News Archive [2017]

[ 2017-07 ] In the summer of 2012, two undergraduate students tackled a problem that plant ecology experts had overlooked for 30 years. The students demonstrated that different plant species…

[ 2017-07 ] In the concourse research lab of IGB, a robotic system is changing the face of synthetic biology. Described as a one-of-a-kind “living foundry,” the system is a platform for…

[ 2017-07 ] A five-minute encounter with an outsider spurs a cascade of changes in gene activity in the brain that can last for hours, researchers report in a study of stickleback fish. The…

[ 2017-07 ] The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is doubling down on energy research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, funding a multi-million dollar Bioenergy Research Center…

[ 2017-07 ] The three-spined stickleback is a funny sort of a fish. They’re somewhat non-distinct: drabbish silver, small, and minnow-like, native to salt- and freshwater bodies throughout…

[ 2017-06 ] The heart is a dynamic muscle that grows and shrinks in response to stressors such as exercise and disease. The secret to its malleability lies in individual cells, which get…

[ 2017-06 ] A new paper co-authored by Illinois and African scientists describes how an African bioinformatics network tested researchers’ ability to perform computational genomics tasks that…

[ 2017-06 ] The Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group today announced five new Allen Distinguished Investigator (ADI) awards to researchers conducting pioneering research in epigenetics, aging, and…

[ 2017-06 ] The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) has awarded Principal Investigator Amy Marshall-Colón, Assistant Professor of Plant Biology at the University of Illinois…

[ 2017-08 ] Since his freshman year of college, Yuhao Min has been passionate about research. Now a rising senior at the University of Illinois, he’s getting to pursue what he loves through…

[ 2017-05 ] From May 18th to 20th in Chicago, over 15,000 visitors experienced the World of Genomics at the Field Museum of Natural History, a three-day event presented by the Carl R. Woese…

[ 2017-06 ] Mice have a reputation for timidity. Yet when confronted with an unfamiliar peer, a mouse may respond by rearing, chasing, grappling, and biting—and come away with altered…

[ 2017-05 ] From May 18th to 20th in Chicago, over 10,000 visitors experienced the World of Genomics at the Field Museum of Natural History, a three-day event presented by the Carl R. Woese…

[ 2017-05 ] The National Academy of Sciences announced today the election of their 2017 members, including three from the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of…

[ 2017-05 ] One of humankind’s oldest industrial partners is yeast, a familiar microbe that enabled early societies to brew beer and leaven bread and empowers modern ones to synthesize…

[ 2017-05 ] By 2050, we will need to feed 2 billion more people on less land. Meanwhile, carbon dioxide levels are predicted to hit 600 parts per million—a 50% increase over today’s levels—…

[ 2017-04 ] Along with helping produce innovative medical and pharmaceutical products, Dr. Mark Tracy, PhD, founder and president of Tracy BioConsulting, LLC, strives to introduce…

[ 2017-04 ] Learn about IGB research, hear about current issues in the life sciences, and connect with other students on campus at the annual Fellows Symposium. This full-day event, sponsored…

[ 2017-03 ] Mary-Claire King, Professor of Genome Sciences and of Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine, will speak as part of the IGB Distinguished Public Lecture…

[ 2017-05 ] A study of the DNA in ancient skeletal remains adds to the evidence that indigenous groups living today in southern Alaska and the western coast of British Columbia are…