The fire salamander is critically endangered. The culprit? A deadly fungus that attaches itself to the salamanders’ skin, infects their bodies and eats the creatures alive. In the Netherlands, the species has almost disappeared, and the fungus is now also appearing in Belgium. Bioengineer Ruth Verhamme is researching the fungus to find ways to help save the salamanders. And you can help too!

Making chocolate mousse or mayonnaise without animal proteins? It’s perfectly possible using plant-based proteins, such as those from faba beans. However, these proteins can be rather capricious: some are ideal for a light and airy mousse, whilst others are better suited to a thick mayonnaise. Nutrition scientist Elia Veirman is investigating how factors such as variety and weather conditions influence protein formation. This will enable farmers to predict what their harvest is suitable for.

Imagine potatoes that are resistant to potato blight. Belgian witloof that tastes less bitter. Or chrysanthemums with new, innovative flower colors. ILVO researcher Tom Eeckhaut explains how protoplasts, isolated plant cells, can help us achieve these things. Watch the video

Did you know the soil beneath your feet could be one of our most powerful tools against climate change? Hui Xu explains how carbon farming, through practices like planting trees, growing cover crops, or reducing plowing, can help store 50 million tons of CO₂ per year by 2030. Farmers can even receive a reward for carbon farming. But there’s a catch: How do we measure it?

Controlling worm infections in cows - surely you simply use worming treatments, don’t you? Yes and no, says ILVO researcher Leen Lietaer. She is building a ‘community of practice’ that brings together farmers, researchers and vets. Because sometimes sharing knowledge works better than the best medicine.

Did you give your mum a lovely bouquet on Mother’s Day? Behind those beautiful flowers lies a great deal of work on the part of the grower. And what is the grower's greatest fear? That a fungus or disease will spread rapidly and destroy the entire crop. Arno Kasprzak (ILVO) wants to address this using drones and AI.