News Bureau

Research News Campus News About

blog navigation

News Bureau - Research

 

  • Photo of researcher in his laboratory.

    Thin skin significantly blunts injury from puncture, study finds

    Thin, stretchy skin — like that of a pig or human — significantly lessens the underlying damage that occurs when it’s punctured. Pig skin even outperforms synthetic materials that are designed to mimic skin, a new study finds. Its special qualities, in particular its ability to dissipate the energy of a puncturing object, greatly reduce the damage to deeper tissues, researchers report.

  • The image depicts an afflicted liver with mutated DNA and toxic RNA, and its predisposition for fatty liver disease and drug metabolism defects.

    Mouse model reveals liver involvement in muscular dystrophy

    A new mouse model mimicking the liver symptoms of myotonic dystrophy type 1 — the most prevalent form of adult-onset muscular dystrophy — provides insight into why patients develop fatty liver disease and display hypersensitivity to medications, making treatment difficult. The new model opens avenues for screening new medications for liver toxicity prior to patient trials, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers said.

  • Closeup photo of a Tsavo lion's face that includes eyes and nose. A streak of blood crosses the face.

    Genomic study identifies human, animal hair in ‘man-eater’ lions’ teeth

    In 1898, two male lions terrorized an encampment of bridge builders on the Tsavo River in Kenya. The infamous Tsavo “man-eaters” killed at least 28 people in the camp before the civil engineer on the project shot them dead. The lions’ remains were sold to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago in 1925.

    In a new study, Field Museum researchers collaborated with scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on an in-depth analysis of hairs carefully extracted from the lions’ broken teeth. The study used microscopy and genomics to identify some of the species the lions consumed.

  • Researchers stand in a field of goldenrod and are holding a section of honeycomb that is covered with honey bees.

    Study: Good nutrition boosts honey bee resilience against pesticides, viruses

    In a new study, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign tackled a thorny problem: How do nutritional stress, viral infections and exposure to pesticides together influence honey bee survival? By looking at all three stressors together, the scientists found that good nutrition enhances honey bee resilience against the other threats.

  • Portrait of Satish Nair in his laboratory

    Team discovers naturally occurring DNA-protein hybrids

    Thanks to a serendipitous discovery and a lot of painstaking work, scientists can now build biohybrid molecules that combine the homing powers of DNA with the broad functional repertoire of proteins — without having to synthesize them one by one, researchers report in a new study. Using a naturally occurring process, laboratories can harness the existing molecule-building capacities of bacteria to generate vast libraries of potentially therapeutic DNA-protein hybrid molecules.

  • An graphic rendering of how the small-molecule SOX catalyst pulls together an alcohol and and alkene.

    Enzyme-inspired catalyst puts chemicals in right position to make ethers

    Taking inspiration from enzymes, chemists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign developed a catalyst to simplify the synthesis of ethers, key functional components of many drugs, foods, personal care items and other consumer goods. The catalyst puts the two chemical ingredients in just the right proximity and position to come together, bypassing the need for the steps and quantities required under standard synthesis protocols. 

  • Psychology professor Brent Roberts stands in front of a large window with trees outside.

    Report: Conscientiousness, not willpower, is a reliable predictor of success

    According to two psychologists, the field of psychological science has a problem with the concept of self-control. It has named self-control both a “trait” — a key facet of personality involving attributes like conscientiousness, grit and the ability to tolerate delayed gratification — and a “state,” a fleeting condition that can best be described as willpower. These two concepts are at odds with one another and are often confused, the authors report.

  • Professor Allen Barton leaning on a metal railing

    New relationship project strengthens couples’, individual partners’ well-being

    Couples who participated in the Illinois Strong Couples relationship improvement program, delivered through Illinois Extension, found that it enhanced their connections with their partners and benefited their individual mental health, a new study led by Allen W. Barton reports.

  • A group of researchers stands in an atrium.

    Breaking open the AI black box, team finds key chemistry for solar energy and beyond

    Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool for researchers, but with a significant limitation: The inability to explain how it came to its decisions, a problem known as the “AI black box.” By combining AI with automated chemical synthesis and experimental validation, an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has opened up the black box to find the chemical principles that AI relied on to improve molecules for harvesting solar energy. 

