Harnessing the Power of Synthetic Biology, Machine Learning,and Laboratory Automation

Developing and applying synthetic biology, machine learning, and laboratory automation tools to address society's most daunting challenges in human health and energy, and investigating the fundamental aspects of enzyme catalysis, cell metabolism, and gene regulation. Read More


February, 19, 2021

Direct cloning method CAPTUREs novel microbial natural products

Direct cloning method CAPTUREs novel microbial natural products

By: Alisa King-Klemperer



January, 27, 2021

Genome-editing tool TALEN outperforms CRISPR-Cas9 in tightly packed DNA

Genome-editing tool TALEN outperforms CRISPR-Cas9 in tightly packed DNA

By: Diana Yates | Life Sciences Editor, U of I News Bureau



November 09, 2020

$87 million multi-institutional grant will help Illinois advance bioindustrial manufacturing

U of I plays a key role in research collaboration funded by the Department of Defense

By: Kimberly Belser | Illinois LAS



August 26, 2020

U of I to lead two of seven new national artificial intelligence institutes

The University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign will host two new artificial intelligence institutes funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

By: Diana Yates | Life Sciences Editor, U. Of I. News Bureau



June 21, 2020

Photoactive enzyme can tame radicals

Reaction makes chiral carbonyls in high yields and selectivity.

By: Leigh Krietsch Boerner




June 8, 2020

Researchers Shed Light on New Enzymatic Reaction

Researchers have identified key ingredients for producing high-value chemical compounds in an environmentally friendly fashion: repurposed enzymes, curiosity, and a little bit of light.

By: Jenna Kurtzweil


November 27, 2019

Robotic system can plan and perform biosynthesis without human intervention

A fully automated algorithm-driven platform can not only design, build and test biochemical pathways to make valuable compounds, it can learn from its mistakes and optimise the process too.1 After the initial setup, the robotic system plans and performs all the experiments without further human participation. The new approach can be used to produce a variety of chemicals using biological engineering.

By: Kira Welter


November 13, 2019

Artificial intelligence to run the chemical factories of the future

A new proof-of-concept study details how an automated system driven by artificial intelligence can design, build, test and learn complex biochemical pathways to efficiently produce lycopene, a red pigment found in tomatoes and commonly used as a food coloring, opening the door to a wide range of biosynthetic applications, researchers report.

By: Lois Yoksoulian


April 24, 2019

Project aims to revive natural product discovery

A new project aims to discover new natural products on a large scale by using synthetic biology and automation.

By: Emily Scott




December 31, 2018

Unmuting large silent genes lets bacteria produce new molecules, potential drug candidates

Illinois researchers developed a technique to unmute silent genes in Streptomyces bacteria using decoy DNA fragments to lure away repressors.

By: Liz Ahlberg Touchstone


August 18, 2018

Catalytic teamwork transforms alkenes selectively

Photocatalyst pairs with ene-reductase enzyme to obtain one enantiomer in reductions of mixtures

By: Carmen Drahl




August 15, 2018

A unique combination of catalysts opens doors to making useful compounds

Researchers have developed a new method that aids in the process of making valuable compounds by using a unique combination of catalysts.

By: Emily Scott


May 7, 2018

New CRISPR technology ‘knocks out’ yeast genes with single-point precision

The CRISPR-Cas9 system has given researchers the power to precisely edit selected genes. Now, researchers have used it to develop a technology that can target any gene in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and turn it off by deleting single letters from its DNA sequence.


May 3, 2018

Mason received the best poster award in the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology Fellows Symposium.

Congratulations!






December 13, 2017

Retooling Yeast Factories

In a new study out in Nature Communications, Lian and coworkers came up with a clever way to make many changes all at once in yeast. And they aren’t limited to just deleting genes either. They can transcriptionally activate, transcriptionally interfere, or delete specific genes. Which is where they got their clever acronym for their process—CRISPR-AID.

By: Barry Starr, Ph.D.




November 20, 2017

Expanding the potential of metabolic engineering

A new research endeavor, led by Professor Huimin Zhao, Steven L. Miller Chair of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, aims to gain a better understanding of two non-model organisms with unique characteristics that could help create specific products.

By: Emily Scott



September 21, 2017

Tony received the 2nd tier 2017 Baxter Young Investigator Award on his biofilm work and became the second Zhao group member to receive this prestigious award.

Congratulations!







May 4, 2017

Researchers Develop New Capabilities for Genome-wide Engineering of Yeast.

University of Illinois researchers describe how their successful integration of several cutting-edge technologies—creation of standardized genetic components, implementation of customizable genome editing tools, and large-scale automation of molecular biology laboratory tasks—will enhance our ability to work with yeast.

By: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign



April 11, 2017

CRISPR Awakens Sleeping Genes, Brings Drug Candidates to Light

A research team led by chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Huimin Zhao, Ph.D., has been using a CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology to look for new drug candidates. Specifically, Dr. Zhao and colleagues, including colleagues from Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology, and Research, have been using a CRISPR/Cas9 knock-in strategy to activate silent biosynthetic gene clusters (BCGs) in bacteria.

