Skip to main content

Illinois IGB

Bruce Fouke

Geology helps map kidney stone formation from tiny to troublesome

May 25, 2021

Advanced microscope technology and cutting-edge geological science are giving new perspectives to an old medical mystery: How do kidney stones form, why are some people more susceptible to them and can they be prevented?

In a new paper published in the journal Nature Reviews Urology, researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Mayo Clinic and other collaborators described the geological nature of kidney stones, outlined the arc of their formation, established a new classification scheme and suggested possible clinical interventions. 


May 25, 2021


Related Articles

Scientists search for coral’s new home

September 24, 2018

Coral reefs have long faced problems like overfishing, global warming and pollution — but they’re also threatened by how slow they regenerate.

To reproduce, coral release sperm and eggs and form larvae, which then swim around and attach to a surface, where they begin to develop into coral polyps and grow. They face a variety of competitors, and most don’t survive. If they do survive, it takes years for the coral to be able to reproduce, and even longer for entire reefs to form.  


September 24, 2018


Related Articles

Kidney stones have distinct geological histories

September 13, 2018

A geologist, a microscopist and a doctor walk into a lab and, with their colleagues from across the nation, make a discovery that overturns centuries of thought about the nature and composition of kidney stones. The team’s key insight, reported in the journal Scientific Reports, is that kidney stones are built up in calcium-rich layers that resemble other mineralizations in nature, such as those forming coral reefs or arising in hot springs, Roman aqueducts or subsurface oil fields.


September 13, 2018


Related Articles

Research to investigate oil field biosouring with new technology

July 31, 2017

A new IGB research project seeks to solve a $90 billion global problem in the oil industry while making oil drilling less harmful to the environment.    

Bruce Fouke, Professor in the departments of Geology and Microbiology and director of the Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center, was awarded a three-year grant from the Dow Chemical Company to study a process known as oil field biosouring. Fouke is also an IGB faculty member in the Biocomplexity research theme.


July 31, 2017


Related Articles

Is it possible that the Ancient Romans beat us with their aqueducts?

April 27, 2016

For hundreds of years, the Anio Novus aqueduct carried water 87 km (54 miles) from the Aniene River of the Apennine Mountains down into Rome. Built between AD 38 and 52, scholars continue to struggle to determine how much water the Anio Novus supplied to the Eternal City—until now.

By studying limestone deposits that formed from the flowing water within the aqueduct, called travertine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers reported in the Journal of Archaeological Science an actual estimate for the aqueduct’s flow rate of 1.4 m^3/s (± 0.4).


April 27, 2016


Related Articles

Subscribe to Bruce Fouke