  • Portrait of Huimin Zhao in one of the biofoundry facilities on the U. of I. campus.

    NSF funds new iBioFoundry at Illinois

    A newly funded U.S. National Science Foundation iBioFoundry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will build on more than a decade of research at the U. of I. to integrate synthetic biology, laboratory automation and artificial intelligence to advance protein and cellular engineering. This is one of five new biofoundries to be established in the U.S.

  • Researchers in the lab

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

    Using evolution as a guiding principle, researchers have successfully engineered bacteria-yeast hybrids to perform photosynthetic carbon assimilation, generate cellular energy and support yeast growth without traditional carbon feedstocks like glucose or glycerol. By engineering photosynthetic cyanobacteria to live symbiotically inside yeast cells, the bacteria-yeast hybrids can produce important hydrocarbons, paving new biotechnical pathways to non-petroleum-based energy, other synthetic biology applications and the experimental study of evolution.

  • Researcher Rabin Bhattarai portrait

    Study tracks decades of extreme heat, cold in Upper Midwest

    Researchers analyzed meteorological data from nine Upper Midwest states from 1979-2021, tracking trends in extreme heat and cold over every 4-kilometer square of that territory. They found striking regional differences in the extremes. Many parts of the Upper Midwest experienced significant upticks in the number of extreme heat days over the 40 years — an increasing trend — while others saw a rise in extreme cold events. Some communities experienced more of both extremes. Others appeared to be more resistant to changes in extreme heat or cold.

  • Professors Mani Nakamura  and John Erdman, along with team members Nouf Alfouzan and Catherine Applegate, standing with scales.wi

    Weight-loss success depends on eating more protein, fiber while limiting calories, study says

    Flexibility, personalization and increased consumption of protein and fiber were key in optimizing dieters’ weight-loss success on the Individualized Diet Improvement Program, created by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign food scientists.

  • Kendra Calhoun stands in front of a bright banner displaying terms used to fool social media algorithms.

    How do people use self-censorship to avoid having their content suppressed on sites like TikTok?

    Anthropology professor Kendra Calhoun studies the creative language people use on social media platforms to fool algorithms that may incorrectly categorize content as “inappropriate” or “offensive.” Calhoun spoke with News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates about this phenomenon, which she calls “linguistic self-censorship.”

  • Joseph Irudayaraj in the lab

    PFAS found in nearly all fish tested from four northern Illinois rivers

    Scientists tested nine fish species from four northern Illinois rivers for contamination with per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances, synthetic chemicals found in numerous industrial and commercial products and known to be harmful to human health. They found fish contaminated with PFAS in every one of their 15 test sites. Elevated levels of PFOS, one type of PFAS compound, were found in nearly all fish tested.

  • Researchers Laura Rice and Sahel Moein

    Study: Fear of falling, fall-related injuries haunt full-time wheelchair, motorized scooter users

    Many studies have focused on falls among people who are ambulatory and have conditions like multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease, but research to address falls among those who rely on wheelchairs or motorized scooters is rare, scientists report in a new study. The researchers found that full-time wheelchair or motorized-scooter users also experience falls and fall-related injuries, and many live with the fear of falling again. 

  • The researchers stand in a field at the U. of I. Energy Farm.

    Study identifies best bioenergy crops for sustainable aviation fuels by U.S. region, policy goals

    Researchers analyzed the financial and environmental costs and benefits of four biofuels crops used to produce sustainable aviation fuels in the U.S. They found that each feedstock — corn stover, energy sorghum, miscanthus or switchgrass — performed best in a specific region of the rainfed United States. Their study will help growers and policymakers select the feedstocks most suited to meeting goals like reducing production costs, lowering greenhouse gas emissions and building soil carbon stocks.

  • Two men look at cell images on a screen

    Light targets cells for death and triggers immune response with laser precision

    A new method of precisely targeting troublesome cells for death using light could unlock new understanding of and treatments for cancer and inflammatory diseases, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers report.

  • The researchers in a laboratory. Between them is a fish tank with an octopus inside that has been placed in the temporary tank for the photograph.

