Cell & Developmental Biology (CDB)

RNA barcodes enable high-speed mapping of connections in the brain

2026-03-13

Comingling RNA barcodes, each correlating to a neuron, indicate where neurons connect in the brain

By tagging neurons with molecular “barcodes,” researchers mapped connections among thousands of neurons in the mouse brain with unprecedented speed and resolution.The approach could expand understanding not only of the layout of elaborate networks in the brain, but also how the brain functions,...

School of MCB celebrates faculty, staff awards

2025-12-17

Blue and orange confetti flies in the air.

Congratulations to recipients of this year's School of MCB faculty and staff awards!It is a school tradition to recognize outstanding members of the community at our year-end holiday party, and this year we presented awards across seven categories, honoring achievements in research, teaching, and...

MCB researchers unveil new actin filament behavior in the cellular cytoskeleton

2025-12-11

Imagine a treadmill. As it moves, the track is constantly receding but is replenished at an equal rate on the opposite end. The result is a machine in perpetual motion, but which has its length stay exactly the same. For decades, biologists have regarded “treadmilling” as the standard...

In new research, Van Bortle Lab untangles a noncoding RNA-based mechanism of cancer progression

2025-12-01

Seven resesarchers gather in Dr. Kevin Van Bortle's cell and developmental biology lab

Researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign are piecing together how cancer-emergent non-coding RNAs, or ncRNAs, contribute to disease-related cell phenotypes. The Van Bortle lab has focused extensively on RNA polymerase III (Pol III) —...

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

2025-06-26

four damaged and undamaged drosophila wings

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 starfish or the salamanders axolotls asks how future therapeutics could promote the regrowth of hard-to-heal tissues, limbs...

MCB alumnus Dr. Craig Mackinnon builds a career in pathology, genomic medicine

2025-05-12

Man in blue shirt and beige jacket stands in atrium in front of sign that says MCB, School of Molecular & Cellular Biology

Since his time as a graduate student at Illinois, Dr. Alexander “Craig” Mackinnon (PhD, ‘04, Cell and Structural Biology; MD, ’04) has built a career in anatomical pathology and molecular genetic pathology. Currently serving as the inaugural director of the Division of Genomic Diagnostics and...