Beyond COVID-19: predictions for future pandemics

On the evening of Thursday 7 March 2024 RSC Belgium member and friends were treated to a hugely informative and entertaining talk entitled 'Beyond COVID-19: predictions for future pandemics' at the British School of Brussels in Tervuren from Professor Marc Van Ranst, Professor of Virology at KULeuven and the Rega Institute for Medical Research. Marc was a very prominent figure in the Belgian media during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2007, Marc (pictured above with RSC Belgium chair Bob Crichton) had been appointed as Interministerial commissioner by the Belgian federal government to prepare Belgium for an influenza pandemic and in 2009 he was an interministerial commissary for crisis management during the Mexican flu pandemic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Marc was a member of both the Belgian 'Risk Assessment Group' (RAG), which analysed the risks of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 for public health, and of the 'Scientific committee Coronavirus' which advised Belgian health authorities on combatting the virus and which made - and continues to make - prognoses on its evolution and spread in Belgium.

The emergence of future pandemics is an important concern, given the unpredictability observed in past outbreaks. While pandemics are rare events, several quasi-certitudes can guide our predictions Marc said. There is a high likelihood that the next pandemic may originate in Asia, particularly in densely populated urban centres. The role of air travel in facilitating the rapid spread of infectious diseases cannot be underestimated. Furthermore, zoonotic transmission, where diseases jump from animals to humans, remains a significant risk factor for future pandemics. The likelihood that a next pandemic will be caused by a rapidly mutating RNA virus is also very high.

The mode of transmission through respiratory droplets will be a key factor to consider when preparing for and responding to future global health crises.

By exploring these predictions and understanding the commonalities among past pandemics, Marc was able to show how we can be better equipped to mitigate risks, enhance preparedness strategies, and safeguard global health security in the face of future infectious disease threats.

Marc indicated that the actual global death toll from the COVID pandemic was of the order of  22 million compared to the official recorded global toll of 6.5 million. He also showed, via data on COVID in wastewater, that the virus was very much still with us during winter 2023-24, with current variants being highly transmissible but not causing such serious infection in terms of admissions to intensive care and mortality. 

The development and deployment of effective vaccines had been key to limiting serious infections and death: the difference in mortality between states in the US which encouraged and enabled vaccination and those that were less enthusiastic was clear. 

Marc also described his personal experiences in the face of antivax campaigners - a most disturbing situation that brought threats of physical violence against him and his family quite literally to his doorstep and at one point required his family to go into close police protection.  

Marc's conclusion was also just as disturbing - that we are not ready for the next, inevitable, pandemic. 

Marc's presentation can be viewed below.

Yeast: A Key to new Brewing Science

On the evening of 9 October 2019, RSC Belgium members and friends were treated to a most entertaining and informative talk from Professor Kevin Verstrepen, director of the Leuven Institute for Beer Research, professor in Genetics and Genomics at Leuven University, and Director of the VIB Centre for Microbiology. The event at took place at the British School of Brussels.

Prof. Verstrepen is best known for his research into the genetics of beer yeasts and the development of novel superior brewing yeasts for a variety of clients. As part of this research he and his team have rigorously tested and tasted some 250 (mainly) Belgian beers. Its a hard job, but someone has to do it!

While most consumers know that yeast is responsible for producing the alcohol in fermented beverages like beer and wine, few people realise that yeast also contributes greatly to the aroma of these products. Prof. Verstrepen took us through his research that focuses on characterising, comparing and understanding different industrial yeasts from across the world. Over the past years, his research team has collected thousands of yeast strains from various industries and locations, including some medieval breweries, distilleries and from many spontaneous fermentations.

Fermentation assays revealed enormous differences in aroma production, fermentation efficiency and stress tolerance. In addition, DNA analysis reveals the history and domestication of today’s yeasts, and also opened the doors to understanding and improving aroma formation. Using these resources, Kevin's team is producing several new, superior yeast variants with specific properties and aroma profiles , some of which are already used for commercial production of fermented beverages. In a parallel research effort, Prof Verstrepen is leveraging the power of high-throughput chemical analysis and the availability of large consumer databases with machine learning and AI to understand the chemistry behind aroma formation and subsequent consumer appreciation. 

The ultimate result was the first fact-based atlas of Belgian beer that allows cross-comparison between different beers.