    From 'CyberSlug' to 'CyberOctopus': New AI explores, remembers, seeks novelty, overcomes obstacles

    By giving artificial intelligence simple associative learning rules based on the brain circuits that allow a sea slug to forage — and augmenting it with better episodic memory, like that of an octopus — scientists have built an AI that can navigate new environments, seek rewards, map landmarks and overcome obstacles.

  • Two men in front of projected microscope images.

    A heart of stone: Study defines the process of and defenses against cardiac valve calcification

    The human body has sophisticated defenses against the deposition of calcium minerals that stiffen heart tissues, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and collaborators at UCLA Health and the University of Texas at Austin found in a new study that provides the first detailed, step-by-step documentation of how mineralization progresses.

  • Zeynep Madak-Erdogan photo portrait.

    Study links neighborhood violence, lung cancer progression

    Scientists have identified a potential driver of aggressive lung cancer tumors in patients who live in areas with high levels of violent crime. Their study found that stress responses differ between those living in neighborhoods with higher and lower levels of violent crime, and between cancerous and healthy tissues in the same individuals.

  • The researchers in a laboratory.

    Gut microbes from aged mice induce inflammation in young mice, study finds

    When scientists transplanted the gut microbes of aged mice into young “germ-free” mice — raised to have no gut microbes of their own — the recipient mice experienced an increase in inflammation that parallels inflammatory processes associated with aging in humans. Young germ-free mice transplanted with microbes from other young mice had no such increase.

  • The research team standing on stairs.

    New antibiotic kills pathogenic bacteria, spares healthy gut microbes

    Researchers have developed a new antibiotic that reduced or eliminated drug-resistant bacterial infections in mouse models of acute pneumonia and sepsis while sparing healthy microbes in the mouse gut. The drug, called lolamicin, also warded off secondary infections with Clostridioides difficile, a common and dangerous hospital-associated bacterial infection, and was effective against more than 130 multidrug-resistant bacterial strains in cell culture.

  • Portrait of researchers in a laboratory. They are sitting in front of two computer monitors displaying data and visualizations of their experiments.

    By listening, scientists learn how a protein folds

    By converting their data into sounds, scientists discovered how hydrogen bonds contribute to the lightning-fast gyrations that transform a string of amino acids into a functional, folded protein. Their report, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, offers an unprecedented view of the sequence of hydrogen-bonding events that occur when a protein morphs from an unfolded to a folded state.

  • A colored microscope image depicting a green nerve surrounded by red and blue muscle cells.

    Nerves prompt muscle to release factors that boost brain health

    Exercise prompts muscles to release molecular cargo that boosts brain cell function and connection, but the process is not well understood. New research from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign found that the nerves that tell muscles to move also prompt them to release more of the brain-boosting factors.

  • Photo of Dr. Lowe standing near a cattle feed lot.

    How does bird flu infect so many species?

    Dr. James Lowe, a professor of veterinary clinical medicine at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, describes the factors that influence infection with the H5N1 virus in humans and other animals.

  • A collage of the portraits of the five honorees.

    Five Illinois faculty elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

    Five University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty members have been elected members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the oldest honorary societies in the United States. Nancy M. AmatoRashid BashirAlison BellCharles Gammie and Paul Selvin are among the 250 inductees for 2024.

  • a gif showing molecules in motion

    Electron videography captures moving dance between proteins and lipids

    In a first demonstration of “electron videography,” researchers have captured a microscopic moving picture of the delicate dance between proteins and lipids found in cell membranes. The technique can be used to study dynamics of other biomolecules, breaking free of constraints that have limited microscopy to still images of fixed molecules, say University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers and collaborators at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

  • Photos of birds seen in the study. Clockwise, from top left: ring-necked pheasant, common redpoll, common nighthawk, red-bellied woodpecker and dickcissel.

    Illinois study: Backyards, urban parks support bird diversity in unique ways

    Researchers tracked bird diversity in public parks and private backyards in twin cities in Illinois with significantly different development histories and green space management practices. They found that birds rely on both public and private spaces in different seasons and for different reasons. The study linked park management practices aimed at conservation and restoration to increased bird diversity and the persistence of rarer species.

  • Portraits of all seven professors named new fellows of the AAAS

    Seven Illinois professors elected AAAS Fellows

    Seven University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professors have been elected 2023 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. They are among the 502 scientists, engineers and innovators recognized for their scientifically and socially distinguished achievements by the world’s largest general scientific society. 

