All University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign articles
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NSF to invest $5 million to Biofoundries project
The U.S. National Science Foundation and partner agencies in the U.S., Canada, Finland, Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), and the United Kingdom have announced funding awards in their Global Centers competition. One of the centers, the Reliable and Scalable Biofoundries for Biomanufacturing and Global Bioeconomy, includes researchers from the ...
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Bacteria ‘doing their job’, as nitrogen fertilizer for soybeans offers limited yield benefits
Researchers tested whether modern high-yielding soybeans benefit from nitrogen fertilizer, with results suggesting additions are largely unnecessary.
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Good nutrition boosts honey bee resilience against pesticides and viruses
In a new study, researchers investigate how nutritional stress, viral infections and exposure to pesticides together influence honey bee survival. By looking at all three stressors together, the scientists found that good nutrition enhances honey bee resilience against the other threats.
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Honey added to yogurt supports probiotic cultures for digestive health
If you enjoy a bowl of plain yogurt in the morning, adding a spoonful of honey is a delicious way to sweeten your favorite breakfast food. It also supports the probiotic cultures in the popular fermented dairy product, according to two new studies.
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Coinfecting viruses impede each other’s ability to enter cells
Scientists researching phage infection at the level of a single cell investigated whether the number of infecting phages that bind to the bacterial surface corresponds to the amount of viral genetic material that is injected into the cell.
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Mouse study reveals how fetal brain impacted when mother fights severe flu
A bad case of the flu during pregnancy can increase the risk for fetal neurodevelopmental disorders such as schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder. But it’s not the virus itself doing the damage; it’s the mother’s immune response.
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Studies explore converting wastewater to fertilizer with fungal treatment
Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) converts biomass into biocrude oil through a high-temperature, high-pressure process. Two new studies explore the use of a fungal treatment to convert the leftover wastewater into fertilizer for agricultural crops.
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Rising antimicrobial resistance in some Salmonella serovars isolated from retail chicken meat
Salmonella infections are a major public health issue in the United States, causing over 1.3 million illnesses annually. These infections are a leading cause of foodborne illness, often traced back to raw or undercooked poultry meat and eggs. Source: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Scanning electron ...
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Most Salmonella illnesses from chicken caused by few products with high levels of virulent strains
A new study shows that few products with high levels of very virulent Salmonella strains are responsible for most of the illnesses from raw chicken parts, suggesting regulation efforts should focus on detecting and preventing high-risk contamination.
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Pumpkin disease not evolving - which could make a difference for management
The bacterium, Xanthomonas cucurbitae, is so successful that it has had no reason to evolve through time or space, according to new research characterizing the pathogen’s genetic diversity across the Midwest.
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$14.8 million grant supports Illinois-Singapore partnership on precision fermentation for food
The team has received a five-year, $14.8 million-dollar grant to develop the Centre for Precision Fermentation and Sustainability (PreFerS), focusing on enhancing the reliable, cost-effective production of safe, nutritious, and appetizing foods.
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Gut microbes from aged mice induce inflammation in young mice
New findings suggest that changes to the gut microbiome play a role in the systemwide inflammation that often occurs with aging, and also revealed that antibiotics caused longer-lasting disruptions in gut microbiomes of aged mice than in young mice.
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New antibiotic kills pathogenic bacteria, but 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.
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Mobile teams bring COVID-19 vaccines to rural villages in Sierra Leone
A new international research project showed that intervention with mobile vaccination teams in Sierra Leone is an effective way of reaching rural populations to increase vaccination uptake.
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How does bird flu infect so many species?
Reports of the first documented case of the H5N1 virus passing from birds to cows — and then from a cow to a person - have generated a lot of concern over diseases ‘spilling over’ from wildlife to livestock and humans.
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New soil model integrates microbes and large perennial grasses
A new soil model integrates soil microbes and the distinct physiological traits of large perennial grasses into DayCent.
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Newborn piglets serve as a model for studying influenza
A multidisciplinary team of researchers has studied newborn piglets to better understand the progression of influenza infections.
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First atom-level structure of packaged viral genome reveals new properties, dynamics
A computational model of the more than 26 million atoms in a DNA-packed viral capsid expands our understanding of virus structure and DNA dynamics, insights that could provide new research avenues and drug targets, researchers report.
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Study supports disease-challenged broiler chickens through nutrition
New research suggests diet changes might help to ensure optimal growth during outbreaks of the parasitic infection coccidiosis in broiler chickens.
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Refrigerate lettuce to reduce risk of E. coli contamination, researchers say
Leafy green vegetables are important sources of dietary fiber and nutrients, but they can harbor harmful pathogens. In particular, lettuce has often been involved in outbreaks of foodborne illness across the U.S. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign examines factors that affect E. coli ...