The results of this extensive research are now available in a book 'Belgian Beer - Tested and Tasted - The Complete Guide' that provides objective science-based measures of beer parameters. The book can serve as an introduction to Belgian beer for the uninitiated; a reference for the seasoned Belgian beer fan; and encourages the reader to explore new beers based on the atlas. The ideal present for the beer lover in your life?

Process waste water oxidation

On the evening of Tuesday 9 April, our second talk of 2019 took place at St. Johns International School with Raf Dewil who is Professor at the Process and Environmental Technology Lab (PETLab) at KU Leuven. PETLab is a research group within the Chemical Engineering Department at KU Leuven based at the Campus de Nayer site north of Mechelen. The title of Raf's talk was 'Advanced oxidation processes: from the lab to a Chemical Plant-on-a-Truck' and dealt with the various methods to treat on-site hazardous water generated by various industrial and chemical processes.

Over the past ten years, the PETLab group has established a broad expertise in resource recovery and the production of renewable chemicals and energy carriers from waste, side and biomass streams and it specialises in waste- and wastewater treatment processes, mixed-culture microbial processes, chemicals from low-cost feedstocks, and model-based optimisation of processes.

Within their facilities at the KU Leuven Campus de Nayer, PETLab combines a broad range of analytical equipment with extensive lab- and pilot-equipment. With numerous industrial collaborations, PETLab aims at combining fundamental knowledge with a hands-on philosophy to tackle real-life problems that industry is confronted with. 

Raf's talk focused on a range of oxidation methods for the degradation of organics from hazardous wastewater streams and how laboratory work is scaled up to full sized units including an innovative modular system that combines chemical and biological oxidation treatments.

Raf's talk ended with a video outlining the 'Plant on a Truck’ concept operating at Janssen Pharmaceutica’s chemical production site in Geel. that treats process waters from the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients in a cost-effective and sustainable way.

Prof Dewil is also Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Environmental Management and his main research interests span advanced biological and chemical wastewater treatment, advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP), sludge treatment and disposal, anaerobic digestion processes, and production of renewable chemicals from biomass and waste.

Read about Becki's Caribbean Adventure

RSC Belgium’s section secretary Becki Scott is a post-doctoral researcher with the NWO Island Networks project at Leiden University and is currently on a month long archaeological holiday mission in the Caribbean! There she is using her trusty phaser pXRF machine (see right) on ceramics and sampling clay deposits. And what is more she is keeping a daily blog diary so we can keep up with her Caribbean adventure!

Becki has a BA in Archaeology and an MA in Cultural Landscape Management from the University of Wales, Lampeter, and an MSc in Forensic Archaeology and Anthropology. She was awarded her PhD in 2011 in Archaeological and Forensic Glass Analysis from Cranfield University and joined the RSC Belgium section when she moved to KU Leuven in Belgium as a as a post-doctoral researcher on the ERC funded ARCHGLASS project analysing the effects of recycling on Roman glass compositions.

During this time, she developed an interest and expertise in the use of portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (pXRF) for the non-destructive analysis of archaeo-materials: a skill that Becki has used in a variety of projects for museums, archaeological units, and heritage institutions.

Island Networks
While working for KU Leuven, Becki began collaborating with the HERA Carib Connections project, developing a method for analysing the composition of indigenous ceramic objects from the Lesser Antilles. Becki's work helped identify the provenance of ceramic objects in the field, whilst working in Grenada. Her current role on the NWO Island Networks project continues this work to cover other islands in the Lesser Antilles.

The focus of the NWO Island Networks programme is the inter-community social relationships and transformations of island networks in the Lesser Antilles across the historical divide. The period AD 1000-1800 represents an archaeologically understudied and turbulent era during which the islands’ inhabitants came under increasing influence from South America and the Greater Antilles and participated in the last phase of indigenous resistance to colonial powers.

Caribbean archaeological research has focused on patterns of regional and pan-regional mobility of peoples and the exchange of goods and ideas during the pre-colonial period (pre-1492). Recent investigations have for the first time provided insights into early colonial period indigenous archaeology in the Lesser Antilles through the discovery of 16-18th century Amerindian settlements and associated material culture repertoires.

These discoveries offer a unique opportunity to study continuity and change in inter-community social relationships, and transformations of island networks at the advent of European colonialism using a multi-disciplinary approach.

