College of ACES celebrates largest freshman class and record undergraduate enrollment

The College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has the largest freshman class on record, with enrollment data going back to 1963. This marks the second consecutive year of record-setting growth in the college’s undergraduate community.

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Researchers capture new antibiotic resistance mechanisms with trace amounts of DNA

Scientists from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a method to isolate genes from amounts of microbial DNA so tiny that it would take 20,000 samples to weigh as much as a single grain of sugar. In a new paper, the researchers used the method to discover previously unknown antibiotic resistance genes in bacterial DNA isolated from fish habitats at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium and separate samples of human stool.

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Pretreatment Methods Bring Second-gen Biofuels from Oilcane Closer to Commercialization

In collaboration with other Bioenergy Research Centers (BRCs), researchers at the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) are developing industrially feasible techniques for second-generation biofuel production from oilcane, an oil-rich variety of sugarcane, to help meet our growing societal demand for fuels.

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From farm roots to paying it forward: Jim and Ellen Holmes invest in Illinois students

Jim and Ellen Holmes have devoted their lives to service — first to their country and now to the next generation of students.

Jim Holmes grew up on a small Angus cattle farm near Dunlap, Illinois, where problem-solving was part of everyday life.

“If something broke, you fixed it with a screwdriver, an adjustable wrench, and a hammer,” Jim said with a laugh.

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Illinois-based project helps expand world soybean market in Malawi

Malawi’s Lower Shire Valley is changing. Over 14 years, the Shire Valley Transformation Program will turn 42,500 hectares (over 105,000 acres) into irrigated farmland, giving nearly 50,000 smallholder farmers a real chance at building prosperity and generational wealth.

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