Researchers at Vilnius University’s Life Sciences Center (VU LSC), together with colleagues from the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel) and Harvard Medical School (USA), have uncovered a previously unknown type of immune signaling molecule produced by the Thoeris II defence system in bacteria - a significant finding published today in Nature. The study, entitled TIR domains produce histidine-ADPR as an immune signal in bacteria, was led by Dr. Giedrė Tamulaitienė’s research group.

Imagine that each person’s genetic information is like a library, where hundreds of carefully written books hold everything about who we are, from eye color to susceptibility to certain diseases. If even a single mistake slips into these books, it can lead to serious health problems. Correcting such errors was impossible for a long time, but that changed with the advent of gene-editing technology. The gene scissors discovered by Prof. Virginijus Šikšnys and his team at Vilnius University work like a precise editor, allowing scientists to correct DNA errors like editing text on a computer.

Dalia Smalakytė, a PhD student and researcher at Vilnius University’s Life Sciences Center, received the Best Poster Award at the prestigious “EMBO Workshop: The Immune System of Bacteria” (SISB2025), held this April in Paris.

Prof. Aurelija Žvirblienė, head of the Immunology Department at Vilnius University’s Life Sciences Center (LSC), together with her team, has developed hundreds of unique antibodies targeting viral and bacterial proteins, recombinant cytokines, cell receptors, and allergens.

Scientists from Vilnius University’s Life Sciences Center (VU LSC), in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna and partners in French Guiana, are currently on an expedition to the Amazon rainforest, where they are studying the effects of climate change on amphibians.

An international summer school titled “Human Health and Environment by the Baltic Sea” will take place on August 11–15, 2025, on Seili Island (Finland). This summer school offers an excellent opportunity to deepen your knowledge in the fields of human health and environmental issues in the Baltic Sea region, working alongside students and lecturers from six well-known universities across the Nordic and Baltic countries.

Vilnius University’s Life Sciences Center (LSC) and two companies – Caszyme and nSAGE – have launched a collaborative project titled E! Universal CRISPR-Based Diagnostic Platform (UNCOVER). The aim of this project is to develop a CRISPR-Cas-based diagnostic platform capable of rapidly and accurately detecting infectious diseases.

Justas Vaitekūnas has defended his thesis entitled "Enzymatic Degradation of Pyridine and Pyridinols " for the degree of Doctor of Science in Biochemistry.

Marking the 50th anniversary of biotechnology science in Lithuania, students of the Vilnius University (VU) Life Sciences Center (LSC) received an exceptional gift – Thermo Fisher Scientific Baltics donated cutting-edge research equipment and reagents worth €0.5 million. VU representatives emphasize that this is not just an investment in laboratories, but in the next generation of scientists who will develop tomorrow’s scientific solutions.

The traditional "Three Minute Thesis" (3MT) competition took place at Vilnius University's (VU) Scholarly Communication and Information Centre Conference Hall. A total of 15 PhD students competed, and the jury awarded the first place to Indrė Lapinskienė, a PhD student from the VU Faculty of Medicine. The second place went to Gerda Jasinevičienė from the Life Sciences Center (LSC), while the third place was awarded to Jonas Žurauskas from the Faculty of Chemistry and Geosciences (CHGE).

Kristina Žukauskaitė has defended her thesis entitled "Impact of Gastrointestinal Cancer Therapies on the Gut Microbiome: Findings from Clinical Studies and an In Vitro Modelling" for the degree of Doctor of Science in Biology.

On February 25, the VU Life Sciences Center (LSC) was visited by representatives of the University of Greifswald: Rector of the University, Prof. Katharina Riedel, Head of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Baltic Sea Region Research (IFZO), Dr. Alexander Drost, and Coordinator of the DAAD Project "Teaching Internationally," Thomas Jenssen.