Other interests
As well as being the secretary of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Belgium Section, Becki is also a member of No Man's Land (NML) the society for Great War Archaeologists and she was a winner in the 'I'm a Scientist, get me out of here' online science communication competition and is in the process of developing an 'Archaeometry' card game.

You can read Becki’s blog here and she is also on Twitter! Alternatively you could catch up with Becki’s adventures at our AGM on Friday 10 February at Les Amis Dinent Restaurant in Wezembeek-Oppem.

Stem Cell Therapy: A Potential Cure-all?

RSC Belgium held its first public event of the year on 25 January. Our latest Café Chimique tackled the issues around research into Stem Cell Therapy with two expert speakers, a patient viewpoint and many questions from an audience of over 60 RSC members and friends.

Stem cell therapy has been the source of both Nobel Prizes and much controversy over the past few years. It is the basis for a many new fields of medicine – most notably regenerative medicine – that offer hope for the alleviation and reversal of many critical degenerative conditions. It is also an area in which Europe leads the world in research, but in which regulatory issues abound.

A capacity crowd of over 60 RSC Belgium members and friends made their way on a snowy Friday evening to AutoWorld in Cinquantenaire Park, Brussels to hear from two expert speakers introduced by our chairman Bob Crichton (below, centre).

Our first speaker was Prof. Catherine Verfaillie (below, left) who is Director of the Stem Cell Institute at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL). She was followed by Dr. Denis Dufrane (below, right) who works at the Faculty of Medicine, Universite Catholique de Louvain (UCL) at Woluwe.

In addition a patient’s viewpoint was presented via a five minute video interview with someone participating in a clinical trial. This was particularly poignant as it highlighted the physical and emotional demands of the stem cell harvesting process.

Potential cure-all?
There has been much coverage of the potential of stem cell therapy – but how much is hype and how much hope? Our two speakers took us through the ‘what and how’ of stem cells and the areas where they may have potential medical applications. These areas include insights into human development, drug discovery, the study of drug toxicity, the study of human diseases, cell therapy and tissue engineering.

Initial enthusiasm for stem cell therapy was focused on use of embryonic stem cells which do not age and have the potential to differentiate into all cell types and therefore could potentially heal all diseases. However there were and are many scientific and ethical questions around the use of such cells.

For these reasons research is now concentrated on adult stem cells which do age and did not have such a great potential for differentiation but through an intense global research effort it is possible to create cells that are nearly the equivalent of embryonic stem cells from any human cell. This work as opened the possibility of creating designer stem cells suitable for transplantation, tissue engineering and use in pharmaceuticals.

The Cafe Chimique format allows for an extended, informal question and answer session with the audience seated in small groups at tables. A gratis bar for wine, beer and soft drinks was open for participants throughout the evening and a variety of ‘nibbles and chips’ were also available on the tables.

2013 AGM
Just prior to the Café Chimique the section held its Annual General Meeting where the formal business of approving reports and accounts were undertaken and elections held for the executive committee that guides the section’s activities.

Section secretary Tim Reynolds presented a report on RSC Belgium’s during 2012 and highlighted two particularly enjoyable and well-attended events: the June visit to the Royal African Museum and Tom Frantzen’s sculpture garden in Tervuren and the Higgs boson event in November with Prof. Vincent Lemaitre.

A vote of thanks was made to long time co-opted committee member Elaine Francke who had stepped down during the year and to Chris Phanopoulos and Laura Yonge who had both decided to not seek re-election this year. All three were thanked for their efforts for the section.

Our treasurer, Rita Woodward presented the financial situation of the section. During 2012 the section had made a surplus of over €4300, but it was pointed out that this included grants paid in advance for a delayed joint event with two UK sections (Kent and Chilterns & Middlesex). The section auditor, Ralph Palim, noted that he had found the accounts systematically prepared and in excellent order as usual.

Chairman Prof. Bob Crichton thanked all members of the executive committee during 2012 for their hard work and support during the year. He highlighted the contributions of Rita and Peter Woodward in providing the drinks and nibbles for many of the events during the year that added so much to the evening meetings.

Elections
A number of posts were up for election as the incumbents had completed their two year term of office. The results of the election and the full membership of the 2013 Executive Committee can found on our Executive Committee page.

If you would like to receive a copy of the draft minutes of the 2013 AGM and/ or any of the reports and other paperwork submitted to the meeting, please contact the section secretary Tim Reynolds via email.

