Projects

The translational Genomic Medicine IOF program is situated at the interface between clinical practice and strategic fundamental research and in a tight junction with the CME. The program was partitioned in three discrete lines of research and valorisation: A first line of research is focusing on novel approaches for postnatal diagnosis using massive parallel sequencing and whole genome sequencing.  Both Prof. Vermeesch and Prof. Matthijs ...

A central challenge in genetics is to understand when and why mutations alter the phenotype of an organism. One original motivation behind sequencing the human genome eleven years ago was the goal of being able to predict an individual’s risk of disease from their genome sequence. However, this promise has not yet been fulfilled. Model organisms can be used to readdress this problem. In a model organism such as budding yeast we can make ...

In recent years, many ancient whole genome duplication (WGD) or polyploidy events have been uncovered in plants. However, their attributed degree of importance in plant evolution remains hotly debated. Reliable detection, dating and functional interpretation of WGDs has proven highly
challenging and integrating these tasks into an efficient framework is crucial for further elucidation of this evolutionary conundrum.

Somatic mutations are small DNA errors that accumulate in the genome of ageing cells. They sporadically result in a cellular growth advantage, especially when they occur in cancer-associated genes (e.g., TP53). The sequential accumulation of these driver mutations leads to the formation of malignant tumors. They also underlie micro-clone formation in normal epithelial tissues and emerging evidence suggests spatial competition between these ...

The long-term establishment of ancient organisms that have undergone whole genome duplications (paleopolyploids) has been exceedingly rare. On the other hand, tens of thousands of now-living species, both plants and animals, are polyploid, and contain multiple copies of their genome (neopolyploids). The apparent paucity of ancient genome duplications and the existence of so many species that are currently polyploid provide an interesting and ...