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Project aims to revive natural product discovery

Emily Scott

The mid-20th century was the golden age of natural product discovery. Scientists discovered groundbreaking drugs, like penicillin and tetracycline, from sources in nature.…

Drugs reprogram genes in breast tumors to prevent endocrine resistance

Sharita Forrest

Treating breast tumors with two cancer drugs simultaneously may prevent endocrine resistance by attacking the disease along two separate gene pathways, scientists at the…

Reducing energy required to convert CO2 waste into valuable resources

Lois Yoksoulian

Surplus industrial carbon dioxide creates an opportunity to convert waste into a valuable commodity. Excess CO2 can be a feedstock for chemicals typically derived from fossil…

Smart antioxidant-containing polymer responds to body, environment

Lois Yoksoulian

Oxidants found within living organisms are byproducts of metabolism and are essential to wound-healing and immunity. However, when their concentrations become too high,…

Low-calorie lactose sweetener gets manufacturing boost from yeast

Liz Ahlberg Touchstone

The quest to satisfy the sweet tooth without adding to the waistline has a new weapon in its arsenal: a strain of yeast that can metabolize lactose, the sugar in dairy products…

Microbes in human body swap genes, even across tissue boundaries

Diana Yates

Bacteria in the human body are sharing genes with one another at a higher rate than is typically seen in nature, and some of those genes appear to be traveling – independent of…

World of Genomics coming to National Academy of Sciences Building


The IGB has partnered with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to present Family Science Day at the NAS Building: DecisionTown in the World of…

Illinois study identifies a key to soybean cyst nematode growth

Lauren Quinn

The soybean cyst nematode, one of the crop’s most destructive pests, isn’t like most of its wormy relatives. Whereas the vast majority of nematodes look like the microscopic…

Brendan Harley inducted into AIMBE College of Fellows

Christine des Garennes

The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) has announced the pending induction of Dr. Brendan Harley, Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular…

Neurobiologist Leslie Vosshall to give IGB Distinguished Public Lecture


Leslie Vosshall, Robin Chemers Neustein Professor, Head of the Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior, and Director of the Kavli Neural Systems Institute at The Rockefeller…

Cystic fibrosis treatment uses 'molecular prosthetic' for lung protein

Liz Ahlberg Touchstone

An approved drug normally used to treat fungal infections could also do the job of a protein channel that is missing or defective in the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis,…

Crops in silico 2.0: Project Extended

Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Crops in silico (Cis) project has received a $5 million grant from the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (…