News Archive
Structurally designed 'DNA star' creates ultrasensitive test for dengue virus
Liz Ahlberg Touchstone, adapted from content provided by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
By folding snippets of DNA into the shape of a five-pointed star using structural DNA nanotechnology, researchers have created a trap that captures dengue virus as it floats in…
Study tracks genomic changes that reinforce darter speciation
Diana Yates
When they share habitat, orangethroat and rainbow darters tend to avoid one another, even though they are closely related and can produce “hybrid” offspring. The males compete…
Eight Illinois researchers rank among world’s most influential
Liz Ahlberg Touchstone
Eight faculty members at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have been named to the 2019 Highly Cited Researchers list, a global listing of scientists who produced…
Dozens of potential new antibiotics discovered with free online app
Diana Yates
A new web tool speeds the discovery of drugs to kill Gram-negative bacteria, which are responsible for the vast majority of antibiotic-resistant infections and deaths. The tool…
Signature call in cowbirds is the password that unlocks song learning
Claudia Lutz
They say it takes a village to raise a child. But if you are a cowbird, left by your parents to be hatched and raised in the nest of unwitting foster parents, how do you know…
Artificial intelligence to run the chemical factories of the future
Lois Yoksoulian
A new proof-of-concept study details how an automated system driven by artificial intelligence can design, build, test and learn complex biochemical pathways to efficiently…
Smartphone diagnostics kit for infectious diseases
Kim Gudeman
Infectious diseases such as Zika and Dengue remain a top contributor to death and disability across the globe, according to the World Health Organization. Diagnosing and…
Online tool speeds response to elephant poaching by tracing ivory to source
Diana Yates
A new tool uses an interactive database of geographic and genetic information to help authorities quickly identify where the confiscated tusks of African elephants were…
LAS Dean's Distinguished Lecture with IGB Director
Samantha Boyle
The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences has established the LAS Dean’s Distinguished Lecture to provide wider opportunity for people to hear from faculty who are leaders in…
Kleinmuntz Center Inaugural Year
In its inaugural year of operation, the Catherine and Don Kleinmuntz Center for Genomics in Business and Society significantly enhanced and accelerated the broader impact of…
Study tracks evolutionary history of metabolic networks
Diana Yates
By analyzing how metabolic enzymes are built and organized, researchers have reconstructed the evolutionary history of metabolism. Their study shows how metabolic networks –…
Study provides framework for 1 billion years of green plant evolution
Alan Flurry, University of Georgia, Athens, and Katie Willis, University of Alberta, Edmonton Canada
Gene sequences for more than 1100 plant species have been released by an international consortium of nearly 200 plant scientists, the culmination of a nine-year research…