The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has committed another round of funding to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to lead the second phase of its Bioenergy Research Center — one of four large-scale DOE-funded research centers focused on innovation in biofuels, bioproducts, and a clean energy future for the country.
Many of the drugs we utilize in modern medicine are naturally produced by microbes. Penicillin, an antibiotic derived from certain molds, is one of the most notable natural products due to its recognition as one of the biggest advances in medicine and human health. As DNA sequencing has become cheaper and faster, scientists now have access to hundreds of thousands of microbial genomes and the natural products they produce.
Building molecules, studying symbioses between species, and exploring how life evolved
One of the biggest challenges in traditional laboratory settings is performing countless hours of error-prone lab work: handling reagents, incubating reactions or living cells, synthesizing products, applying treatments, and monitoring outcomes. The Illinois Biological Foundry for Advanced Biomanufacturing was established in 2014 to bypass these cumbersome procedures and support a broad array of research goals.
On February 25th 2022, the Illinois General Assembly adopted House Resolution 0690, commending the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology on its 15th year of societal, scientific, and scholarly contributions at the intersection of science and society.
Chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Huimin Zhao (BSD/GSE/CABBI/MMG/CGD) has received the 2022 Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Division Award in Chemical Engineering from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).
The Publications Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS) has appointed University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Huimin Zhao (CABBI/BSD/GSE/MMG Affiliate, CGD) as editor in chief of ACS Synthetic Biology. Zhao previously served as a founding associate editor of ACS Catalysis, a position he held from 2011–2022.
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 their applications in the production of therapeutic proteins like insulin, plasmids are broadly used in the large-scale production of many bioproducts.
However, designing and constructing plasmids remains one of the most time-consuming and labor-intensive steps in biology research.
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 useful biochemicals.
Proteins are the molecular machines of all living cells and have been exploited for use in many applications, including therapeutics and industrial catalysts. To overcome the limitations of naturally occurring proteins, protein engineering is used to improve protein characteristics such as stability and functionality. In a new study, researchers demonstrate a machine learning algorithm that accelerates the protein engineering process.
