LIfe Sciences News

In his first book, University of Illinois professor Daniel Schneider tackles a topic not generally discussed at cocktail parties. Schneiders Hybrid Nature: Sewage Treatment and the Contradictions of the Industrial Ecosystem was published last month by the MIT Press.

Clinical gene therapy may be one step closer, thanks to a new twist on an old class of molecules.

Researchers have developed a bandage that stimulates and directs blood vessel growth on the surface of a wound. The bandage, called a microvascular stamp, contains living cells that deliver growth factors to damaged tissues in a defined pattern. After a week, the pattern of the stamp is written in blood vessels, the researchers report.

The 3-year-old Illinois Professional Science Masters program got its start during a recession, but most of its 2010 graduates are already pursuing careers in the fields they chose. It took most a few months to find work, although some and at least two of the 2011 graduating class were offered jobs while still in school.

Eight University of Illinois faculty members have been elected fellows in the American Association for the Advancement of Science: Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, Rashid Bashir, Debasish Dutta, K. Jimmy Hsia, Keith W. Kelley, Wilfred van der Donk, M. Christina White and James Whitfield.

An analysis of the remains of ancient midges tiny non-biting insects closely related to mosquitoes opens a new window on the past with a detailed view of the surprising regional variability that accompanied climate warming during the early Holocene epoch, 10,000 to 5,500 years ago.