A team of scientists from the VIB lab of Han Remaut (VIB-VUB) and the lab of Yves Dufrêne at UCL Louvain-La-Neuve collaborated on a study of functional amyloids –protein aggregates with the typical amyloid structure that do not lead to disease but rather serve a dedicated biological function. Led by Mike Sleutel (VIB-VUB), the team used a novel microscopy method to examine the formation of functional amyloids by bacteria in real time, observing key growth and regulatory characteristics that could lead to new biomaterials as well as insights into the development and progression of human diseases caused by pathological amyloid plaques. Their research is published in the renowned scientific journal Nature Chemical Biology.