Stories about recent journal articles featuring work by MCB faculty and students.

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...

Researchers identify key regulators underlying regeneration in Drosophila

Some animals possess the remarkable ability to regenerate lost structures, exemplified by a lizard regrowing its tail. However, this regenerative process must be tightly regulated by the body to ensure proper tissue organization and to prevent abnormal growths, such as cancer. Yet, the precise...

New study uncovers novel receptor function in Fragile X syndrome

Fragile X syndrome is one of the most commonly inherited forms of autism and intellectual disability, and no treatment currently exists. But a team of University of Illinois researchers led by Vipendra Kumar, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology, has...

Supercomputing the secrets inside cattle antibiotics

Chemists have determined for the first time the crystal structure and unlocked the mechanism of reaction activity of a key component of the monensin enzyme.  “The main finding was the first crystal structure for this family of enzymes,” said...