    The new U. of I. fellows are computer science professor Sarita Adveevolution, ecology and behavior professor Rebecca Fullercivil and environmental engineering professor Praveen Kumarchemistry professor Christy Landescommunication professor Marshall Scott Poolenatural resources and environmental sciences professor Cory Suski; and crop sciences and NRES professor Martin Williams, an ecologist in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service.  

  • Diptych image with headshots of Alison Bell and Paul Hardin Kapp.

    Two Illinois professors awarded Guggenheim Fellowships

    Two University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professors have been awarded 2024 Guggenheim Fellowships.

  • Two researchers stand in suits while a shadowed research subject performs a motor task while wearing a sensor on their hand.

    Wearable sensors for Parkinson’s can improve with machine learning, data from healthy adults

    Low-cost, wearable sensors could increase access to care for patients with Parkinson’s disease. New machine-learning approaches and a baseline of data from healthy older adults improve the accuracy of the results from such sensors, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers and clinical collaborators found in a new study.

  • Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo

    Perinatal women of Mexican descent propose solutions to pandemic-related stressors affecting Latinos

    Perinatal women of Mexican descent living in San Diego proposed solutions to the hardships they faced obtaining food and mental health treatment during the pandemic in a study led by kinesiology and community health professor Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

  • Carl Bernacchi stands in front of a large image of a solar eclipse.

    What can researchers learn about ecosystems and the environment during the total solar eclipse?

    Scientists across the U.S. and Mexico are engaging in a one-day data-gathering operation to record how the 2024 total solar eclipse affects various aspects of life on Earth. At the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, crop sciences and plant biology professor Carl Bernacchi and his colleagues will focus on atmospheric and ecosystem-scale responses to the eclipse. Bernacchi describes what is planned and how it fits into the bigger research effort.

  • Photo of LaKisha David in a stairwell

    Can genetic genealogy restore family narratives disrupted by the transatlantic slave trade?

    Some political figures seek to remove references to slavery from the study of American history, adding to the vast knowledge gaps that stem from the transatlantic slave trade. To better understand these histories, scholars and individuals are turning to genetic genealogy to discover and retrace descendant-family lineages. In a recent paper published in the journal American Anthropologist, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign anthropology professor LaKisha David described these efforts. She spoke about the work to News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates. 

  • A bulldog on a veterinary table with a stethoscope at its nose

    Veterinary expert: Spare flat-faced pets the respiratory distress

    The popularity of bulldogs and other flat-faced pets is at an all-time high. According to the American Kennel Club, from 2006-2016, the number of registered bulldogs and French bulldogs in the U.S. increased by 60% and 476%, respectively. In 2023, the French bulldog topped the AKC’s most popular breeds list. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign veterinary surgeon Dr. Heidi Phillips devotes much of her practice to treating the respiratory problems of flat-faced breeds like bulldogs. She argues for better breeding practices to avoid perpetuating the many health problems these breeds experience.


  • Public domain of plants growing in laboratory designed to be used in space.

    Study brings scientists a step closer to successfully growing plants in space

    New, highly stretchable sensors can monitor and transmit plant growth information without human intervention, report University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers in the journal Device. The polymer sensors are resilient to humidity and temperature, can stretch over 400% while remaining attached to a plant as it grows and send a wireless signal to a remote monitoring location, said chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Ying Diao, who led the study with plant biology professor and department head Andrew Leakey.

  • Two researchers sit with an image of an atomic-level simulation of DNA, shown in red, packed into a viral capsid, shown in blue

    First atom-level structure of packaged viral genome reveals new properties, dynamics

    A computational model of the more than 26 million atoms in a DNA-packed viral capsid expands our understanding of virus structure and DNA dynamics, insights that could provide new research avenues and drug targets, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers report in the journal Nature.

  • Two researchers stand next to equipment onto which an image of neuron scans is projected in the Tsai Lab at Burrill Hall.

    Earliest-yet Alzheimer’s biomarker found in mouse model could point to new targets

    A surge of a neural-specific protein in the brain is the earliest-yet biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease, report University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers studying a mouse model of the disease. Furthermore, the increased protein activity leads to the seizures associated with the earliest stages of neurodegeneration, and inhibiting the protein in the mice slowed the onset and progression of seizure activity.

