2024-10-10
- Investigators from the University of Illinois have created a whole-genome map that charts the occupancies of RNA polymerase enzymes in humans, discovering unexpected patterns in the process. Their findings appear in Molecular Cell.
DNA transcription — the process of copying sequences of DNA into RNA molecules —...
2024-10-08 - Preclinical research is an important step of the drug and treatment development process that ensures the safety of a potential treatment modality for human testing. But until recently, most preclinical research studies in animals were only conducted on one sex: typically, male. This tendency to exclude female subjects in preclinical studies had implications for clinical trials and for...
2024-10-04 - Ricardo Diaz still remembers the night chemistry professor Joaquin Rodriguez-Lopez walked into a room full of kids and told them to throw ketchup on a volunteer wearing a special shirt. Soon the room was enveloped in ketchup, laughter, and gasps as they watched the shirt magically repel everything they threw at it. In an instant, they grasped...
2024-10-01 - It is with sadness that the School of Molecular & Cellular Biology and Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology share news of the passing of Professor emeritus Sandy Helman. Dr. Helman, an ion-transport physiologist and biophysicist, died on July 14, 2024, at home with his family. Remembered fondly as a kind and caring colleague, Dr. Helman was on the faculty at the University of...
2024-09-30 - Kameno Bell knows that fumbling is inevitable — in football, and in life. Bell (BS, ’92, biology; MD, ’01), a former fullback for the Fighting Illini, has excelled in the classroom and on the gridiron, playing two seasons of professional football for the Miami Dolphins before launching an ongoing career in emergency medicine. In recognition of his accomplishments, Bell was the invited...
2024-09-18 - Adding to the continued success of our School of Molecular & Cellular Biology students, biochemistry major Ben Shapiro was recently selected for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 2024 Homecoming Court. Congratulations! We sat down with him to discuss his experiences at Illinois and learn...
2024-09-18 - Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will develop a radically new platform to manufacture tumor models and expand their availability for medical research and personalized medicine, thanks to a $21 million grant from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, an agency in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services whose mission...
2024-09-17 - For typical illnesses, the body’s immune system is a robust, pathogen-killing machine. It provides a general defense against harmful germs while also adapting and producing antibodies that target specific bacteria or viruses. After fighting off an infection like the flu, the body produces regulatory T cells, also known as Tregs. These cells send signals to slow down the immune system, usually an...
2024-09-17 - 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...
2024-09-16 - What talks without being seen or heard? It sounds like a riddle, but neuronal communication had perplexed biochemists until a few years ago, when scientists discovered ways in which neurons talk to each other — not with cell phones or instant messaging, but through the exchange of virus-like particles. Now, researchers from the University of Illinois have elucidated which pathway is used to...
2024-09-12 - An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Illinois has discovered a potential new treatment option for drug-resistant breast cancer. Their findings, published in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, demonstrates the role of activators of ferroptosis in overcoming acquired resistance to FOXM1...
2024-09-10 - The School of Molecular & Cellular Biology and Department of Biochemistry are saddened to share the news that emerita biochemistry professor Ana Jonas passed away on June 12, 2024. Known for her compassion, curiosity, and drive, Jonas managed a robust research enterprise that advanced our understanding of the role lipoproteins play in cardiovascular disease. During her three decades at...
2024-09-09 - A new review article co-authored by Chu-Young Kim, Professor of Biochemistry, discusses the architecture of modular polyketide synthases (PKS), a type of enzyme found in various organisms that synthesize widely used clinical drugs like the antibiotic erythromycin and the immunosuppressant rapamycin. The...
2024-09-04 - A recent recall of more than seven million pounds of deli meat has marked the largest listeria outbreak since 2011, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The outbreak has been traced to a Boar’s Head meat plant in Virginia, leading to the hospitalization of nearly sixty people who...
2024-08-30 - Nicholas Wu, assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry, is among the newest cohort of Vallee Scholars named Friday by the Vallee Foundation. The award recognizes outstanding junior faculty members conducting innovative biomedical research and...