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Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology

News Archive

Drowning tomatoes for science

Diana Yates

I can barely hear Esther Ngumbi over the roar of greenhouse fans as she shows me around her rooftop laboratory in Morrill Hall. The benches are full of tomato plants, and the…

Entomology professor Esther Ngumbi studies how two varieties of tomato plants and tobacco hornworm larvae respond to flooding. The hornworm caterpillars are enclosed in plastic bags affixed to the tomato plants.

Research

Scientists use evolution to bioengineer new pathways to sustainable energy, pharmaceuticals

Lois Yoksoulian

Using evolution as a guiding principle, researchers have successfully engineered bacteria-yeast hybrids to perform photosynthetic carbon assimilation, generate cellular energy…

Researchers in the lab Inspired by the evolution of some of the earliest lifeforms, University of Illinois professor Angad Mehta, left, Yang-Le Gao and Bidhan De led a proof-of-concept study verifying that natural metabolic processes within cyanobacteria-yeast hybrids can be bioengineered to produce important hydrocarbons and pharmaceutical precursors.

Research

Illinois scientists to revamp corn breeding with focus on climate resilience

Lauren Quinn

The USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture is investing in University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign research that could expedite the development of climate-resilient…

From left: Chris Mujjabi and Martin Bohn

Research

Mohammed El-Kebir Hunts for Cancer’s Evolutionary Trees

Jonathan King

Mohammed El-Kebir (CAIM/IGOH) is an assistant professor of computer science researching cancer genomics, who investigates combinatorial optimization algorithms for problems in…

Mohammed El-Kebir is a professor of computer science. / Jonathan King

Research

Ancient DNA reveals Indigenous dog lineages found at Jamestown, Virginia

Ananya Sen

Previous scientific studies have indicated that North American dog lineages were replaced with European ones between 1492 and the present day. To better understand the timing…

An aerial view of James Island and James Fort. The Jamestown colony was established in Tsenacomoco, the Algonquian name for the Powhatan chiefdom in the tidewater areas of the Chesapeake Bay and later became the Commonwealth of Virginia. / Jamestown Rediscovery

Research

Researchers investigate parent perceptions of virtual learning

Ananya Sen

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of schools across the U.S. shifted to virtual learning. In a new study, published in Social Education Research, researchers…

The current work was done as part of a larger research study aimed at examining the feasibility of using saliva-based testing in five K-12 schools in Illinois.

Research

Elephants on the move: Mapping connections across African landscapes

Lauren Quinn

Elephant conservation is a major priority in southern Africa, but habitat loss and urbanization mean the far-ranging pachyderms are increasingly restricted to protected areas…

From left: Alida de Flamingh and Alfred Roca. Photo by Fred Zwicky

Research

Early Innovator Program pitch contest winners announced

Sarah Schwartz

It has been a busy summer for a group of postdoctoral and graduate student researchers who participated in the 10-week Early Innovator Program (EIP) at the Carl R. Woese…

From left to right, Shraddha Shirguppe, Sarah Schwartz, Kyle Timmer, Jongwon Lim, Nora Liu, Joe Crawford, and Tracy Parish. / Isaac Mitchell

Research

Coinfecting viruses impede each other’s ability to enter cells

Ananya Sen

The process by which phages—viruses that infect and replicate within bacteria—enter cells has been studied for over 50 years. In a new study, researchers from the University of…

The first author Thu Vu Phuc Nguyen, left, and Ido Golding investigated how coinfecting phages can impede each other’s entry into a cell.

Research