85 search results for “dna” in the Staff website
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Not wrapping but folding: Bacteria also organise their DNA (but they do it a bit differently)
Some bacteria, it turns out, have proteins much like ours that organise the DNA in their cells. They just do it a bit differently. This is revealed by new research from biochemists at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry and the Max Planck Institute for Biology. The discovery helps us better understand…
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Bacteria without cell wall gobble up DNA from environment
A bacterium hiding from the immune system and picking up bits of DNA from its environment. The result: gaining new traits, such as better protection against antibiotics. Fortunately, we have not found such a damning scenario yet. However, PhD student Renée Kapteijn did find the first clues, which…
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‘Data science has crept into the faculties’ DNA’
From 14 to 29 PhD candidates, seven actively involved faculties and, above all, lots of innovative interdisciplinary research, all with data science as the common denominator. The university’s Data Science Research Programme (DSO) has proven so successful that after five years on a start-up grant it…
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Kevin Groen
Science
k.groen@cml.leidenuniv.nl | +31 71 527 6822
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Daniel Zumel Gete
Science
d.zumel.gete@cml.leidenuniv.nl | +31 71 527 2727
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Kaushar Kagzi
Science
k.kagzi@cml.leidenuniv.nl | +31 71 527 2727
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Sam Boerlijst
Science
s.p.boerlijst@cml.leidenuniv.nl | +31 71 527 2727
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Executive Board column: Our institutes abroad are part of our international DNA
Ever since its foundation, Leiden University has turned its gaze outwards to other cultures, languages and forms of academic practice. It is only natural, therefore, that we as a university have four institutes abroad: the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV-KNAW)…
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Louie Krol
Science
l.krol@cml.leidenuniv.nl | +31 71 527 2727
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Jac Aarts
Faculteit Archeologie
j.m.m.j.g.aarts@arch.leidenuniv.nl | +31 71 527 2727
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Can we live longer? Leiden physicist makes discovery in protective layer in genes
With the aid of physics and a minuscule magnet, researchers have discovered a new structure of telomeric DNA. Telomeres are sometimes seen as the key to living longer. They protect genes from damage but get a bit shorter each time a cell divides. If they become too short, the cell dies. The new discovery…
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synthesis of metal-based chemotherapeutic agents for targeted DNA interactions or DNA repair pathway modulation
PhD defence
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Emilie Didaskalou
Science
e.a.didaskalou@cml.leidenuniv.nl | +31 71 527 5652
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Meindert Lamers
Science
m.h.lamers@biology.leidenuniv.nl | +31 71 527 2727
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Oliver Tuazon
Faculteit Rechtsgeleerdheid
o.m.tuazon@law.leidenuniv.nl | +31 71 527 8838
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Kat Stewart
Science
k.a.stewart@cml.leidenuniv.nl | +31 71 527 2727
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Sylvia de Pater
Science
b.s.de.pater@biology.leidenuniv.nl | +31 71 527 4760
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First patient in the Netherlands successfully treated with stem cell gene therapy
Researchers from the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) have successfully used stem cell gene therapy to treat a baby with the severe congenital immune disorder SCID. An important milestone: it is the first time stem cell gene therapy of Dutch origin has been administered to a patient, and also…
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Paul Hooykaas
Science
p.j.j.hooykaas@biology.leidenuniv.nl | +31 71 527 4933
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Caught in living cells: how bacteria regulate their genes to defend themselves
For the first time, it was shown in living cells how the bacterium E. coli regulates genes that help it survive in a new environment. Biochemist Fatema Zahra Rashid managed to do this using a technique she fine-tuned. Her research into changes in 3-dimensional chromosome structure offers clues for ways…
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Leiden researchers visualise the 'guardian of our genome’
The guardian of our genome, the protein MutS, scans the DNA for spelling errors and makes sure they are corrected. An essential process for our health. Researchers at Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) have discovered precisely how this protein works by making MutS visible with cryo-electron microscopy.…
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ERC-grant for Sebastian Pomplun to cure disease by controlling gene expression with synthetic transcription factors
Sebastian Pomplun receives an ERC starting grant of 1.85 million Euros in five years. He wants to develop synthetic transcription factors that can enter cells and activate or deactivate specific genes. For example to disrupt cancer-related processes or to trigger the production of an important missing…
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‘Look beyond your own discipline’
Good research means looking beyond disciplinary boundaries, said Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Remus Dame in his inaugural lecture on 10 May. Processes that take place on DNA shouldn’t only be researched in a test tube but also in living cells, for instance.
