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News about research advances, awards, and more.
Building blueprints for drug-producing enzymes: A Q&A with Chu-Young Kim
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...
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New AI model promises to speed up process of antibody characterization
An AI language model developed by Illinois researchers for sequence-based antibody specificity prediction and published in Immunity will accelerate epitope mapping and improve scientists’ understanding of the B-cell...
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New training grant funded for researchers in reproductive sciences and engineering
The National Institutes of Health has approved the T32 grant, “Interdisciplinary Research Training at the Interface of Reproductive Sciences and Bioengineering." The training program is aimed at predoctoral students who want to work at the interface of reproductive sciences and engineering, two...
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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...
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When an orange behaves like an apple: New research pinpoints rules governing reaction outcomes of G-protein-modifying toxins
A group of researchers from the University of Illinois has identified a set of rules governing the reaction preferences of a family of G-protein-modifying toxins. G proteins are proteins that regulate cellular processes through interactions between hormone receptors and downstream signaling...
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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...
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With, not on: Reimagining autism in research
In the past six months, Laura Hetrick has spoken to more researchers than she has in her last 14 years at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
“The last thing an autistic person wants to hear is, ‘You...
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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...
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New study highlights need for cell-type-specific therapies in treatment of HIV
Researchers from the University of Illinois have demonstrated the importance of cell-type-specific targeting in the treatment of HIV. Their findings, published in PNAS, are one of the first to examine the differential or cell-type...
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Researchers decode movement pattern of landmark polar protein
A trio of researchers from the Department of Microbiology has discovered an essential function of a landmark protein in regulating movement across bacterial cells.
Members of the Mera Lab determined how the coiled-coil polar protein TipN moves a region of the chromosome called parS. They also...