News Archive
iGEM 2021: Designing better enzymes to break down plastic
Ananya Sen
Polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, is a type of plastic that is widely used for packaging food and beverages, including soft drinks, juices, and water. Although PET is the…
$2.4M NIH grant will develop biomaterials to repair skulls, promote regeneration
Claire Benjamin
A new research project led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign aims to develop biomaterials that are strong, malleable, and support stem cell growth to transform…
Should the government implement a vaccine passport system?
Phil Ciciora
Vaccine passports strike the right balance between letting life go on for those who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 while still being realistic about the ongoing public…
New approach eradicates breast cancer in mice
Diana Yates
A new approach to treating breast cancer kills 95-100% of cancer cells in mouse models of human estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancers and their metastases in bone, brain,…
How does the structure of cytolysins influence their activity?
Ananya Sen
Although Enterococcus faecalis is usually an innocuous member of the bacterial community in the human gut, it can also cause several infections, including liver disorders. The…
New grant awarded to develop better in vivo DNA-editing techniques
Ananya Sen
The National Institutes of Health have awarded a $2.2 million grant to researchers at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology. The four-year grant will be used to…
U.S. corn and soybean maladapted to climate variations, study shows
Marianne Stein
U.S. corn and soybean varieties have become increasingly heat and drought resistant as agricultural production adapts to a changing climate. But the focus on developing crops…
Chemical reactions break free from energy barriers using flyby trajectories
Lois Yoksoulian
A new study shows that it is possible to use mechanical force to deliberately alter chemical reactions and increase chemical selectivity – a grand challenge of the field.…
Frequent COVID-19 testing key to efficient, early detection, study finds
Ananya Sen
The chance of detecting the virus that causes COVID-19 increases with more frequent testing, no matter the type of test, according to a new study. The tests can achieve 98%…
Ting Lu jointly presented with €1 million Future Insight Prize
Huan Song
Ting Lu (BCXT/BSD/CABBI/MME), a professor of bioengineering at The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, received the 2021 Future…
Researchers overcome winking, napping pigs to prove brain test works
Lauren Quinn
If you've ever been to an eye doctor, there's a good chance you've felt the sudden puff of air to the eye that constitutes a traditional test for glaucoma. It's no one's…
Program increases underrepresented groups in biomedical data science, quantitative biology
Siv Schwink, Ananya Sen
FUTURE-MINDS-QB, a bridge program streamlining a path from a master’s degree at Fisk University, a historically Black university in Nashville, to a doctoral degree at…