News

2009-12-31 - Scott Silverman, a chemistry professor at Illinois who has done pioneering work with DNA enzymes, hopes that "by capturing Darwinian evolution in new molecules, we might be able to better understand the basic principles of biological evolution," much of which is still somewhat mysterious at the molecular level. To read more...

2009-12-31 - CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Better tools for manipulating DNA in the laboratory may soon be possible with newly discovered deoxyribozymes (catalytic DNA) capable of cleaving single-stranded DNA, researchers at the University of Illinois say. The deoxyribozymes accomplish the DNA cleavage with the sequence-selectivity and site-selectivity required for a practical catalyst, the researchers say. "Our work...

2009-12-31 - A new process for creating ultrathin, ultrasmall inorganic light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and assembling them into large arrays offers new classes of lighting and display systems with interesting properties, such as see-through construction and mechanical flexibility, that would be impossible to achieve with existing technologies. Applications for the arrays, which can be printed onto flat or...

2009-12-31 - Scott Silverman has received the 2009 Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry given by the American Chemical Society's Division of Biological Chemistry. Scott will be presented the award (consisting of a bronze medal and honorarium) at the 238th National ACS Meeting in August in Washington D.C. during an awards symposium in his honor. The award was created in 1934 and is intended to stimulate...

2009-12-31 - A new ink developed by researchers at the University of Illinois allows them to write their own silver linings. The ink, composed of silver nanoparticles, can be used in electronic and optoelectronic applications to create flexible, stretchable and spanning microelectrodes that carry signals from one circuit element to another. The printed microelectrodes can withstand repeated bending and...

2009-12-31 - Eric Oldfield, professor of chemistry, was selected for his contributions to biological magnetic resonance, including chemical shift analysis and development of anti-malarial drugs. Read more in the News Bureau article, or see the AAAS website.

2009-12-31 - A team of 24 researchers from the U.S., Europe, Taiwan and Japan and led by University of Illinois scientists has engineered a new anti-cancer agent that is about 200 times more active in killing tumor cells than similar drugs used in recent clinical trials.

2009-12-31 - A team of 24 researchers from the U.S., Europe, Taiwan, and Japan, and led by University of Illinois scientists, has engineered a new anti-cancer agent that is about 200 times more active in killing tumor cells than similar drugs used in recent clinical trials.

2009-12-31 - Chad Rienstra received the International Conferences on Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems (ICMRBS) Founders Medal in San Diego in 2008. The award cited Chad's innovative work in the area of solid-state NMR methodology and applications to determine protein structures. The ICMRBS Founders Medal is given to a scientist under 41 years of age who has made exceptional contributions to...

2009-12-31 - Dr. Jeff Moore and Philip A. Janowicz of Chemistry at Illinois have recently been featured in Nature for their online and interactive courses. To read the article, please see the Nature website.

2009-12-31 - The Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois is delighted to announce that Professor Catherine J. Murphy will be joining our faculty next fall.   Cathy graduated magna cum laude (Bronze Tablet) from UIUC in 1986 with a double degree in Chemistry and Biochemistry.  After obtaining a Ph.D. with Art Ellis at Wisconsin, she held sequential NSF and NIH postdoctoral fellowships...

2009-12-31 - LAS News writer Doug Peterson has written an article regarding Carl "Speed" Marvel and the Rubber Project. Read more at the LAS News website.

2009-12-31 - Dr. Ben McCall has won the Colblentz Award, given annually in the Molecular Spectroscopy Symposium at Ohio State. Read more about the Coblentz Award here, at their website: http://www.coblentz.org/COBLIST.HTM

2009-12-31 - Dr. Yi Lu and researchers have developed a new approach to cancer chemotherapy using short DNA strands to help target delivery of the drug directly to cancer cells, and 'call it off' should problems arise. Read more about this discovery in the RSC Chemistry World article. Illinois News Bureau Article CHAMPAIGN...

2009-12-31 - Pathogen recognition is the foundation of the body's immune response and survival against infection. A small cell-receptor protein called DC-SIGN is part of the immune system, and recognizes certain pathogens, including those responsible for Ebola, Dengue fever and HIV. How the molecule binds to pathogens has been unclear. New findings from a research team led by University of Illinois chemist...