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Designing better membrane proteins by embracing imperfection
Brussels, 14 April 2026 — Scientists at the VIB–VUB Center for Structural Biology have uncovered a counterintuitive principle that could reshape how membrane proteins are designed from scratch: sometimes, making a protein less stable helps it fold correctly. In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers demonstrate that introducing carefully placed ‘imperfections’, a strategy known as negative design, enables synthetic membrane proteins to fold and assemble efficiently in artificial membranes.
Latest stories
Could the future of brewing be found in a remote Scandinavian farmhouse?
A large-scale genetic study of traditional farmhouse breweries in Scandinavia and the Baltic region has uncovered a remarkable reservoir of beer yeast diversity that may resemble the rich microbial landscape of Europe’s pre-industrial breweries. The study, led by Prof. Kevin Verstrepen (VIB and KU Leuven) and published in Current Biology, suggest that this living archive of yeasts could inspire a new generation of brewing innovation.
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New tool makes gene regulation easier to study—and tweak
Leuven, 2 April 2026 - Understanding how genes are switched on and off in specific cell types remains one of biology’s central challenges. While AI has made major progress in decoding the regulatory logic of DNA, applying these approaches across datasets, tissues, and species has remained difficult. In a new Nature Methods paper, a research team led by Prof. Stein Aerts (VIB & KU Leuven) presents CREsted, a software package that enables both the analysis and design of gene regulatory elements in a systematic and scalable way.
Blocking lipid production in healthy lung cells can reduce lung metastasis
Leuven, 17 March 2026 - Scientists from the VIB–KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology, in collaboration with the Francis Crick Institute, have discovered how cancer cells can exploit healthy lung cells to support metastatic tumor growth in the lungs. In two complementary studies published in Nature Cell Biology and Cancer Discovery, they show that tumors use lipids produced by lung cells as signals, and that decreasing the lipid production of lung cells can decrease metastasis. The findings point to new therapeutic strategies that target lung cell lipid production, rather than cancer cells themselves, which may also help refine patient selection for ongoing clinical trials targeting this pathway.
Researchers identify major genetic risk factor for rare form of dementia
Antwerp, 12 March 2026 - Researchers at VIB and Antwerp University have identified a major genetic risk factor for a rare form of frontotemporal dementia. The discovery, published today in Nature Genetics, provides a biological entry point for a disease subtype that has been difficult to study. It could not only help to improve diagnosis and patient stratification, but also opens up new avenues toward targeted treatments.
Brain immune cells may help build Alzheimer’s plaques
A new study led by researchers from VIB and KU Leuven shows that immune cells called microglia can actively promote the formation of plaques in Alzheimer’s disease, challenging the long-standing view that these cells serve only as defenders against plaque buildup. The findings were recently published in PNAS.
Rainbow Crops Awarded $7 Million Grant to Advance Climate-Resilient Crops
Ghent, Belgium - 4 March 2026 - Rainbow Crops, a next-generation agtech company developing crop genetics with enhanced complex agronomic traits, has been awarded a $7 million grant from the Gates Foundation. The funding will support the application of Rainbow Crops’ Trait Foundry™ platform to advance new genetic approaches for improving crop performance under heat and drought stress to meet the needs of smallholder farmers.
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Belgian researchers develop AI tool to improve diagnosis of rare immune disorders
Researchers from VIB and Ghent University, in close collaboration with clinicians at Ghent University Hospital, have developed PIDgeon, an explainable artificial intelligence pipeline that supports faster and more reliable diagnosis of primary immunodeficiencies (PIDs). The tool was successfully validated in nearly 1.000 patients across multiple European centers, marking an important step toward future clinical application. The study is published in Clinical Chemistry.
Scientists discover new gatekeeper cell in the brain
Ghent, 12 February 2026 – VIB and Ghent University researchers have identified and characterized a previously unknown cellular barrier in the brain, which sheds new light on how the brain is protected from the rest of the body. In a study published in Nature Neuroscience, the scientists also reveal a new pathway by which the immune system can impact the brain.
Researchers develop more reliable platform to test antibody medicines
Ghent, 30 January 2026 – An international research consortium has validated a new platform that could change how antibody medicines are tested and brought to patients. The work, published in Science Immunology, highlights problems during conventional antibody drug testing and introduces a next-generation mouse model that makes it possible to predict the effects of antibody drugs in humans more accurately.
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