New mutations to the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 are emerging, including a more-infectious variant first found in the United Kingdom, even as vaccines containing bits of viral genetic material are beginning distribution. Gustavo Caetano-Anollés, a professor in the Department of Crop Sciences and a member of the Carl R.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — In 1533, the Bom Jesus – a Portuguese trading vessel carrying 40 tons of cargo including gold, silver, copper and more than 100 elephant tusks – sank off the coast of Africa near present-day Namibia. The wreck was found in 2008, and Department of Animal Sciences researchers say they now have determined the source of much of the ivory recovered from the ship.

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URBANA, Ill. – Scientists are getting closer to finding the genes for maleness in waterhemp and Palmer amaranth, two of the most troublesome agricultural weeds in the U.S.

Finding the genes could enable new “genetic control” methods for the weeds, which, in many places, no longer respond to herbicides.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Ryan Dilger, associate professor in the Department of Animal Sciences, has been named one of five University Scholars at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus. The honor recognizes excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service.

URBANA, Ill. – Careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are one of the fastest-growing areas of work in the United States, yet racial and gender disparities remain in STEM occupations.

URBANA, Ill. – Walking rows of soybeans in the mid-summer heat is an exhausting but essential chore in breeding new cultivars. Researchers brave the heat daily during crucial parts of the growing season to look for plants showing desirable traits, such as early pod maturity. But without a way to automate detection of these traits, breeders can’t test as many plots as they’d like in a given year, elongating the time it takes to bring new cultivars to market.

URBANA, Ill. – The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has awarded $1.12 million to support University of Illinois-led research to clean agricultural drainage water through saturated buffers and denitrifying bioreactors. The investment, part of NRCS’s Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) program, was matched by numerous stakeholder partners in Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota, for a total of nearly $2.25 million. 

URBANA, Ill. – Parents, you might know the feeling. When kids get pushy and demanding, it’s a tempting fantasy to shove them out of the house and let them survive on their own. Of course, we’d never put our babies in harm’s way, but according to new research from the University of Illinois, many songbird parents give nestlings the boot well before they’re ready.

URBANA, Ill. – Back in March, the University of Illinois meat science research group was wrapping up a big project and the meats judging team was preparing to host a regional contest. Then, in the blink of an eye, COVID-19 hit, sending everyone home.

“Our coolers were absolutely full,” says Anna Dilger, meat scientist and associate professor in the Department of Animal Sciences.

URBANA, Ill. – We don’t know precisely how hot things will get as climate change marches on, but there’s reason to believe animals in the tropics may not fare as well as their temperate relatives. Many scientists think tropical animals, because they’re accustomed to a more stable thermal environment, may be pushed beyond their limits quickly as temperatures soar. And that could lead to massive species loss.