URBANA, Ill. – Knowledge creation – the generation of new ideas and patents – is an important driver of economic growth. Understanding how knowledge moves across industry sectors and regions can inform research and development (R&D) efforts, promote university-industry partnerships for innovation, and impact private businesses’ location decisions.

This week’s 5 Questions Friday features Clare Hur, agricultural and consumer economics (ACE) major with management goals

URBANA, Ill. – The Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois will host a workshop on applied quantitative genetics for plant breeders June 1-3, 2022. The free workshop will give graduate students and other interested professionals the statistical tools to achieve greater crop breeding outcomes.

URBANA, Ill. – In neighborhoods lacking tree cover, residents suffer poorer health and incur hundreds of dollars more in medical costs than neighbors on leafier blocks. That’s according to a new University of Illinois study of 5 million Americans over a 13-year period.

URBANA, Ill. – When avocados were first recognized as a nutrient-dense superfood for humans, consumption skyrocketed. Today, consumers buy and eat the fresh fruit (hello, avocado toast), purchase pre-packaged guacamole, cook with avocado oil, and more.

This week’s 5 Questions Friday features Jarvis Williams, a sophomore majoring in Engineering Technology and Management for Agricultural Systems (ETMAS). High school experiences, FFA involvement, and ACES research apprenticeship program spurred an interest in agricultural engineering and the environment for this Chicago native.

URBANA, Ill. – Colorectal cancer is expected to claim more than 52,000 American lives in 2022, and if this year is like most others, Black Americans will bear the brunt of the disease. To understand the disparity in context, University of Illinois researchers looked at the intersection of bile acids, gut microbes, racial identity, and neighborhood food environment in the development of colorectal cancer.

URBANA, Ill. – When tar spot – a fungal disease of corn capable of causing significant yield loss – popped out of nowhere in 2015, Midwestern corn growers were left scrambling to manage the outbreak with few effective tools. The industry has since made some progress toward management with fungicides, but many researchers agree resistance is the path forward for living with tar spot.

URBANA, Ill. – Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Mie University in Japan have developed monoclonal antibodies that prevent lung cell death in mouse models for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and acute respiratory disease syndrome (ARDS). The advance, along with new, non-invasive diagnostic tools presented in the same study, could be a critical step in treating the deadly diseases, for which few effective therapies currently exist.

URBANA, Ill. -- To accurately diagnose and treat diseases, doctors and researchers need to see inside bodies. Medical imaging tools have come a long way since the humble x-ray, but most existing tools remain too coarse to quantify numbers or specific types of cells inside deep tissues of the body. 

Quantum dots can do that, according to new research in mice from the University of Illinois.