Bram Van den Bergh

Bram Van den Bergh

@bramvdbe.bsky.social

Microbiologist and spectator of the act of evolution

75 followers39 following20 posts

Bram Van den Bergh
@bramvdbe.bsky.social

Big promises to fulfill but happy to see that we got support for our idea of a fast urine diagnostic tool! I will be watching on the side line but have all confidence in the collaborative team that will carry out this development! www.made-in.be/vlaams-braba...

made-in.beComate, KU Leuven, VIB en imec werken samen aan MicrobeSpotter om behandeling blaasontstekingen te revolutionerenIn de toekomst kunnen huisartsen een urineweginfectie snel en ter plaatse vaststellen, zonder tussenkomst van een klinisch labo.
Bram Van den Bergh
@bramvdbe.bsky.social

In addition to the high amount of noise, there are also very significant outliers: i.e. strains that show no resistance but are highly antibiotic tolerant or strains with significant resistance but highly sensitive towards antibiotic-induced killing.

Bram Van den Bergh
@bramvdbe.bsky.social

What does this all mean? MIC levels clearly are bad at predicting another important aspect of how bacteria deal with antibiotic treatments. Depending on the relevance of heterotolerance in the clinic, only assessing MIC values (current practice) could fail to inform clinicians.

Bram Van den Bergh
@bramvdbe.bsky.social

Put differently, while a higher MIC value (resistance) generally means the strain will also display higher survival, this is far from a 1-1 relationship. The relationship is so weak that variation in MIC values only explain 11.4% of the variation in heterotolerance levels.

Bram Van den Bergh
@bramvdbe.bsky.social

We assessed heterotolerance and resistance for 2 relevant antibiotics, for 3 major pathogens (E. coli, S. aeruginosa, S. pneumoniae), for a diverse set of strains. In total, we looked at >1000 isolates that come from everywhere in world, across pathologies and throughout history)

Bram Van den Bergh
@bramvdbe.bsky.social

Assessing the survival has been a tremendous body of work and while we are working on other aspects that dive more into the evolution and molecular mechanisms, we already asked ourself the simple question: How does resistance levels compare to heterotolerance levels?

Bram Van den Bergh reposted

VIB Training & Conferences
@vibtrainconf.bsky.social

🧬After three days of #RNGS25 filled with inspiring talks, innovations, and new connections, we wrap up this edition! A huge thank you to all speakers, attendees & sponsors—your contributions made this meeting unforgettable. We can't wait to see you next time! 👏

Bram Van den Bergh reposted

Michael Brockhurst
@brockhurstlab.bsky.social

☎️ Calling #MEvoSky ☎️ 2x 5-year research associate / research assistant positions in experimental evolution ERC-funded project: How do mobile genetic elements and defence systems shape bacterial genome evolution? Join the friendly and exciting @mermanchester.bsky.social community in Manchester!

Michael Brockhurst@brockhurstlab.bsky.social

🚨 Job alert 🚨 — are you interested in understanding how mobile genetic elements and defence systems shape bacterial genome evolution? 🧬 🧪 🧫 🦠 2x 5-year research positions available in experimental evolution @mermanchester.bsky.social Join us! #microsky www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

jobs.manchester.ac.ukResearch Associate in Experimental Evolution:Manchester

Bram Van den Bergh reposted

Verstrepen Lab
@verstrepenlab.bsky.social

📣We are looking for an ✨executive admin✨to ensure that our center (@vibmicrobes.bsky.social) and lab keeps running strong 💪 Want to join a young, dynamic and international team of scientists and admins? See and apply here 👇 jobs.vib.be/j/100273/man...

jobs.vib.beManagement / Executive Assistant - VIBWho we are The VIB – KU Leuven Center for Microbiology is part of KU Leuven and VIB (Flanders Institute for Biotechnology). We have a long-standing and successful history of translating scientific bre...

Bram Van den Bergh reposted

François Leulier
@francoisleulier.bsky.social

Second European top science job of the week! Nominations and applications are open…

Manuel Thery@manuelthery.bsky.social

@embl.org is searching for a "highly experienced, inspirational and dynamic leader" to serve as its new director general. Who do we wish to see at this position?

Bram Van den Bergh
@bramvdbe.bsky.social

My first post here in the new realm. What happens when you delete rpos and relAspoT in E.coli? Your bugs start to do weird stuff! You can basically spot the compensatory mutants in the colony 😊. Hope to find more time to post about cool science stuff here!

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