Infectious Diseases

In the news: What is listeriosis and how is it treated?

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...

New research challenges longstanding assumptions of evolutionary metal preferences

2023-05-08

Thomas Kehl-Fie, a professor of microbiology in the School of Molecular & Cellular Biology, and collaborator Kevin Waldron, a professor at the Institute of Biochemistry & Biophysics in Warsaw, Poland, have found that have found that in response to the immune system restricting metal...

Illinois researchers test nicotinic hypothesis of COVID-19

2022-11-04

Authors Nicole Godellas, Gisela Cymes, and Claudio Grosman sit together in a row outside, smiling.

Although researchers have learned much about SARS-CoV-2, the vast array of unexplained symptoms associated with acute and post-acute ("long") COVID-19 warrants the search for additional biochemical pathways involved. On the basis of amino-acid sequence analyses and computational approaches, it has...

Researchers explore gene interactions in influenza to help improve accuracy of flu vaccines

2022-10-06

Person in mask gives student a flu shot at a flu shot clinic provided by McKinley Health Center at the University of Illinois.

The influenza virus, which causes the flu, is a major public health issue, infecting millions of people and estimated to cost $10 billion in direct medical costs in the United States each year. Like most viruses, influenza mutates rapidly as it spreads, making it difficult to vaccinate against...

Who should get an omicron COVID-19 booster?

2022-09-15

Chris Brooke, assistant professor of microbiology, recently spoke with The 21st public radio show about what scientists know about the virus that causes COVID-19, the emerging variants, and what they still have to learn.

Although the omicron variants seem less deadly, COVID-19 vaccine boosters are needed to keep up with the virus as it evolves, says University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign microbiology professor Christopher Brooke.

Meet MCB: Biochemistry PhD student Yiquan Wang

2022-07-25

Yiquan Wang sits smiling in a white lab coat with his arms crossed next to a computer displaying his artwork in the Wu Lab.

Yiquan Wang is a PhD student in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology at UIUC. In our latest "Meet MCB" video, Yiquan shares how he's bridging his love for art and biochemistry to help people better understand virology.

Biochemistry professor Nicholas Wu awarded Ann Palmenberg Junior Investigator Award

2022-07-18

Biochemistry professor Nicholas Wu has been awarded the Ann Palmenberg Junior Investigator Award by the American Society for Virology. As a recipient of the award, Wu delivered a research talk at the 2022 ASV Annual Meeting. This year's conference is being held at UW-Madison from July 16-...

Meet MCB: Undergraduate researcher Neha Arun

2022-07-15

Neha Arun reviews imaging of host-pathogen interactions in a darkly lit room, with her face illuminated by the screen.

MCB major Neha Arun shares her experiences working as an undergraduate researcher in Professor Collin Kieffer's lab in the Department of Microbiology, as well as a look at life outside the lab at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

COVID-19 virus spike protein flexibility improved by human cell's own modifications

2022-07-05

The simulations revealed that the host cell's own protein-processing infrastructure adds sugar groups called glycans, shown in red, which make the spike protein more flexible and mobile – key traits for infection and for evading antibodies. Image courtesy of Tianle Chen.

When the coronavirus causing COVID-19 infects human cells, the cell’s protein-processing machinery makes modifications to the spike protein that render it more flexible and mobile, which could increase its ability to infect other cells and to evade antibodies, a new study from the University of...

SHIELD program a model for effective pandemic management, data show

2022-06-10

A student holds up a vial with saliva. The vial is sharply in focus, while the student, who is wearing a U of I face mask, is blurred out of focus.

The SHIELD: Target, Test, Tell program combined frequent saliva tests with modeling and an app to keep the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus and surrounding community safe when on-campus operations resumed in fall 2020.

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