Vilnius University Life Sciences Center has become one of the new test centers in NATO transatlantic network.  Today DIANA’s network expanded from 11 to 23 accelerator sites and from 90 to 182 test centers in 28 allied countries.

On March 6, the Life Sciences Center, together with its partners Northtown Vilnius and 2AM Health, hosted the opening event of an entrepreneurship program StartBIO: from Lab to Business.

On Monday, the VU Life Sciences Center (VU LSC) hosted representatives of organisations from the healthcare sector in the German land of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. During the visit, mutual cooperation opportunities were discussed.

Dr. Edvardas Golovinas has joined the ranks of PhDs at Vilnius University Life Sciences Center. After defending his thesis "Structural and Biochemical Studies of an Argonaute and Its Associated Protein from Archaeoglobus fulgidus", he was awarded a PhD in biochemistry. Congratulations!

At the age of 30–35, aging-related processes are already recorded in the brain, but some functions may improve. “For example, language skills either do not decrease or may even improve. Over time, a person gains more life experience, so the vocabulary expands as well,” says Prof. Osvaldas Rukšėnas, a neuroscientist at the Life Sciences Center of Vilnius University. According to him, a growing body of scientific evidence shows that physical and intellectual activity, a balanced diet and socialization can help maintain brain health longer.

The President of the Republic of Malta, Dr. George William Vella, together with an official delegation, visited the Life Sciences Center (LSC) of Vilnius University. The President met with VU Vice-Rector and Pro-Rector for Research, Prof. Edita Sužiedėlienė, VU Life Sciences Center researchers Prof. Virginijus Šikšnys, Dr. Urtė Neniškytė, and Prof. Eglė Lastauskienė, Chairwoman of the Vilnius University Senate and Director of the Institute of Biosciences at the VU LSC. Prof. Eglė Lastauskienė presented the Center, studies as well as the areas of research conducted.

Achievements of the AI program AlphaFold are mind-blowing, but it also has its limitations. “The program AlphaFold solved a problem that seemed insurmountable – it determines the structures of proteins and protein complexes by non-experimental methods. The program does it extremely accurately. […] Fortunately, AlphaFold is not yet all-powerful, because if it could do everything, we would be out of work”, jokingly says Dr. Giedrius Sasnauskas, a biochemist of Vilnius University Life Sciences Center (VU LSC).

Senior Researcher Dr. Giedrė Tamulaitienė and colleagues from Vilnius University Life Sciences Center (VU LSC), in collaboration with the researchers from Weizmann Institute of Sciences (Israel), revealed an activation mechanism of the Thoeris antiviral defence system effector. The article Activation of Thoeris antiviral system via SIR2 effector filament assembly was published in the prestigious science and technology journal Nature. Researchers have determined the structure of the previously unknown active SIR2 effector of the bacterial defence system Thoeris (named after the Egyptian goddess who protects childbirth and fertility) and proposed an activation mechanism.

“Many cancers are curable with existing protocol therapy, however, not all cancers respond to it. Based on the data of my research, I think that both treatment and diagnostics will become more and more individualized,” says Dr. Rūta Navakauskienė, researcher of Vilnius University Life Sciences Center (VU LSC). Her research group’s study on stem cells and their therapeutic application is part of this progress.

In October 2023, the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences (LMA) nominated the cycle of works “Investigation of the role of cancer and stem cells in the pathogenesis of diseases and their application for therapy - synergy of experimental biology and computer informatics (2008–2022)” by Dr. Rūta Navakauskienė (together with Prof. Dalius Navakauskas, Dr. Veronika Viktorija Borutinskaitė and Prof. Dalius Matuzevičius) as candidate for the Lithuanian Science Prize.

Vilnius University signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) established by NATO. VU LSC will act as a technology testing, assessment, verification, and validation center and provide services to the accelerator’s start-ups in the field of life sciences.

Wood is needed for industry, so forests will certainly continue to be cut down. But many painful mistakes are made. Trees that are not attacked by the European spruce bark beetle (lps typographus) are destroyed, spruce trees that will leave Lithuania due to the changing climate are replanted, and forests are cleared. It is harmful to the ecosystem of which we humans are a part. "Diversity is a shock absorber that can help us avoid the unwanted changes that will undoubtedly occur with climate change. By protecting the environment, along with, of course, insects, we are actually protecting ourselves," says Professor Virginija Podėnienė.

Viktoras Ragožius, a MSc student of molecular biology at the VU Life Sciences Center, won the prize for the best poster presentation on topic 'Structural studies of type I CRIPR-Cas adaptation complex interaction with prespacers' in the workshop 'Cryo-EM in academia and industry' in Heidelberg, Germany (supervisor Dr. Lina Malinauskaitė, consultant Dr. Inga Songailienė).