Fakes, Forgeries & Forensics

The RSC 2012 Autumn season got off to a great start on September 11 with an interesting and entertaining presentation from Dr. Patrick Degryse from the Centre for Archaeological Sciences at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL).

Entitled 'Fakes, Forgeries & Forensics: Chemistry & Archaeology' Dr. Degryse explained the services and research that his department offer to the world of archaeology to a good audience of members and friends in the cosy atmosphere of Le Chalet Vert in Tervuren.

Fakes
Much of the work involves isotopic and elemental analysis for provenance studies on items auch as Ancient Egyptian mummies, medieval triptych paintings and (as it turned out) a rather modern reproduction of an Anatolian idol. Dr. Degryse stated that it is very difficult to make an absolute positive statement about the provenance of an article but the work of the department can exclude some sources and narrow down the possibilities.

A specific research focus at KUL is on early glass. One recent PhD student was assigned to collect sand samples from beaches all around the Mediterranean to establish an elemental background reference for determination of the source of ancient glass samples.

Forgeries
Obviously when examining precious ancient objects non-destructive testing is preffered and one technique (X-ray fluorescence - XRF) was demonstrated on a contemporary source! Apparently the UK pound sterling is not as sound as one might hope with perhaps 3% or more of the coinage in circulation being forged. This has led to calls from international monetary authorities for the UK to withdraw and re mint the entire stock. The euro on the other hand is - at least on the forgery front - very sound due to a special alloy involved in its fabrication that makes it very hard to fake.

However, despite the best efforts of Patrick and his colleague RSC Belgium exec member Becki Scott we were unable to find any fake pound coins amongst the 30 odd sample size provided by our audience. The coins were analysed using a portable XRF device which seemed to have been modelled on a Star Trek phazer.

Dr. Patrick Degryse (right), Dr. Becki Scott and RSC Belgium chairman Prof. Bob Crichton are pictured with the 'XRF phazer' above.

Res Metallica on Mendeleev

RSC Belgium treasurer, Rita Woodward, reports for RSC Belgium News on the Res Metallica Symposium on ‘The Periodic Table of Mendeleev’ that took place on Wednesday May 4 at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven(KULeuven).

In 2011, scientists from every corner of the world are celebrating the International Year of Chemistry. Moreover 2011 marks the one-hundredth anniversary of the Nobel Prize in chemistry, awarded to Maria Sklodowska Curie for her groundbreaking discovery of radium and polonium.

So it was very appropriate that this year’s theme for the Res Metallica Symposium was the Periodic Table of Mendeleev. The meeting was held in the historic ‘Aula van ode Tweede Hoofdwet’ KU Leuven, Thermo-technisch Instituut on the Heverlee campus. This interdisciplinary symposium, introduced by chairman, Prof Patrick Wollants (Dept. of Materials Science, MTM) proved to be of great interest with over 500 people from academia and industry gathered together to hear about Mendeleev's periodic system and its relevance for material science.


A significant highlight of the symposium was when, amidst a shower of sparks, a life-sized 'Table of Mendeleev’ in an up-to-date 3-D format was unveiled. The table (see above - photo (c) K.U.Leuven - Rob Stevens) consists of a total of 112 boxes containing the elements displayed as simple substances in their pure elementary state.

Keynote speakers
Keynote speakers at the symposium included Prof. Peter Atkins of Oxford University (left) the well-known physical chemist and author of numerous popular science tomes such as 'The Elements 'and chemical textbooks such as his classical 'Physical Chemistry'. He offered participants a seat at the periodic table and explored mathematically and visually the underlying role of symmetry as applied to hydrogenic systems in one to four dimensions. Atkins' talk was followed by the unvieling of the new periodic table.

Following this excitement Prof Eric Scerri from UCLA in California gave a talk encapsulating the twists and turns of history to reveal the story and the significance of the Periodic Table.

Following on, Dr Jürgen Gieshoff of Umicore presented an industrial insight into the use of certain elements of the Periodic Table as catalysts, promoters and storage agents in the quest for ‘clean’ technologies for the automotive industry. Maurits Van Camp also from Umicore addressed issues involved in exploiting ‘the urban goldmine’ to achieve a sustainable future based on metals that can be almost indefinitely recycled and reused.