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Launch of new Center for Genomics in Business and Society at IGB

Emily Scott

The Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB) is excited to announce the launch of the Catherine and Don Kleinmuntz Center for Genomics in Business and Society, which…

Bees and Beekeeping Short Course


Bees and Beekeeping Short Course at the University of Illinois - May 21st, 2022 Registration Instructions

You can register for the short course by following this link.

In responding to predation risk, secondhand experience can be as good as new

Claudia Lutz

Throughout the living world, parents have many ways of gifting their offspring with information they will need to help them survive. A new study in Nature Ecology and Evolution…

In microbe populations, bioengineers find balance of opposing genomic forces

Claudia Lutz

Sergei Maslov, a professor of bioengineering and physics at the University of Illinois, sees a “universe in a grain of sand.” His research seeks to explore that universe by…

A new way to do metabolic engineering

Emily Scott

A novel method developed by a group of IGB researchers could change the way metabolic engineering is done.

Researchers from the IGB’s Biosystems Design theme, including…

Cancer drug starts clinical trials in human brain-cancer patients

Diana Yates

A drug that spurs cancer cells to self-destruct has been cleared for use in a clinical trial of patients with anaplastic astrocytoma, a rare malignant brain tumor, and…

Light green plants save nitrogen without sacrificing photosynthetic efficiency

Claire Benjamin

The top leaves of crops absorb far more light than they can use, starving lower leaves of light. Scientists designed plants with light green leaves with hopes of allowing more…

Theory: Flexibility is at the heart of human intelligence

Diana Yates

Centuries of study have yielded many theories about how the brain gives rise to human intelligence. Some neuroscientists think intelligence springs from a single region or…

Expanding the potential of metabolic engineering

Emily Scott

For decades, scientists have used the natural processes in cells to create useful products such as chemicals and biofuels. 

This process, known as metabolic…

Genomic study explores evolution of gentle 'killer bees' in Puerto Rico

Diana Yates

A genomic study of Puerto Rico's Africanized honey bees - which are more docile than other so-called "killer bees" - reveals that they retain most of the genetic traits of…

Cell phone software creates new possibilities for precision medicine

Claudia Lutz

Embedded in our society is a cultural memory of the old-time family doctor, a medical practitioner who knows of your family, your history, and your daily life, and uses that…

Hacking evolution, screening technique may improve most widespread enzyme

Claire Benjamin

Plants evolved over millions of years into an environment that has dramatically changed in the last 150 years since the Industrial Revolution began: carbon dioxide levels have…