UPDATE
INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Bladder inflammation in the elderly is often caused by multiple species of bacteria. Wageningen research has shown that the species protect one another against antibiotics. Applying this knowledge may help improve treatments. In Wageningen’s Laboratory of Genetics, the biologist Marjon de Vos is investigating the role of the environment in the development of bacteria. In a study published in October in PNAS, she analysed over 70 bacterium samples taken from elderly people with bladder inflammations caused by several bacteria — what is known as a mixed infection. She monitored the growth of the various bacterial species in the presence of antibiotics. Working with fellow scientists at the university of Cologne and IST Austria, she developed a computer model that predicts how the composition of bacterial colonies changes under different conditions. De Vos:
‘You normally see bacteria competing with one another. But it turned out that these bacteria also collaborated and protected one another against important antibiotics.’ De Vos says her fundamental research could definitely lead to practical applications. The older the patient, the more likely it is that a bladder inflammation is a
MULTIMEDIA
NUTRITION RESEARCH
TNO research group to move to WUR
In September, science journalist Hidde Boersma was awarded the Wageningen Press Priz by the University Fund Wageningen. He received the prize for a multimedia production on genetically modified crops.
TNO’s Functional Ingredients research group will become part of Wageningen Food & Biobased Research on 1 January 2018. The move makes this part of WUR one of the largest science institutes in food, nutrition and biobased research in Europe, with over 240 people working there. Info: irene.salverda@wur.nl
programme makers made the documentary Well Fed and a combination of the two for the Internet. Boersma sees the Press Prize as recognition for his work and the message: better GMOs than toxins and poverty. Boersma is a journalist specializing in biotechnology, agriculture and bio-ethics. In 2010 he received a PhD in Microbiology in Groningen. The Press Prize jury praised the quality and diversity of his approach. The Press Prize is awarded once every three years to a person or programme that excels at communicating with the general public on a WUR topic. The prize consists of a certificate, 2500 euros and a replica of the artwork The Wageningen Tree. Info: ufw@wur.nl
PHOTO MARTE HOFSTEENGE
Hidde Boersma awarded Press Prize
‘There are lots of anti-GMO films and we wanted to reach the same audience, only with a different side to the story,’ says Boersma. ‘I find it really sad that the European position on GMO is costing lives in poor countries.’ In addition to a report for Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant, he and two
PHOTO JONNE SEIJDEL
mixed infection. These are often difficult to treat. This publication contains arguments for identifying all infectious bacteria in urine tests, rather than just the most important species. She says the study also offers openings for a new type of treatment by disrupting the ecosystem in the bladder, for example with a non-pathogenic bacterium. Info: marjon.devos@wur.nl
PHOTO SHUTTERSTOCK
Bacteria protect one another from antibiotics
WAGENINGENWORLD
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