How can zebrafish research help understanding human diseases?

Plant architecture has distinct forms in different plant species, but also within a species the finalarchitecture of a plant is determined by its gradual development and changes therein induced by environmental conditions during the plant’s life cycle.

The aim of this research is to define the relationship between sources of articulation for different kinds of instrument in the period between the beginning of XVI century (first extant indications) and the end of XVIII century.

Promotor: Prof.dr. B. van de Water, Co-promotores: J.W. van der Laan, C.L.E. Siezen

Macromolecular Biochemistry is a section of the Leiden Institute of Chemistry at Leiden University, comprising the PIs Marcellus Ubbink, Remus Dame, Aimee Boyle and Lars Jeuken.

Source: Nat Biotechnol, Volume 32, Issue 12, pp. 1213-22 (2014)

Source: Nature Biotechnology, Volume 2014, Issue June (2014)

Performances of solo keyboard repertoire can sound more or less polyphonic depending on the performer’s use of divergence in expression.

Research aims: Identification of key genes involved in programming the cellular architecture of A. niger & Genetic engineering of A. niger in order to improve its secretory capacities and rheological behavior under industrial fermentation conditions.

Just like us, plants also produce growth hormones, and they also go through an ageing process. The study of the genes and mechanisms behind these processes is useful not only for crop breeding and agriculture, but also for medical research. That is the view held by Professor of Plant Developmental Genetics…

Promotor: J.M. Memelink

This study investigates the perception and production of emotional prosody by native and non-native listeners and speakers, i.e. Chinese and Dutch listeners and speakers, including Dutch L2 learners of Chinese.

A novel in vivo model system for studies on glucocorticoid resistance

Our object is to identify and characterize transcription factors involved in lignocellulosic biomass degradation in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger.

With the aid of physics and a minuscule magnet, researchers have discovered a new structure of telomeric DNA. Telomeres are sometimes seen as the key to living longer. They protect genes from damage but get a bit shorter each time a cell divides. If they become too short, the cell dies. The new discovery…

Harvesting rice from the same field, without planting new rice plants? A discovery may bring this scenario closer. Leiden scientists have discovered a gene that allows annual plants to grow after flowering, instead of dying. Publication on 13 April in Nature Plants.

How did toxin genes evolve from harmless physiological genes?

The research is aimed at development of an efficient gene targeting method that allows controlled integration of DNA at a preselected site in the Trichoderma genome.

To gain more insight into the evolutionary development of orchid flowers and fruits, the orchid species Erycina pusilla was studied. The evolutionary origin of the median petaloid sepal, the callus on the labellum, and the stelidia was studied.

What are the biological effects of Chinese herbal medicine in regulation of cancer cell metastasis?

In human cells, a meter-long DNA is condensed inside a micrometer-sized cell nucleus. Simultaneously, the genetic code must remain accessible for its replication and transcription to functional proteins.

Leiden molecular cell biologists in the research group of Annemarie Meijer have discovered novel early macrophage-specific genes in zebrafish, including a signal transducer pivotal for the migration of macrophages in the innate immune response to bacterial infection. Their findings were published on…

The type-IV secretion system (T4SS) is a machinery able to transfer DNA and proteins between bacteria and in certain cases also to eukaryotic cells.

Promotor: Prof.dr. G.P. van Wezel, Co-Promotor: E. Vijgenboom

We exploit secondary metabolites of plant to develop pharmaceutical compounds and we genetically modify plant genomes to improve crops.

This thesis is a sample-based typological study of formal and semantic patterns in terms for a selection of referring (

This research will focus on the relationship between the musical structure and musical time in the performance of 19th century music.

‘If we don’t start talking about this, who else will?’ This is what Arjan Lankester, paediatrician/immunologist at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and Professor of Paediatrics, thought when it seemed that various extremely effective gene therapies for rare diseases would no longer be available…

In a publication in Science, Noam Zelcer from the Division of Biopharmaceutics describes a previously unrecognized pathway to regulate LDL-cholesterol levels. He is also able to modulate this pathway. This opens the possibility for complementing and improving the efficacy of statins: A class of drugs…

Climate change is a challenge for both current and future generations. New biological resources have to be developed in order to meet the demand for energy as well as the demand for food.

PhD student Esmee Koedoot studied the underlying processes responsible for metastases in a dangerous type of breast cancer. She hopes to find new possibilities to fight the disease. In December 2019 she obtained her doctorate cum laude.

Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute published Annemarie Samuels' article on the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean. It's a detailed ethnographic account of the experiences of three Indonesian survivors.

Do sustainability values play a role in motivating people to act for biodiversity in successful projects and in successful leadership action? And how could these values be incorporated in current economic valuation methods?

Kathryn Emerson defended her thesis on 28 June 2016

Science, Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR)

Can a new proteomics workflow be developed to link genes and gene clusters to bioactive molecules, identify novel compounds and enhance the production in the Streptomyces lividans enzyme?

How has early development in R. ocellatus been modified as a result of its parasitic embryonic lifestyle?

Supervisor: P.J.J. Hooykaas

Actinobacteria are Gram-positive bacteria that have a complex multicellular life cycle and are well known for their ability to produce a wide range of bioactive natural products (NPs).

Leiden biologists have shown that a gene present in plants, animals and yeasts does play an important role in plants, although for years the gene was considered unimportant. It turns out the gene plays a crucial role in the development of vascular tissue in plants. Publication in Nature Plants on 11…

‘It was a discovery we did not expect,’ says Remko Offringa, professor of Plant developmental genetics. Today he publishes a new trait of a versatile gene in Current Biology: it makes the difference in plants between herbaceous and woody stem growth. A useful feature to prevent dehydration.

The way genes are folded determines their activity in our body. Leiden biophysicists are now the first to unravel this structure molecule-by-molecule. Publication on December 1st in Nature’s Scientific Reports.

A publication in Nature Plants by a team of Leiden biologists has received national and international media attention. The researchers can have annuals flower multiple times thanks to a particular gene they discovered.

Master's student Thalia Luden receives an NWO grant for her research proposal about a gene that brings flowering plants back into a growth phase. Companies in floriculture and vegetable seed breeding also contribute to the research.

Promotores: Prof.dr. J. Kuiper, Prof.dr. P.H.A. Quax

How does FoxP1 affect auditory perception on a behavioural and genomic level?

This project employs a systematic experimental approach to examine the interaction of these two hitherto independent lines of research (tone sandhi and focus realization) in six dialects of Chinese, which lie on a continuum between dialects with dense tonal distributions and sparser distributions. In…

Promotor: Prof.dr. J. Memelink

Promotores: J.C. van Houwelingen, S.A. van de Geer

PhD at Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens - France