RESEARCH Science Archives 2007

TOPICS: Agriculture | Animal Sciences |Astronomy | Atmospheric Science | Biochemistry | Bioengineering | Biology | Chemistry | Civil Engineering | Computers | Engineering | Entomology | Environment | Food Science | Geology | Health | Materials Science| Mathematics | Medicine |Nutritional Sciences | Physics | Psychology | Theoretical and Applied Mechanics | Veterinary Medicine |

AGRICULTURE
Integrated Pest Management: Expectations of higher corn prices are leading some farmers to neglect or ignore integrated pest management strategies, and their behavior could undermine the very technologies that sustain them, University of Illinois researchers report today at the American Chemical Society meeting in Boston. (8/21/07)

Bioenergy: $500 million research program announced today by the energy company BP will bring farm bioenergy production to Illinois on a grand scale, say researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Illinois will join the University of California at Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in forming the new Energy Biosciences Institute, with UC Berkeley taking the lead. (2/1/07)

ANIMAL SCIENCES
Swine Farms: In a new study, researchers at the University of Illinois report that some genes found in hog waste lagoons are transferred – “like batons” – from one bacterial species to another. The researchers found that this migration across species and into new environments sometimes dilutes – and sometimes amplifies – genes conferring antibiotic resistance. (8/21/07)

ASTRONOMY
Stellar Cradle: Astronomers at the University of Illinois have found the first clear evidence for a cradle in space where planets and moons form. The cradle, revealed in photographs taken with NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, consists of a flattened envelope of gas and dust surrounding a young protostar. (11/29/07)

Cosmology@Home: Want to help unravel the mysteries of the universe? A new distributed computing project designed by a University of Illinois researcher allows people around the world to participate in cutting-edge cosmology research by donating their unused computing cycles. (10/24/07)

Birth of Universe: Using relic radiation from the birth of the universe, astrophysicists at the University of Illinois have proposed a new way of measuring the fine-structure constant in the past, and comparing it with today. (4/2/07)

Superbubble: A superbubble in space, caught in the act of forming, can help scientists better understand the life and death of massive stars, say researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. (1/9/07)

Black Holes: Quasars are some of the most luminous and distant objects in the universe – and appear to have something in common with ordinary light bulbs, say researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. (1/8/07)

ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE
Ocean Acidification: A new study by University of Illinois atmospheric scientist Atul Jain, graduate student Long Cao and Carnegie Institution scientist Ken Caldeira suggests that future changes in ocean acidification are largely independent of climate change. The researchers report their findings in a paper accepted for publication in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, and posted on its Web site. (3/8/07)

BIOCHEMISTRY
Memory Modulation: New research from the University of Illinois challenges the premise that the brain must build new proteins in response to an experience for that experience to be recorded in long-term memory. (7/26/07)

Homology: In a paper published online this month in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, University of Illinois researchers report that they have developed a way to determine the function of some of the hundreds of thousands of proteins for which amino acid sequence data are available, but whose structure and function remain unknown. (7/11/07)

BIOENGINEERING
Cystic Fibrosis: By better understanding how antimicrobials bind and thereby get inactivated in the mucus of air passages, researchers at the University of Illinois may have found a way to help cystic fibrosis patients fight off deadly infections. (9/24/07)

Molecular 'hole punchers':In the battle against bacteria, researchers have scored a direct hit. They have made a discovery that could shorten the road to new and more potent antibiotics. (9/20/07)

Imaging: Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a novel computational image-forming technique for optical microscopy that can produce crisp, three-dimensional images from blurry, out-of-focus data.(1/22/07)

BIOLOGY
Olfactory System: Scientists have discovered a strange mechanism for the development of the fruit fly antennal lobe, an intricate structure that converts the chaotic stew of odors in the environment into discrete signals in the brain. (10/29/07)

Genetics: A team of 21 researchers, led by Ripan Malhi, a geneticist in the department of anthropology at the University of Illinois, has a new set of ideas about human migration from Asia to the Americas. (10/25/07)

Protein Architecture: A new study appearing this month in Genome Research reveals that protein architectures – the three-dimensional structures of specific regions within proteins – provide an extraordinary window on the history of life. (10/1/07)

Helicase: The process by which genes are duplicated is mysterious and complex, involving a cast of characters with diverse talents and the ability to play well with others in extremely close quarters. A key player on this stage is an enzyme called a helicase. Its job is to unwind the tightly coiled chain of nucleic acids – the DNA or RNA molecule that spells out the organism’s genetic code – so that another enzyme, a polymerase, can faithfully copy each nucleotide in the code. (7/26/07)

Enterotoxin: A research team led by the University of Illinois has developed a treatment for exposure to enterotoxin B, a noxious substance produced by the Staphylococcus aureus bacterium. The team engineered a protein, which was successfully tested in rabbits, that could one day be used to treat humans exposed to the enterotoxin. (5/21/07)

Metabolism: Researchers at the University of Illinois have constructed the first global family tree of metabolic protein architecture. Their approach offers a new window on the evolutionary history of metabolism. (5/17/07)

Chromosomes: Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a simple and economical technique for imaging and mapping fruit fly chromosomes. This new approach will enable them to construct the first accurate map of the chromosomes and tease out the secrets hidden in their stripes. (5/7/07)

Antibiotics: The National Institutes of Health has awarded $7 million to a team of researchers from the University of Illinois and the University of Wisconsin to discover, engineer and produce a promising – yet little explored – class of antibiotic agents. (4/24/07)

Germ Cells: The planarian is not as well known as other, more widely used subjects of scientific study – model creatures such as the fruit fly, nematode or mouse. But University of Illinois cell and developmental biology professor Phillip Newmark thinks it should be. As it turns out, the tiny, seemingly cross-eyed flatworm is an ideal subject for the study of germ cells, precursors of eggs and sperm in all sexually reproducing species. (4/23/07)

Bioenergy: $500 million research program announced today by the energy company BP will bring farm bioenergy production to Illinois on a grand scale, say researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Illinois will join the University of California at Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in forming the new Energy Biosciences Institute, with UC Berkeley taking the lead. (2/1/07)

Tropical forests: Tropical forests are among the most diverse plant communities on earth, and scientists have labored for decades to identify the ecological and evolutionary processes that created and maintain them. A key question is whether all tree species are equivalent in their use of resources – water, light and nutrients – or whether each species has its own niche. (1/11/07)

CHEMISTRY
Self-healing materials: A new catalyst-free, self-healing material system developed by researchers at the University of Illinois offers a far less expensive and far more practical way to repair composite materials used in structural applications ranging from airplane fuselages to wind-farm propeller blades. (11/27/07)

DNAzyme Catalysis: Using an extremely sensitive measurement technique, researchers at the University of Illinois have found clear evidence that a lead-specific DNAzyme uses the “lock and key” reaction mechanism. In the presence of zinc or magnesium, however, the same DNAzyme uses the  “induced fit” reaction mechanism, similar to that used by ribozymes. (11/12/07)

Water: In a familiar high-school chemistry demonstration, an instructor first uses electricity to split liquid water into its constituent gases, hydrogen and oxygen. Then, by combining the two gases and igniting them with a spark, the instructor changes the gases back into water with a loud pop.

Scientists at the University of Illinois have discovered a new way to make water, and without the pop. Not only can they make water from unlikely starting materials, such as alcohols, their work could also lead to better catalysts and less expensive fuel cells. (10/31/07)

Neural Culture: Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a method for culturing mammalian neurons in chambers not much larger than the neurons themselves. The new approach extends the lifespan of the neurons at very low densities, an essential step toward developing a method for studying the growth and behavior of individual brain cells. (8/30/07)

Lasers: Illinois researchers have now developed an ultrafast thermal measurement technique capable of exploring heat transport in extended molecules fastened at one end to a metal surface. (8/9/07)

Ulam's Conjecture: By creating a quantum mechanical analog of Ulam’s conjecture, researchers at the University of Illinois and the University of California have expanded the flexibility and controllability of quantum mechanical systems. (8/7/07)

Streamlining Synthesis: One of the fundamental challenges facing organic synthesis in the 21st century is the need to significantly increase the efficiency with which carbon frameworks can be constructed and functionalized. Chemists at the University of Illinois are helping to meet this challenge by developing a class of carbon-hydrogen catalysts that are highly selective, reactive and tolerant of other functionality. (8/2/07)

Sonication: Researchers at the University of Illinois report that a new study of mechanoluminescence revealed extensive atomic and molecular spectral emission not previously seen in a mechanoluminescence event. The findings, which appear online this month in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, also include the first report of gas phase chemical reactions resulting from a mechanoluminescence event. (5/8/07)

Mechanics Meets Chemistry: Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have found a novel way to manipulate matter and drive chemical reactions along a desired direction. The new technique utilizes mechanical force to alter the course of chemical reactions and yield products not obtainable through conventional conditions. (3/21/07)

Uranium Sensor: Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a simple, disposable sensor for detecting hazardous uranium ions, with sensitivity that rivals the performance of much more sophisticated laboratory instruments. (2/13/07)

Estrogen: Estrogen is known to enhance the growth and migration of breast cancer cells. Now researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have found that estrogen also can shield breast cancer cells from immune cells. (1/24/07)

CIVIL ENGINEERING
Biomimetic Membranes: Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a new generation of biomimetic membranes for water treatment and drug delivery. The highly permeable and selective membranes are based on the incorporation of the functional water channel protein Aquaporin Z into a novel A-B-A triblock copolymer. (11/29/07)

COMPUTERS

ENGINEERING
Self-healing materials: A new catalyst-free, self-healing material system developed by researchers at the University of Illinois offers a far less expensive and far more practical way to repair composite materials used in structural applications ranging from airplane fuselages to wind-farm propeller blades. (11/27/07)

Joint Program: To succeed, businesses need to factor in the wants, talents and needs of workers, not just the ever-growing capabilities of the equipment they use, said Betty Barrett, director of the new Socio-Technical Systems program, sponsored by the university’s Institute for Labor and Industrial Relations and College of Engineering. (10/8/07)

Quantum Dots: By placing quantum dots on a specially designed photonic crystal, researchers at the University of Illinois have demonstrated enhanced fluorescence intensity by a factor of up to 108. Potential applications include high-brightness light-emitting diodes, optical switches and personalized, high-sensitivity biosensors. (9/25/07)

Z-Pinch Plasma: Researchers at the University of Illinois have discovered a way to generate light and reduce damage in a leading candidate for next-generation microelectronics lithography. The technique could help pack more power into smaller computer chips. (9/12/07)

Semiconductor Membrane: A semiconductor membrane designed by researchers at the University of Illinois could offer more flexibility and better electrical performance than biological membranes. Built from thin silicon layers doped with different impurities, the solid-state membrane also could be used in applications such as single-molecule detection, protein filtering and DNA sequencing. (7/12/07)

Memory Metals: Crumpled kitchen foil that lays flat for reuse. Bent bumpers that straighten overnight. Dents in car doors that disappear when heated with a hairdryer. These and other physical feats may become possible with a technique to make memory metals discovered by researchers at the University of Illinois. (3/29/07)

Chain Mail: Scientists at the University of Illinois have fabricated the world’s smallest chain-mail fabric. Combined with existing processing techniques, the flexible, metallic fabric holds promise for fully engineered smart textiles. (3/28/07)

Nanoelectrodes: Investigating the composition and behavior of microscale environments, including those within living cells, could become easier and more precise with nanoelectrodes being developed at the University of Illinois. (3/8/07)

Artificial Fish Sensors: To find prey and avoid being preyed upon, fish rely on a row of specialized sensory organs along the sides of their bodies, called the lateral line. Now, a research team led by Chang Liu at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has built an artificial lateral line that can provide the same functions in underwater vehicles.(2/21/07)

Superionic Stamping: Creating high-resolution metallic interconnects is an essential part of the fabrication of microchips and other nanoscale devices. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a simple and robust electrochemical process for the direct patterning of metallic interconnects and other nanostructures. (2/21/07)

Imaging: Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a novel computational image-forming technique for optical microscopy that can produce crisp, three-dimensional images from blurry, out-of-focus data.(1/22/07)

ENTOMOLOGY
Wasp Genetics: Researchers at the University of Illinois have used an innovative approach to reveal the molecular basis of altruistic behavior in wasps. The research team focused on the expression of behavior-related genes in Polistes metricus paper wasps, a species for which little genetic data was available when the study was begun. Their findings appear today online in Science Express. (9/27/07)

Queen Bee: The mating ritual of the honey bee is a mysterious affair, occurring at dizzying heights in zones identifiable only to a queen and the horde of drones that court her. Now a research team led by the University of Illinois has identified an odorant receptor that allows male drones to find a queen in flight. The receptor, on the male antennae, can detect an available queen up to 60 meters away. (8/30/07)

Queen Bee Longevity: The queen honey bee is genetically identical to the workers in her hive, but she lives 10 times longer and – unlike her sterile sisters – remains reproductively viable throughout life. A study from the University of Illinois sheds new light on the molecular mechanisms that account for this divergence. The study appears in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (5/8/07)

Vespid wasps: Scientists at the University of Illinois have conducted a genetic analysis of vespid wasps that revises the vespid family tree and challenges long-held views about how the wasps’ social behaviors evolved. In the study, published in the Feb. 21 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers found genetic evidence that eusociality (the reproductive specialization seen in some insects and other animals) evolved independently in two groups of vespid wasps. (3/1/07)

Insect Fear Film Festival: What most attracts University of Illinois entomologist May Berenbaum to Japanese culture is its cinematic insects. Berenbaum, the head of the entomology department at the Urbana campus, will showcase Japanese insect movies at the 24th annual Insect Fear Film Festival on Feb. 24. (2/6/07)

ENVIRONMENT
Bio-exploration: Two land-grant universities have developed a new approach to global bio-exploration, one that returns most of the fruits of discovery to the countries that provide the raw materials on which the research depends. The Global Institute for Bio-Exploration, a joint initiative of the University of Illinois and Rutgers University, has become a model of sustainable, non-exploitive research in the developing world. (12/11/07)

Bioenergy: $500 million research program announced today by the energy company BP will bring farm bioenergy production to Illinois on a grand scale, say researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Illinois will join the University of California at Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in forming the new Energy Biosciences Institute, with UC Berkeley taking the lead. (2/1/07)

FOOD SCIENCE
Phytoestrogens: Are soy products healthy additions to a person’s diet, safe alternatives to hormone-replacement therapy or cancer-causing agents? The answer, according to University of Illinois food science and human nutrition professor William Helferich, is, “It depends.” (5/16/07)

GEOLOGY
Underwater volcano: Geologists at the University of Illinois report new measurements of rock samples from Kick’em Jenny, a submarine volcano in the Caribbean, that link the rate at which magma is produced beneath subduction zone volcanoes to the rate at which tectonic plates converge in this plate tectonic setting. (11/8/07)

Uranium Ores: For years, the ratio of uranium’s two long-lived isotopes,
U-235 and U-238, has been considered invariant, despite measurements made in the mid-1970s that hinted otherwise. Now, with improved precision from state-of-the-art instrumentation, researchers at the University of Illinois unequivocally show this ratio actually does vary significantly in Earth materials. (10/23/07)

Enceladus: A new model of Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus may quell hopes of finding life there. Developed by researchers at the University of Illinois, the model explains the most salient observations on Enceladus without requiring the presence of liquid water. (8/14/07)

Missing rock: Geologists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have located a huge chunk of Earth’s lithosphere that went missing 15 million years ago. By finding the massive block of errant rock beneath Tibet, the researchers are helping solve a long-standing mystery, and clarifying how continents behave when they collide. (2/8/07)

HEALTH
Wound Care: In recent years, researchers at the University of Illinois have uncovered a host of reasons for people to remain physically active as they age, ranging from better brain function to improved immune responses. Now a new U. of I. study points to yet another benefit: a link between moderate exercise and decreased inflammation of damaged skin tissue.(11/28/07)

Diabetes: In a study appearing this month in the Journal of Immunology, researchers at the University of Illinois describe how an impaired anti-inflammatory response plays a role in the pathology of type 2 diabetes. (6/14/07)

Traumatic Brain Injury: Thanks to a $1 million, five-year training grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Adele Proctor, a speech-language pathologist and researcher in the department of speech and hearing science, and colleagues at the U. of I., working with staff at area and regional hospitals, are training professionals to recognize, assess and treat pediatric traumatic brain injury - injures in people 21 or younger. (2/15/07)

MATERIALS SCIENCE
Self-healing materials: A new catalyst-free, self-healing material system developed by researchers at the University of Illinois offers a far less expensive and far more practical way to repair composite materials used in structural applications ranging from airplane fuselages to wind-farm propeller blades. (11/27/07)

Inks: New sol-gel inks developed by researchers at the University of Illinois can be printed into patterns to produce three-dimensional structures of metal oxides with nanoscale features. (10/11/07)

E-Jet Printing: By combining electrically induced fluid flow with nanoscale nozzles, researchers at the University of Illinois have established new benchmarks for precision control and resolution in jet-printing processes. (9/6/07)

Self-Healing Materials: The next generation of self-healing materials, invented by researchers at the University of Illinois, mimics human skin by healing itself time after time. The new materials rely upon embedded, three-dimensional microvascular networks that emulate biological circulatory systems. (6/11/07)

Photonic crystals: Researchers at the U. of I. have built an inverse woodpile structure of germanium, a material with a higher refractive index than silicon.(5/21/07)

Aging Process: Polymer glasses are versatile plastics widely used in applications ranging from aircraft windshields to DVDs. Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a theory that predicts how these materials age. The theory also explains why motions at the molecular level can have macroscopic consequences. (4/23/07)

Nanotube Arrays: Researchers at the University of Illinois, Lehigh University and Purdue University have developed an approach that uses dense arrays of aligned and linear nanotubes as a thin-film semiconductor material suitable for integration into electronic devices. (3/26/07)

Water theory: There may be tiny bubbles in the wine, but not at the interface between water and a waxy coating on glass, a new study shows. (1/11/07)

MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Nanopower: Researchers at the University of Illinois have shown that a single nanowire can produce power by harvesting mechanical energy. Made of piezoelectric material, the nanowire generates a voltage when mechanically deformed. To measure the voltage produced by such a tiny wire, however, the researchers first had to build an extremely sensitive and precise mechanical testing stage. (9/27/07)

MEDICINE
Restless Leg Syndrome: Restless legs syndrome is a common problem in children 8 years of age and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, according to a new report from an international team of researchers. (8/22/07)

Enterotoxin: A research team led by the University of Illinois has developed a treatment for exposure to enterotoxin B, a noxious substance produced by the Staphylococcus aureus bacterium. The team engineered a protein, which was successfully tested in rabbits, that could one day be used to treat humans exposed to the enterotoxin. (5/21/07)

Menopause: Three new studies explore the role of genes, obesity and alcohol consumption in contributing to – or lessening – the intensity and frequency of hot flashes in midlife women. These studies are part of a five-year research effort led by University of Illinois veterinary biosciences professor Jodi Flaws and colleagues at the University of Maryland, Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore and the School of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. (4/24/07)

Aggression: The culture of a school can dampen – or exacerbate – the violent or disruptive tendencies of aggressive young teens, new research indicates. A large-scale study from the University of Illinois found that while personal traits and peer interactions have the most direct effect on the aggressive behavior of middle school students, the school environment also influences student aggression. (4/23/07)

Estrogen: Estrogen is known to enhance the growth and migration of breast cancer cells. Now researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have found that estrogen also can shield breast cancer cells from immune cells. (1/24/07)

Imaging: Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a novel computational image-forming technique for optical microscopy that can produce crisp, three-dimensional images from blurry, out-of-focus data.(1/22/07)

MICROBIOLOGY
Small RNA: They are often overlooked, and were once thought to be too small to contribute much to major cellular processes, but in recent years the study of small ribonucleic acids (sRNA) has gained momentum. Now a team from the University of Illinois has identified the unique metabolic activities of one of these bit players, a 200-nucleotide-long RNA molecule in bacteria called SgrS. (11/29/07)

Third Domain: Thirty years ago this month, researchers at the University of Illinois published a discovery that challenged basic assumptions about the broadest classifications of life. Their discovery – which was based on an analysis of ribosomal RNA, an ancient molecule essential to the replication of all cells – opened up a new field of study, and established a first draft of the evolutionary “tree of life.” (10/16/07)

PHYSICS
DNA Sequencing: Using computer simulations, researchers at the University of Illinois have demonstrated a strategy for sequencing DNA by driving the molecule back and forth through a nanopore capacitor in a semiconductor chip. The technique could lead to a device that would read human genomes quickly and affordably. (12/12/07)

Cosmology@Home: Want to help unravel the mysteries of the universe? A new distributed computing project designed by a University of Illinois researcher allows people around the world to participate in cutting-edge cosmology research by donating their unused computing cycles. (10/24/07)

Nanophysics: A hybrid device combining force and fluorescence developed by researchers at the University of Illinois has made possible the accurate detection of nanometer-scale motion of biomolecules caused by pico-newton forces. (10/11/07)

Solar Cells: Placing a film of silicon nanoparticles onto a silicon solar cell can boost power, reduce heat and prolong the cell’s life, report researchers led by physicist Munir Nayfeh. (8/20/07)

New Particle: New fundamental particles aren’t found only at Fermilab and at other particle accelerators. They also can be found hiding in plain pieces of ceramic, scientists at the University of Illinois report. (7/17/07)

Superfluid Helium: By utilizing ideas developed in disparate fields, from earthquake dynamics to random-field magnets, researchers at the University of Illinois have constructed a model that describes the avalanche-like, phase-slip cascades in the superflow of helium. (4/24/07)

Birth of Universe: Using relic radiation from the birth of the universe, astrophysicists at the University of Illinois have proposed a new way of measuring the fine-structure constant in the past, and comparing it with today. (4/2/07)

Physics of Hearing: Scientists exploring the physics of hearing have found an underlying molecular cause for one form of deafness, and a conceptual connection between deafness and the organization of liquid crystals, which are used in flat-panel displays. (2/5/07)

PLANT BIOLOGY
Photosynthesis: University of Illinois researchers have built a better plant, one that produces more leaves and fruit without needing extra fertilizer. The researchers accomplished the feat using a computer model that mimics the process of evolution. Theirs is the first model to simulate every step of the photosynthesis process. (11/8/07)

PSYCHOLOGY
Simulated Relationships: In a new study, researchers at the University of Illinois look at the choices people make in simulated online dating relationships. By standardizing the behavior of the romantic "partner," the study clarifies how a person's outlook influences his or her choices and satisfaction with romance. (8/7/07)

Anxiety: All anxiety is not created equal, and a research team at the University of Illinois now has the data to prove it. The team has found the most compelling evidence yet of differing patterns of brain activity associated with each of two types of anxiety: anxious apprehension (verbal rumination, worry) and anxious arousal (intense fear, panic, or both). (5/29/07)

Culture and the Brain: Researchers in Illinois and Singapore have found that the aging brain reflects cultural differences in the way that it processes visual information. This study appears this month in the journal Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience. This paper and another published by the same group in 2006 are the first to demonstrate that culture can alter the brain’s perceptive mechanisms. (5/1/07)

Adolescent brains: Researchers at the University of Illinois have found that adolescence is a time of remodeling in the prefrontal cortex, a brain structure dedicated to higher functions such as planning and social behaviors. (3/12/07)

THEORETICAL AND APPLIED MECHANICS

VETERINARY MEDICINE
Colobus monkeys: Forest fragmentation threatens biodiversity, often causing declines or local extinctions in a majority of species while enhancing the prospects of a few. A new study from the University of Illinois shows that parasites can play a pivotal role in the decline of species in fragmented forests. This is the first study to look at how forest fragmentation increases the burden of infectious parasites on animals already stressed by disturbances to their habitat. (10/24/07)

Epididymis: Human sperm cells travel up to 6 meters in their transit from testes to penis, and most of that journey occurs in the epididymis, a tightly coiled tube that primes the cells for their ultimate task: fertilization. In a paper released this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the University of Illinois report that they have discovered a gene – and related mechanism – essential to the embryonic development of the epididymis. (6/26/07)

Bone cancer: Researchers at the University of Illinois have found that a molecular pathway known to have a role in the progression of bone cancer in humans is also critical to the pathology of skeletal tumors in dogs and cats. Their work could lead to advances in the palliative care of companion animals afflicted with osteosarcoma. (3/1/07)

E. coli bacteria: Scientists from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana have found that people employed in chimpanzee-focused research and tourism in a park in western Uganda are exchanging gastrointestinal bacteria – specifically Escherichia coli – with local chimpanzee populations. And some of the E. coli strains migrating to chimps are resistant to antibiotics used by humans in Uganda. (2/22/07)