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Superselective bonds light up
Rather than one key and one strong lock, biology often uses tens or hundreds of weaker links to bind parts together, such as cells membranes. This allows for selectivity and also reversibility: the binding can also be undone. Researchers first caught this phenomenon using spheres or colloids, and published…
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Awaken sleeping antibiotics with ERC Advanced grant
To facilitate the search for new antibiotics. That is the aim of Gilles van Wezel, professor molecular biotechnology at the Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL). He wants to do this by looking at similarities in the DNA of antibiotic-producing bacteria. Van Wezel has been awarded an ERC Advanced grant…
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Paco Barona Gomez ready to work in Leiden: ‘Fundamental research creates opportunities’
Paco Barona Gomez is the newest associate professor at the Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL). The Mexican researcher is fascinated by the evolution of natural products: compounds made by microbes, but also plants and animals. ‘It’s like we investigate chemical dark matter.’
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Biology students expose exotic amphibians in the dunes
During the spring of 2021, a group of eight biology students from Leiden set out into the dunes in search of amphibians. Using DNA, they determined the geographic origin of the animals. And guess what? In many cases they discovered exotic populations of animals that do not naturally belong in The Netherlands.…
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ERC Consolidator Grants for Leiden researchers
Five Leiden researchers have been awarded a Consolidator Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). This grant of up to two million euros will enable them to continue and expand their scientific research.
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New eDNA method opens doors for environmental research
With a single sample of water or soil, researches can analyse the DNA of everything that is living in that environment. During her research, PhD candidate Beilun Zhao discovered a way to analyse not only the kind of species, but also the age of the species in a water sample. The method showed its first…
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Campus Square renamed: Rosalind Franklin Square
On World DNA Day 25 April, Leiden University is pleased to focus the spotlight on Rosalind Franklin, whose name was given earlier this month to the Campus Square on the Leiden Bio Science Park. This square will now be known officially as the Rosalind Franklin Square.
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Vici grants for three Leiden researchers
Three Leiden researchers have been awarded a prestigious Vici grant, the Dutch Research Council (NWO) announced on Tuesday. Two of the researchers work at Leiden University and the third at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC).
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The career choices of cells
How does an embryonic stem cell decide if it becomes a heart cell or a kidney cell? That’s the question computational biologist Maria Mircea studied for her PhD research. She looked at the inside of individual cells to analyse how they change. This is what she discovered.
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A first in the lab: a tiny network that is both strong and flexible
Daniela Kraft's group has succeeded in creating a network of microparticles that is both strong and completely flexible. This may sound simple, yet they are the first in the world to succeed in doing so. A real breakthrough in soft matter physics.
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Biology student Martijn Verkuilen wins Unilever Research Prize
Martijn Verkuilen is the winner of the Unilever Research Prize 2022. By transferring DNA from a plant into yeast, he made the first move to produce a new drug for type 2 diabetes. He collected his prize in Wageningen on 24 November.
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Vici grants for seven researchers from Leiden University
From research on stellar winds to sign language: an impressive seven researchers from Leiden University will receive a prestigious Vici grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO).
