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Understanding the genomic modifications in transgenic papaya

Ananya Sen

The transgenic papaya “SunUp” was developed in the 1990s and was widely publicized because of its ability to resist the papaya ringspot virus.

15 Years of IGB: SHIELDing the Illinois community against COVID-19

Ananya Sen

During the earliest months of 2020, COVID-19 seemed like an innocuous event that was too geographically distant to affect the Illinois community.

Brendan Harley invested as Robert W. Schaefer Professor

Claire Benjamin

Brendan A. C.

Automated synthesis allows for discovery of charge transport in organic molecules

Jenny Applequist

A cross-disciplinary UIUC team has demonstrated a major breakthrough in using automated synthesis to discover new molecules for organic electronics applications.

Researchers Develop Powerful Strategy for Creating New-to-Nature Enzymes

Julie Wurth

Engineering enzymes to perform reactions not found in nature can address longstanding challenges in the world of synthetic chemistry, such as upgrading plant-based oils into…

Study tracks COVID-19 infection dynamics in adults

Diana Yates

A team led by scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign tracked the rise and fall of SARS-CoV-2 in the saliva and nasal cavities of people newly infected with…

An NSF Expedition in Computing: Mind in vitro - Computing with Living Neurons

Grainger College of Engineering

The National Science Foundation awarded a 7-year, $15 million project to a multi-university team led by the Un

New engineering approach enhances antibody fragments for cancer therapy

Huan Song

Technological advancements over the past few decades have laid the groundwork for the use of microbe-based drugs to treat diseases.

Jump ARCHES grant awarded to study antibiotic resistance


Established in 2014, the Jump Applied Research in Community Health through Engineering and Simulation (ARCHES) is an endowment partnership between Jump Simulation and Education…

African BioGenome Project to sequence 100,000 endemic species

Ananya Sen

Although 60,000 known plant species and 123,000 known animal species are found in Africa, only 20 plants and 385 animals have been sequenced till date.

Portable, point-of-care COVID-19 test discerns alpha variant from earlier strains

Lois Yoksoulian

A point-of-care COVID-19 test developed by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign can now detect and differentiate the alpha variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus…

15 Years of IGB: Developing new drugs to battle cancer

Ananya Sen

In honor of the IGB's anniversary, we're revisiting some of the history of our institute over the past 15 years with a series of articles highlighting IGB people, projects,