News Archive

[ 2022-05 ] Plasmids have extensive use in basic and applied biology. These small, circular DNA molecules are used by scientists to introduce new genes into a target organism. Well known for…

[ 2022-05 ] One of the highest honors the campus can bestow, named appointments to chairs, professorships, scholars, and fellows acknowledge outstanding faculty research, service, and…

[ 2022-05 ] The transgenic papaya “SunUp” was developed in the 1990s and was widely publicized because of its ability to resist the papaya ringspot virus. Although researchers from the Ming…

[ 2022-05 ] During the earliest months of 2020, COVID-19 seemed like an innocuous event that was too geographically distant to affect the Illinois community. In fact, by March 10th there were…

[ 2022-05 ] Brendan A. C. Harley (RBTE/EIRH)—a leader in the fields of biomaterials, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine—has been named the Robert W. Schaefer Brendan Harley…

[ 2022-05 ] A cross-disciplinary UIUC team has demonstrated a major breakthrough in using automated synthesis to discover new molecules for organic electronics applications. The technology…

[ 2022-05 ] Engineering enzymes to perform reactions not found in nature can address longstanding challenges in the world of synthetic chemistry, such as upgrading plant-based oils into…

[ 2022-04 ] A team led by scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign tracked the rise and fall of SARS-CoV-2 in the saliva and nasal cavities of people newly infected with the…

[ 2022-04 ] The National Science Foundation awarded a 7-year, $15 million project to a multi-university team led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). The resulting ground-…

[ 2022-04 ] Technological advancements over the past few decades have laid the groundwork for the use of microbe-based drugs to treat diseases. Bioengineering professor Shannon Sirk (MME) and…

[ 2022-04 ] Established in 2014, the Jump Applied Research in Community Health through Engineering and Simulation (ARCHES) is an endowment partnership between Jump Simulation and Education…

[ 2022-04 ] Although 60,000 known plant species and 123,000 known animal species are found in Africa, only 20 plants and 385 animals have been sequenced till date. Even 50% of the orphan…

[ 2022-04 ] A point-of-care COVID-19 test developed by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign can now detect and differentiate the alpha variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus…

[ 2022-04 ] In honor of the IGB's anniversary, we're revisiting some of the history of our institute over the past 15 years with a series of articles highlighting IGB people, projects, and…

[ 2022-04 ] The world around us contains many chemicals that are useful for medicines, crop protection, and animal health. These chemicals—known as natural products—have typically been…

[ 2022-04 ] Scientists have developed a promising new method to combat the age-related losses in muscle mass that often accompany immobility after injury or illness. Their technique,…

[ 2022-04 ] Colorectal cancer is expected to claim more than 52,000 American lives in 2022, and if this year is like most others, Black Americans will bear the brunt of the disease. To…

[ 2022-04 ] Phthalates are commonly used to make products—including artificial leather, footwear, plastic food packaging, and personal care products—more flexible or stable. In particular, di…

[ 2022-03 ] Victoria Kriuchkovskaia is a graduate student in the Harley lab at the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. In the inaugural Young Innovator Program in 2021, she…

[ 2022-04 ] An Illinois research team is developing a method of producing and delivering monoclonal antibody treatments for breast cancer through commensal microbes in the gut. If successful…