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Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology

News Archive

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

Liz Ahlberg Touchstone

Drug-carrying DNA aptamers can deliver a one-two punch to leukemia by precisely targeting the elusive cancer stem cells that seed cancer relapses, researchers at the University…

Led by bioengineering professor Xing Wang, Illinois researchers developed drug-delivering DNA aptamers that target elusive leukemia stem cells. Photo by Fred Zwicky

Research

Zeynep Madak-Erdogan Leads New ‘Voices of Cancer’ Project

Cancer Center at Illinois

Sylvia D. Stroup Scholar of Nutrition and Cancer and Associate Professor of Food Science & Human Nutrition, Zeynep Madak-Erdogan (CGD/EIRH/GSP) will lead a new “Voices of…

Associate Professor of Food Science & Human Nutrition, Zeynep Madak-Erdogan, is also the Associate Director for Education at the Cancer Center at Illinois. / L. Brian Stauffer

Research

Exploring the Gut’s Potential to Treat Disease

Ben Libman

Our microbiome is critical to our overall health. Scientists have only recently begun to understand the depths to which our overall wellbeing can be affected by the…

Bioengineering professor Shannon Sirk

Research

Brendan Harley elected to Board of Directors of AIMBE

Kristina Shidlauski

Brendan Harley, Robert W. Schaefer Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering (RBTE Theme Leader/EIRH) has been elected to the Board of Directors of the American…

Brenday Harley, Robert W. Schaefer Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

Awards

Microalgae and bacteria team up to convert CO2 into useful products

Diana Yates

Scientists have spent decades genetically modifying the bacterium Escherichia coli and other microbes to convert carbon dioxide into useful biological products. Most methods…

A research team led by food science and human nutrition professor Yong-Su Jin combined the special attributes of E. coli with the photosynthetic capabilities of microalgae to take in carbon dioxide and convert it to useful biological chemicals. Photo by Craig Pessman

Research

Nobel Laureate Thomas R. Cech to give IGB Distinguished Public Lecture

IGB Communications

Thomas R. Cech, PhD, Nobel Laureate and Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry, University of Colorado Boulder will give the IGB Distinguished Public Lecture in Genomics "The…

Thomas R. Cech, PhD, Nobel Laureate and Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry, University of Colorado Boulder will give the IGB Distinguished Public Lecture in Genomics "The Magic of RNA: New Medicines, Immortality, and the Power to Control Evolution"

Research

Three Illinois faculty named AAAS Fellows

Liz Ahlberg Touchstone

Three faculty members at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, including two from IGB, have been named 2024 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of…

Illinois professors Isaac Cann, left, Stephan Link and Matthew Wheeler were elected Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Research

Traditional breeding falls short in boosting soybean photosynthesis

Allie Arp

A team from the University of Illinois has determined that improving a key component of soybean photosynthesis is unlikely to come from traditional breeding methods, and that…

Soybean field trials took place for three years to observe developmental stages of different varieties. / Danny Gotarkar

Research

Team finds regional, age-related trends in exposure to drug-resistant pathogen

Diana Yates

Campylobacter infections are the most common foodborne illnesses in the U.S., sickening an estimated 1.5 million people each year. A new study examined records of Campylobacter…

Illinois pathobiology professor Csaba Varga and his colleagues tracked antibiotic-resistant infections with Campylobacter jejuni, a primary cause of foodborne illness in the U.S. The study found regional and age-related differences, and an upward trend in resistance to a class of antibiotics known as quinolones. Photo by Craig Pessman

Research