BPRC is located in a wooded area surrounded by meadows. It is therefore an attractive environment for many wild animals such as hares, rabbits, rats, crows, foxes, pheasants, geese and other migratory birds, mice, oystercatchers, woodpeckers, storks and even stone martens. Most of these animals cannot be blocked by a fence. Unsurprisingly, this means that we regularly see guests walking or flying around our terrain.
In a packed University Hall auditorium, Dr Jan A.M. Langermans officially accepted his position as Professor by Special Appointment of Laboratory Animal Welfare at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.
As far back as the 13th century, Roger Bacon wrote that old age is the home of forgetfulness. Since we are now growing older than ever before, more and more of us are having to deal with dementia. World Alzheimer's Day provides a great opportunity to take a look into the world of dementia.
Curious about our scientific progress in 2018?
We are pleased to present the BPRC Annual Scientific Report. It contains all the research highlights of 2018 as well as financial results and facts & figures.
In the 1980s, a remarkable number of young Americans exhibited symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Whatever could be the cause? Researchers quickly found an answer to this question. The feature these patients had in common was their excessive use of heroin. The resulting brain disorder was sparked by a by-product which is released when this hard drug is being synthesised.
High quality TB research demands for knowledge and experience. And this was exactly what BPRC scientists shared during an international TB conference in the Unites States.
Tuberculosis (TB) is a contagious lung disease caused by bacteria. It spreads via tiny water droplets during coughing. In the Western World TB is usually treated with long term antibiotics. But antibiotic resistant TB bacteria are emerging fast.
Last Saturday we organized a familyday. Almost 200 family members and friends of colleagues took a look behind the scenes at BPRC.
During a morning and afternoon session we guided visitors in small groups around and showed them what we do at BPRC, how we do it and why.
In tv commercials they call it gut flora but scientists rather speak of the microbiome. In both cases they talk about the bacteria that resides in our intestines. We used a newly designed pill which was created with a 3D printer to determine the microbiome from monkeys and pigs.
Research into the most commonly occurring and difficult to treat strain of malaria, vivax malaria, is possible using the human form of the parasite only under extremely limited circumstances. While a closely related primate malaria parasite has thus far provided a solution to this problem, that system does require the use of primates. Hopefully, this is about to change.
Thanks to a global collaborative partnership which includes BPRC researchers, an effective system for culturing the blood-borne non-human primate malaria parasite has now been developed.
HIV no longer has to be a death sentence. Thanks to research in monkeys, we have drugs that inhibit the virus and prevent the development of AIDS.
Still, it remains important to prevent the spread of HIV within high-risk groups. That is why PrEP is now provided almost free of charge through the municipal health service.
