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Tech + Society

Tech + Society

New technologies launched the genomic era. Now, progress in genomic research depends on further innovations in the tools that allow us to probe, manipulate, and analyze biological molecules. Whether focused on software or hardware, biomaterials or microfluidics, DNA editors or molecular motors, our technological research pushes the boundaries of the physically possible and paves the way for future discovery.

Featured Stories

Katherine Meacham-Hensold led work looking to improve the photorespiratory bypass of potato as a postdoctoral researcher in Don Ort’s lab at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
From left, postdoctoral researcher Bidhan Chandra De, chemistry professor Angad Mehta and their colleagues found evidence indicating that chloroplasts may have originated as energy-generating organelles and later evolved to support carbon assimilation in plant cells.  Photo by Fred Zwicky
A newly established partnership between the OSF Healthcare Cancer Institute in Peoria, IL and the Cancer Center at Illinois, called Breakthrough and Advanced Treatment of (BEAT) Cancer Initiative, facilitates collaboration to improve cancer diagnostics, treatment, and prevention. Dr. Timothy Fan, fourth from left, is shown here at the BEAT Cancer kickoff, hosted by the College of Veterinary Medicine.
Spatial transcriptomics data from osteosarcoma cells. Left) A spatial map of the transcriptome segmented into individual cells using machine learning, with each dot representing a RNA transcript and each color indicating a different gene. Right) Genes associated with cytoskeleton and robunucleoprotein complexes are frequently colocalized.
Illinois researchers developed a nanorobotic hand made of DNA that can grab viruses for detection or inhibition. In this artist’s rendering, three “NanoGripper” hands wrap around a COVID-19 virus.  Image courtesy of Xing Wang
 The Kellner Center for Neurogenomics, Behavior and Society