Research

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Scientists working to understand the cellular processes linking high cholesterol to breast cancer recurrence and metastasis report that a byproduct of cholesterol metabolism causes some cells to send out cancer-promoting signals to other cells. These signals are packaged in membrane-bound compartments called extracellular vesicles.

Reported in the journal Endocrinology, the discovery could lead to the development of new anti-cancer therapies, researchers say.

URBANA, Ill. – Jamison Watson, doctoral student in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABE) at the University of Illinois, received a Schmidt Science Fellowship. He is one of 28 awardees in the 2021 cohort of fellows, representing 13 nationalities and multiple research fields. 

URBANA, Ill. – When pigs get hit with significant illnesses during key stages of pregnancy, their immune response may negatively affect developing piglets, making them less productive on the farm. New research from the University of Illinois shows that when those piglets – especially males – experience a second stressor in early life, they are at higher risk of neurodevelopmental and other neurological anomalies, putting them at an even greater disadvantage in production settings.

URBANA, Ill. – As the owner of a human body, you’re carrying trillions of microbes with you everywhere you go. These microscopic organisms aren’t just hitching a ride; many of them perform essential chemical reactions that regulate everything from our digestion to our immune system to our moods.

URBANA, Ill. – Gut health is having a moment, with sales of fermented foods such as kefir, kombucha, and kimchi steadily on the rise. The benefits of “good bacteria” in fermented foods and supplements go well beyond the gut, moderating immune responses, heart health, weight, and even mood. But do products hold up to the claims on their labels?

URBANA, Ill. – Sweet corn growers and processors could be bringing in more profits by exploiting natural density tolerance traits in certain hybrids. That’s according to 2019 research from USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and University of Illinois scientists.

URBANA, Ill. -- Today, the Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) is critically endangered, with fewer than 100 individuals surviving in Indonesia on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. To ensure survival of the threatened species, accurate censusing is necessary to determine the genetic diversity of remaining populations for conservation and management plans. 

URBANA, Ill. – With threats of water scarcity complicating the need to feed a growing global population, it is more important than ever to get crop irrigation right. Overwatering can deplete local water supplies and lead to polluted runoff, while underwatering can lead to sub-optimal crop performance. Yet few farmers use science-based tools to help them decide when and how much to water their crops.

URBANA, Ill. -- New studies from the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) shed more light on the economic and environmental costs of mandates in the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), a federal program to expand the nation’s biofuels sector.

URBANA, Ill. – Australian pineapple, Danish trout, and Midwestern U.S. corn farmers are not often lumped together under the same agricultural umbrella. But they and many others who raise crops and animals face a common problem: excess nitrogen in drainage water. Whether it flows out to the Great Barrier Reef or the Gulf of Mexico, the nutrient contributes to harmful algal blooms that starve fish and other organisms of oxygen.