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Scientists transform tobacco into factory for high-value proteins

[ ] For thousands of years, plants have produced food for humans, but with genetic tweaks, they can also manufacture proteins like Ebola vaccines, antibodies to combat a range of…

Great Barrier Reef coral provides correction factor to global climate

[ ] Newly developed geological techniques help uncover the most accurate and high-resolution climate records to date, according to a new study. The research finds that the standard…

A warming Midwest increases likelihood that farmers will need to irrigate

[ ] If current climate and crop-improvement trends continue into the future, Midwestern corn growers who today rely on rainfall to water their crops will need to irrigate their fields…

Fast, efficient way to build amino acid chains

[ ] Scientists often build new protein molecules by stringing groups of amino acids together. These amino acid chains, called polypeptides, are the building blocks needed in drug…

Scientists stack algorithms to improve predictions of yield-boosting crop traits

[ ] Hyperspectral data comprises the full light spectrum; this dataset of continuous spectral information has many applications from understanding the health of the Great Barrier Reef…

'Fettuccine' may be most obvious sign of life on Mars

[ ] A rover scanning the surface of Mars for evidence of life might want to check for rocks that look like pasta, researchers report in the journal Astrobiology. Researchers –…

Breakthrough to measure plant improvements helps boost production

[ ] An international team is using advanced tools to develop crops that give farmers more options for sustainably producing more food on less land. To do this, thousands of plant…

Stephen Long Elected to National Academy of Sciences

[ ] Stephen P. Long, a professor of crop sciences and plant biology at the University of Illinois, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest…

Injections, exercise promote muscle regrowth after atrophy in mice

[ ] By injecting cells that support blood vessel growth into muscles depleted by inactivity, researchers say they are able to help restore muscle mass lost as a result of immobility.…

Project aims to revive natural product discovery

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

Drugs reprogram genes in breast tumors to prevent endocrine resistance

[ ] 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

[ ] 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

[ ] 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

[ ] 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

[ ] 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 Genomics,…

Illinois study identifies a key to soybean cyst nematode growth

[ ] 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 worms…

Brendan Harley inducted into AIMBE College of Fellows

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

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

[ ] 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,…