Enthusiasm, concern and ambivalence in the Belgian public's attitude towards in-vitro gametogenesis.

Given the controversial nature of research into in-vitro gametogenesis (IVG), this study set out to investigate the current attitudes towards IVG in the general Belgian population in order to anticipate potential future barriers and misunderstandings. A questionnaire was developed and incorporated into a web-based online survey and sent out to Belgians aged ≥ 18 years in September 2018 until a representative sample (by age, gender and region) of 1000 participants was reached. Respondents expressed an overall positive attitude towards IVG and its possible future applications, with the exception of the use of IVG in postmenopausal women.

Dimorphism throughout the European eel's life cycle: are ontogenetic changes in head shape related to dietary differences?

A well-known link exists between an organism's ecology and morphology. In the European eel, a dimorphic head has been linked to differences in feeding ecology, with broad-headed eels consuming harder prey items than narrow-headed ones. Consequently, we hypothesized that broad-heads should exhibit a cranial musculoskeletal system that increases bite force and facilitates the consumption of harder prey.

Screening and characterization of specific anti-lipopolysaccharide antibodies in Belgian blood donors by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.

The goal of this project was to find and collect high concentrations of endotoxin-specific antibodies for therapeutic IgG- or IgM-enriched preparations. Various enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) were developed to perform longitudinal studies of the serological response to a large panel of smooth and rough purified lipopolysaccharide (LPS) extracts in a population of healthy blood donors. To accomplish this, 1612 human serum samples from volunteer blood donors collected by seven different blood banks in Belgium were screened and specific IgM and IgG activities were measured.