By: Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News


April 10, 2017

CRISPR mines bacterial genome for hidden pharmaceutical treasure

Illinois researchers used CRISPR technology to activate silent gene clusters in Streptomyces bacteria, a potential treasure trove of new classes of drugs.

By: Liz Ahlberg Touchstone


April 7, 2017

Both Scott and Sherri have been chosen as a recipient of 2017 MCB Summer Research Award.

Congratulations!






February 10, 2017

Revolutionizing Biotechnology with Artificial Restriction Enzymes

The Pyrococcus furiosus Argonaute (PfAgo)-based platform for generating artificial restriction enzymes (AREs) is capable of recognizing and cleaving DNA sequences at virtually any arbitrary site and generating defined sticky ends of varying length.

By: Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News


February 9, 2017

New method of genetic engineering indispensable tool in biotechnological applications

Research by Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Huimin Zhao and graduate student Behnam Enghiad at the University of Illinois is pioneering a new method of genetic engineering for basic and applied biological research and medicine.

By: Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology





January, 2017

Jiazhang received the prestigious Shen Postdoc Fellowship, while both Yajie and Behnam received the 3M fellowship.

Congratulations!





December 3, 2015

Data Storage on DNA Can Keep It Safe for Centuries

In two recent experiments, a team of computer scientists at the University of Washington and Microsoft, and a separate group at the University of Illinois, have shown that DNA molecules can be the basis for an archival storage system potentially capable of storing all of the world’s digital information in roughly nine liters of solution, about the amount of liquid in a case of wine.

By: John Markoff


June 29, 2015

Yajie, Behnam, and Ran received the Dow Chemical Fellowship, 3M Fellowship, and Hanratty Travel award from the chemical and biomolecular engineering department, respectively.

Congratulations to all of them!





June 10, 2015

I am very pleased to announce that Yuhao Min (supervised by Tony) has been awarded the prestigious John E. Gieseking Scholarship ($3000) for Summer 2015 semester from the department of chemistry at UIUC.

Congratulations!




May 28, 2015

Tong Si has received the 2014 Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad. It is a highly competitive award which is sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Education and recognizes the academic excellence of self-financed (non-government sponsored) Chinese students pursuing a PhD across all fields of study overseas.




December 14, 2013

The Tale of the TALEs.

Some of biology's best technologies come from unexpected places. Now, proteins from a feared plant pest are poised to make genome engineering, the large-scale, directed manipulation of genes, routine for researchers. These proteins, called transcription activator–like effectors (TALEs), can be programmed to home in on specific DNA sequences and carry out an action once there. When attached to enzymes called nucleases that cut DNA, for example, they can knock out a gene or change its sequence. Engineered TALEs have now targeted a wide range of genes in a variety of organisms.

By: Elizabeth Pennisi





December 5, 2013

New method of DNA editing allows synthetic biologists to unlock secrets of a bacterial genome.

A group of University of Illinois researchers has demonstrated the use of an innovative DNA engineering technique to discover potentially valuable functions hidden within bacterial genomes

By: Institute for Genomic Biology


April 12, 2012

Illinois engineering professor awarded Guggenheim Fellowship

University of Illinois professor Huimin Zhao has received a 2012 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship.

By: Liz Ahlberg




August 25, 2011

New sensors streamline detection of estrogenic compounds

Researchers have engineered new sensors that fluoresce in the presence of compounds that interact with estrogen receptors in human cells. The sensors detect natural or human-made substances that alter estrogenic signaling in the body.

By: Diana Yates


Spring, 2011

Finding Sweet Spot of Yeast is Synthetic Biologist Zhao’s Quest.

EBI Bulletin, Volume 5, Issue 1, Spring 2011.







July, 2010

Sweet Yeast

The Scientist, page 59








May 14, 2009

Research Team Uncovers New Antibiotics in Unexplored Class of Compounds

Microbiologist William Metcalf is leading a U of I team in a $7 million, five-year effort to create antibiotics from a little-known class of compounds called phosphonates.

By: Doug Peterson


September 26, 2008

New way to make malaria medicine also first step in finding new antibiotics

By: Melissa Edwards, News Bureau, UIUC







January 3, 2007

Scientists use cloning to create antibiotic.

By: LAS News, UIUC








December 10, 2006

UI researchers using faster-growing bacteria for antibiotics.

By: Greg Kline, The News-Gazette







November 27, 2006

Cloning techniques produce FDA-approved Antibiotic.

By: Kristen Aramthanapon, News Bureau, UIUC








June 6, 2005

Researchers develop new way to make proteins.

By: Greg Kline, The News-Gazette







April 7, 2005

Researchers improve design of genetic on-off switches.

By: Jim Barlow, News Bureau, UIUC








June 4, 2004

Sweeter way to make drug precursor

In-Pharma Technologist.com







April 1, 2004

Fatty acid pathway, glucose produce triacetic acid lactone.

By: Jim Barlow, News Bureau, UIUC







April 12, 2002

Prospecting for Proteins.

By: Elizabeth K. Wilson, Chemical and Engineering News







May 2001

Molecular sex for fun and profit.

By: Ken Garber, Latin Trade