University of Illinois biochemistry professor Kai Zhang and collaborators developed a technique using light to regulate mitochondria, the energy-producing powerhouses inside cells. The technique could address mitochondrial diseases and cancer.

Blue light is illuminating new understanding of a key signaling pathway in embryo development, tissue maintenance, and cancer genesis.

Congratulations to Kai Zhang, professor of biochemistry, whose team was selected for a 2021 Scialog Collaborative Innovation Award. The project is entitled, “Engineering Enteric Neuron Activity to Enhance Antimicrobial Immunity in the Gut.”

Rachel Smith-Bolton, a professor of cell and developmental biology at the University of Illinois, leads an exciting research program on tissue regeneration. Her recent work uses Drosophila as a model to explore the effects of different chromatin modifiers on initiating, spatially controlling, and...