopher Michiel De Proost sat down with 21 women to find out.

We've all seen images of spectacular collapses of large structures, such as the Morandi Bridge in Genoa. What if we could prevent the failure of structures such as bridges, dams, and wind turbines by ... listening to these structures? That's exactly what engineer Maximillian Weil (VUB) is working on. Listen to him talk about good vibrations.

What does a duck have to do with your electricity consumption? Researcher Ellen Beckstedde (Vlerick Business School - KU Leuven) explains it to you in detail in this video. 

Picture two senior auditors: one is very meticulous in his work and always follows the rules. The other likes making shortcuts, by not closely following the rules. Which of these two will a junior auditor then imitate? And how does this affect his or her work quality? That's what Viola Darmawan (Vlerick Business School) is investigating. Find out more in the video. 

Anyone who has ever looked for Waldo knows how hard he is to find. In her research on lung cancer, Rebekka Van Hoof (Uhasselt - KU Leuven - VITO) faces a similar task: she is searching within more than 100,000 so-called extracellular vesicles for 2 types -say 'Waldos'- that can help detect the disease early. But she is determined to narrow her search field. How? Watch her explain it in this video. 

Snoring is very annoying in itself (especially for roommates), but sometimes there is more to it. In some people, the upper airway closes up to 15 times an hour during sleep. This condition has obstructive sleep apnoea. Sara Op de Beeck explains how she wants to use data to help patients get the best treatment, so that it can be quiet in their bedroom again. 😴

Cancer is a sneaky disease. For instance, cancer cells sometimes manage to disguise themselves, outrunning our immune system. Gils Roex (UAntwerpen - FWO) explains how equipping our white blood cells with a cleverly designed CAR could well help win the race against blood cancer. Want to know more? Fasten your seatbelts & watch the video 🏎

"The greenhouse gases we pump into the air throw a thick blanket over the entire planet. By putting these to good use, my work aims to help remove this blanket of carbon dioxide, leading to a cooler future for all of us." Watch Divyansh Khurana (Imec - KU Leuven) explains how he wants to achieve this.

Do you remember Pac-Man, from that old skool computer game? Well, did you know that there are Pac-Mans in every single cell of our body? They're called enzymes. Some of these enzymes work too fast or too slow, and this can cause severe diseases. Michaela Prothiwa (KU Leuven) explains how she wants to track down these malfunctioning enzymes using a clever piece of chemistry.

Imagine if cars, windows, or even walls would be able to generate power? New, flexible, and ultra-thin perovskite solar cells could make this a reality, but there's a catch. Perovskite solar cells have a limited lifetime as they degrade under light and heat. Imec-researcher Wenya Song is looking to improve the lifespan of perovskite solar cells.