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Making sustainable biotechnology a reality: joined forces aim to improve biocatalysts
Everything biobased: Plastic, medicine and fuel. It seems like a futuristic utopia. But for how long? A collaboration of researchers now proposes an idea to accelerate the development process. By combining machine learning and laboratory automation, this biobased ideal may become a reality rather sooner…
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Four Leiden researchers awarded Rubicon grants
Four promising young researchers will be able to conduct two years of research at a university abroad thanks to a Rubicon grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The Leiden laureates are Renske Janssen, Girija Josh, Anne van der Meij and Yana van der Weegen.
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LIFES: From Reusable Data to New Treatments and Faster Diagnoses
Early diagnosis, new treatments, and personalised care: all of these are possible if we can better unlock the wealth of information hidden in health data. Unfortunately, this data is often poorly organised, difficult to access, and not interoperable. The new international Leiden Institute for FAIR and…
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Gaia sees strange stars in most detailed Milky Way survey to date
Today, ESA’s Gaia mission releases its new treasure trove of data about our home galaxy. Astronomers, led by the Leiden astronomer Anthony Brown, describe strange ‘starquakes’, stellar DNA, asymmetric motions and other fascinating insights in this most detailed Milky Way survey to date.
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A look behind the scenes at the Leiden Science Family Day
More than 700 visitors got to know the Science Faculty during the Leiden Science Family Day. People of all ages could enjoy fascinating experiments, tours, interesting lectures, spectacular nitrogen shows and various workshops. It was an informative day with many (future) scientists, amazement and,…
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How bittersweet sugar chemistry targets pathogens
The challenge is considerable, but so is the satisfaction when it succeeds: creating complex sugar molecules that play a role in biology.
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No venom resistance in snake-eating birds: ‘They just don’t need it’
To eat or get eaten. It describes the evolutionary race of snakes versus the mammals and birds that prey on these snakes. Muzaffar Ali Khan devoted his PhD to investigating the molecular mechanisms play of the evolutionary arms race, and has his promotion 16 February. What makes mammals and birds successful…
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Open call: submit a research proposal for Lowlands Science
Research
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Discovery Leiden nominated for KIJK: Best Tech-idea of 2021
Using artificial intelligence to find new antibiotics. With that, researchers from Leiden University are nominated by magazine KIJK for the Best Tech-idea of 2021. From September 14 onwards people can vote to crown one of the nominees as the winner.
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Vidi grants for 12 researchers from Leiden University
An impressive 12 researchers from Leiden University have been awarded an 800,000-euro grant by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). This will enable them to develop their own line of research over the next five years.
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The right diagnosis and faster for women with heart problems
It often takes longer for women with heart problems to get the right diagnosis. In her Annie Romein-Verschoor Lecture, Professor Hester den Ruijter will talk about how hormones influence the heart and the importance of medical research that focuses specifically on women.
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How NeCEN helped develop the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine
The Phase 3 clinical trial results of the promising Covid-19 vaccine of Johnson & Johnson are expected this month. The Dutch electron microscopy facility NeCEN helped develop the company’s vaccine, and they have now published their scientific findings in Nature Communications.
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Working in a living museum
Roderick Bouman is collection manager of the Leiden Hortus botanicus. He keeps track of which plants there are in the garden, where they come from and makes sure visitors can find the right information about them. ‘We are like a regular museum,’ says Bouman. ‘Except that our objects are alive. That…
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Atherosclerosis resembles an autoimmune disease. Marie Depuydt graduated on this topic, with honours
In addition to cholesterol and high blood pressure as risk factors for atherosclerosis, we may need to address our own immune system to prevent a heart attack or stroke. Marie Depuydt revealed which cells exactly reside in the atherosclerotic plaque that narrows an artery. The presence of a diverse…
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Rubicon grant for Remko Fermin: superconducting diodes for energy-efficient data centres
Physicist Remko Fermin from Leiden University was awarded a Rubicon grant from NWO. He will use it to study superconducting diodes that could contribute to reducing the CO2 emission of data centres.