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Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology

News Archive

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

New automated method increases the efficiency of bioactive natural product discovery

Katie Brady

From caffeine to penicillin, natural products have become a mainstay in modern society and are used for numerous applications such as medicine and pesticides. There are tens of…

Nilmani Singh, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Professor Huimin Zhao, and Yujie Yuan developed the automated platform FAST-NPS to accelerate bioactive natural product discovery. / Isaac Mitchell

Research

Researchers develop enhanced method for wastewater surveillance of antibiotic resistance

Katie Brady

Antibiotic resistance is a global concern that threatens our ability to prevent and treat bacterial infections in humans and animals. To better monitor the emergence and spread…

Civil and Environmental Engineering graduate student Yuqing Mao and Professor Helen Nguyen developed a new method for detecting antibiotic resistance genes in wastewater.

Research

IGB Profile: Allie Arp

Katie Brady

Allie Arp has always enjoyed writing and public speaking, so it comes as no surprise that she now finds herself working in communications. But young Allie would have never…

Allie Arp is the Communications Manager for the RIPE Project.

Profile

Three Illinois professors named Sloan Research Fellows

Lois Yoksoulian

Three Illinois scientists are among 126 recipients of the 2025 Sloan Research Fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, including one from IGB. According to the…

Three Illinois professors are recipients of Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowships this year: from left, materials science and engineering professor Yingjie Zhang, chemistry professor Angad Mehta, and chemistry professor Lisa Olshansky.

Awards