  • Illinois scientists Erik Nelson, Kelly Swanson and Brett Loman

    Mice study suggests metabolic diseases may be driven by gut microbiome, loss of ovarian hormones

    The findings of a study in mice led by scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign may shed light on the reasons why postmenopausal women have higher incidence of metabolic problems, such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

  • Image of the logo for the 41st Insect Fear Film Festival featuring an ant.

    Insect Fear Film Festival features 'Ant-Men' – movies about humans shrunk to size of ants

    The 2024 Insect Fear Film Festival will feature films in which humans are shrunk to the size of ants and participate in ant societies.

  • Flooded farm field draining into stream

    Study: 'Legacy' phosphorus delays water quality improvements in Gulf of Mexico

    The same phosphorous that fertilizes the thriving agriculture of the Midwest is also responsible for a vast “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico near the Mississippi Delta. Efforts to reduce the amount of phosphorus that enters the Mississippi River system are underway, but research led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign suggests that remnants of the contaminant are left behind in riverbeds for years after introduction and pose an overlooked – and lingering – problem.  

  • Photo of Yong-Su Jin in the laboratory

    Microbial division of labor produces higher biofuel yields

    Scientists have found a way to boost ethanol production via yeast fermentation, a standard method for converting plant sugars into biofuels. Their approach, detailed in the journal Nature Communications, relies on careful timing and a tight division of labor among synthetic yeast strains to yield more ethanol per unit of plant sugars than previous approaches have achieved.

  • James Dalling in the plant conservatory on the U. of I. campus

    Back from the dead: Tropical tree fern repurposes its dead leaves

    Plant biologists report that a species of tree fern found only in Panama reanimates its own dead leaf fronds, converting them into root structures that feed the mother plant. The fern, Cyathea rojasiana, reconfigures these “zombie leaves,” reversing the flow of water to draw nutrients back into the plant.

  • Portrait of Catherine Dana in the laboratory. She is standing behind a display of cicada specimens in a specimen drawer. Her colleague, who is closer to the camera, is using a magnifying glass to magnify a few of the cicada specimens in the drawer.

    Will 2024 be the year of the cicada in Illinois?

    According to cicada expert Catherine Dana, 2024 will be an eventful year in Illinois with the emergence of two periodical cicada broods across most parts of the state.

  • Portrait of Susan Schantz and Megan Woodbury in the Beckman Institute at the U. of I.

    Higher acetaminophen intake in pregnancy linked to attention deficits in young children

    A new study links increased use of acetaminophen during pregnancy – particularly in the second trimester – to modest but noticeable increases in problems with attention and behavior in 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds. The study adds to a growing body of evidence linking the frequent use of acetaminophen in pregnancy to developmental problems in offspring.

  • Portrait of Susan Schantz

    Study: Acetaminophen use during pregnancy linked to language delays in children

    Acetaminophen is considered the safest over-the-counter pain reliever and fever reducer available during pregnancy and studies have shown that 50%-65% of women in North America and Europe take the analgesic during pregnancy. A new study from researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign explored the relationship between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and language outcomes in early childhood. It found that increasing acetaminophen use was associated with language delays.

  • Photo of Stephen Long holding a soybean leaf in the sun.

    In TED Talk, Long describes three photosynthetic changes that boost crop yields

    In a newly released TED Talk, Stephen Long, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor of plant biology and crop sciences, described his and his colleagues’ efforts to boost photosynthesis in crop plants. He described three interventions, each of which increased crop yields by 20% or more.

  • Research team portrait.

    Team discovers rules for breaking into Pseudomonas

    Researchers report in the journal Nature that they have found a way to get antibacterial drugs through the nearly impenetrable outer membrane of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium that – once it infects a person – is notoriously difficult to treat.

  • An artists rendering of an amphotericin B sterol sponge

    New antifungal molecule kills fungi without toxicity in human cells, mice

    A new antifungal molecule, devised by tweaking the structure of prominent antifungal drug Amphotericin B, has the potential to harness the drug’s power against fungal infections while doing away with its toxicity, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and collaborators at the University of Wisconsin-Madison report in the journal Nature.