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News Archive

African bioeconomy through the lens of biodiversity genomics and bioinformatics

Hawwa Gabier, Fatu Badiane Markey

The African BioGenome Project (AfricaBP) Open Institute has published a paper capturing its ambitious effort to advance genomics and bioinformatics capacity across Africa,…

The AfricaBP brokered 27 hands-on practical opportunities (sponsorship and hosting) with African academic, research, and national institutions, and local corporations in 2024 to train 401 Africans in gene editing, genomics, bioinformatics, sample collections and processing, ethical, legal, and social issues during the Day 3 - Day 5 of the AfricaBP Open Institute regional workshops.

Research

New award from the Ono Pharma Foundation provides a boost to therapeutic discovery

Claudia Lutz

The adaptive immune system is a biological marvel, able to respond flexibly to a never-ending parade of pathogens. To produce effective germ-fighting antibodies, though, immune…

New award from the Ono Pharma Foundation provides a boost to therapeutic discovery

Research, Awards

Flightpath Biosciences licenses microbiome-sparing antibiotic developed at Illinois

Diana Yates

Flightpath Biosciences, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the development of precision therapeutics targeting bacterial pathogens, has licensed a class of…

U. of I. chemistry professor Paul Hergenrother and his colleagues developed a class of antibiotic agents that target pathogenic gram-negative bacteria without harming beneficial microbes. The new compounds are being licensed for further testing and development. Photo by Michelle Hassel

Research

IGB Profile: Umnia Doha

Katie Brady

As a PhD student in mechanical engineering, Umnia Doha spent hours imaging 3D tissue scaffolds on the confocal microscopes in the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic…

IGB Profile: Umnia Doha

Research, Profile

Stephen Long recognized as 2025 World Food Prize Top Agri-Food Pioneer

Marianne Stein

Stephen Long (BSD/CAMBERS/PFS), Ikenberry Endowed Chair Emeritus of Plant Biology and Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has been selected as a…

Stephen Long

Research

How are veterinarians advancing cancer research in dogs, and people?

Diana Yates

People are beginning to realize that dogs share a lot more with humans than just their homes and habits. Some spontaneously occurring cancers in dogs are genetically very…

Veterinary clinical medicine professor Dr. Timothy Fan consults Sara Tondini about her dog, Milton. Photo by Fred Zwicky

Research

Manipulation of light at the nanoscale helps advance biosensing

Katie Brady

Traditional medical tests often require clinical samples to be sent off-site for analysis in a time-intensive and expensive process. Point-of-care diagnostics are instead low…

(from left) Professor Brian Cunningham, Amanda Bacon , Joseph Tibbs , Leyang Liu, Seemesh Bhaskar, Weinan Liu / Isaac Mitchell

Research

Self-driving lab: AI and automated biology combine to improve enzymes

Liz Ahlberg Touchstone

By combining artificial intelligence with automated robotics and synthetic biology, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have dramatically improved…

With AI to guide enzyme improvement and automated synthetic biology to rapidly make and test new variants, Illinois researchers developed a user-friendly system to drastically improve enzyme performance. Pictured, from left: Nilmani Singh, Jingxia Lu, Stephen Lane and Professor Huimin Zhao.

Research

Fruit fly study reveals a gene’s hidden ability to keep regrowth on the right track

Claudia Lutz

Regeneration, the ability to heal damaged or lost tissues, is both everyday and a real-life superpower. Health research inspired by the remarkable regeneration of animals like…

Principal investigator Rachel Smith-Bolton and graduate student Anish Bose are working to identify mechanisms within Drosophila that allow regeneration to come to a successful close.

Research