News Archive
Some birds steal hair from living mammals
Diana Yates
Dozens of online videos document an unusual behavior among tufted titmice and their closest bird kin. A bird will land on an unsuspecting mammal and, cautiously and stealthily…
iGEM 2021: Designing better enzymes to break down plastic
Ananya Sen
Polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, is a type of plastic that is widely used for packaging food and beverages, including soft drinks, juices, and water. Although PET is the…
Should the government implement a vaccine passport system?
Phil Ciciora
Vaccine passports strike the right balance between letting life go on for those who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 while still being realistic about the ongoing public…
New approach eradicates breast cancer in mice
Diana Yates
A new approach to treating breast cancer kills 95-100% of cancer cells in mouse models of human estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancers and their metastases in bone, brain,…
How does the structure of cytolysins influence their activity?
Ananya Sen
Although Enterococcus faecalis is usually an innocuous member of the bacterial community in the human gut, it can also cause several infections, including liver disorders. The…
In times of ecological uncertainty, brood parasites hedge their bets
Diana Yates
Some birds lay their eggs in the nests of other bird species and let the host parents raise their young. A new study finds that in times of environmental flux, these brood…
Cowpea research boosts canopy CO2 assimilation, water-use efficiency
Amanda Nguyen
Crops grow dense canopies that consist of several layers of leaves--the upper layers with younger sun leaves and the lower layers with older shaded leaves that may have…
Illinois Team Tracks COVID ‘Spike’ Protein for 2020 iGEM Competition
Julie Wurth
UPDATE: The Illinois team’s “Viralizer” web tool brought home a silver medal at the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) 2020…
Integration of gene regulatory networks in understanding animal behavior
Alisa King
For years, scientists have attributed animal behavior to the coordinated activities of neuronal cells and its circuits of neurons, known as the neuronal network (NN). However,…