Videos are a powerful tool to transfer knowledge. Cas has a particular interest in science communication and education and has started producing vlogs and other videos on a variety of topics. Here, you can find some of his communication efforts and other videos from the lab.
Summer 2022, Nature Awards and Merck announced the 10 winners of the first-ever Science in Shorts competition. In order to promote access to science for everyone, the challenge was to create a 1-min video about your research that is engaging, entertaining yet scientifically accurate. With our team we took up this challenge. Inspired by the work of Felix, the entire team pitched ideas on how to showcase the deadly malaria parasite as a model for mitochondrial biology. Cas and Taco wrote the script and Cas produced and edited the video starring two handfuls of Anopheles mosquitoes and Mighty Chondrion. In addition to eternal fame, the selection came with a €5000 award that our team will use on get even prettier pictures of our favourite parasite stages and organelles.
The RIMLS had an exceptionally high amount of Cum Laude PhD graduations in 2021. One of them was “our own” Laura de Vries, although she was not interviewed for this video due to her “trip” to Harvard. What is their secret and what are they most proud of?
We use many Ultra Low Temperature (ULT) freezer in medicine and research to store our samples. These are generally set at -80°C. These ULT freezers consume a lot of energy. Teun Bousema, Julie Verhoef and Estel Collado Camps organised a challenge to increase the temperature of these freezers from -80°C to -70°C to save energy.
Sander Leeuwenburgh is Professor Regenerative Biomaterials at the Dentistry department of the Radboudumc. He received a Vici grant in 2020 and was therefore interviewed by Cas. It turns out that science is not his only skill.
June 20th 2019, Taco gave an invited five minute lightning presentation on the application of CRISPR-Cas technology in our malaria research at CRISPRcon 2019 organized by the Keystone Policy Center at Wageningen University and Research. CRISPRcon creates a unique forum in which a broad selection of diverse voices come together to discuss the future of CRISPR and related gene editing technologies across a variety of applications in agriculture, health, conservation and more.
Op 2 maart 2016, was malariaonderzoeker Taco Kooij te zien in het programma Trots op Gelderland (Omroep Gelderland, vanaf 6’50”, ook te zien in het Radboudumc Malaria Dossier). In de rubriek ‘Los in het Lab’ vertelt hij over zijn werk aan malariaparasieten. Onlangs ontdekte hij zes eiwitten die essentieel zijn voor de ziekmakende levensstadia van de parasiet. Ook ontdekte hij een gen dat essentieel is voor de parasiet om zich in de gastheer te nestelen. Het onderzoek biedt nieuwe aangrijpingspunten voor nieuwe malariamedicatie en -vaccinaties.
Taco Kooij 