Diepenbeek (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – UHasselt’s BIOMED institute in Diepenbeek unveiled a €480,000 MACSima scanner to study ageing and diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s, with support from ERDF and expert Prof. Niels Hellings.
As VRT News reported, the BIOMED research institute at Hasselt University in Diepenbeek, in the province of Limburg, Belgium, has received new technology to strengthen its studies on ageing and major diseases.
For years, the team has been working to understand how ageing affects the body and why some people age in good health while others develop chronic conditions. Studies show that 4 out of 5 people over 65 face health issues. To explore this, researchers use “ageing biomarkers.”
How will UHasselt’s €480K MACSima scanner boost disease research?
The institute has now introduced the advanced MACSima scanner, allowing scientists to examine more than 100 ageing biomarkers at once. Previously, only a few could be studied at the same time.
“Looking at multiple biomarkers simultaneously saves enormous time in our research on conditions such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, and cardiovascular disease,”
explains Professor Niels Hellings.
“This device also allows us to simultaneously observe different levels within a cell, both RNA and protein,”
Hellings continues.
“This makes research more efficient and accurate, because you get much more information to work with much faster.”
UHasselt in Diepenbeek has introduced a new MACSima scanner worth €480,000. The advanced scanner gives scientists a clear and detailed view of body tissues, allowing them to study how diseases develop at the cellular level. It helps identify which biomarkers are linked to conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular problems, and spinal cord injuries.
The new equipment also supports the search for new treatments for illnesses that currently have no cure. The project is partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Limburg Cancer Fund.
“You can compare it a bit to Google Maps,”
explains Cillian Ross of Miltenyi Biotec.
“The researcher sees not only the structure of the tissue, the streets. They also see the houses and the people living in them: which cells, what cell type they are, and how the cells relate to each other.”
In the first stage, UHasselt researchers will use postmortem tissues from laboratory animals to study the effects of ageing and disease. Research on human tissues will follow later. The MACSima scanner will also be available to companies that focus on developing treatments for age-related diseases.
The BIOMED research institute at Hasselt University in Diepenbeek was founded in 1996 and has developed into an important centre for medical research in Limburg. The institute has examined important health topics over the years, including Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and heart disease. The predominant theme for BIOMED has been ageing and regeneration.
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