2012 School News
Eric Oldfield's research group successfully screened about 1000 chemically modified compounds, searching for one that crosses cell membranes, works at low concentrations and causes the death of the malaria parasite without harming the host. The new drug, BPH-703, inhibits isoprenoid biosynthesis in the parasite. Their study is published in the the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
UIUC News Bureau article.
Semprius, a startup using the technology developed by
John Rogers, makes solar panels able to convert one-third of the sunlight they receive into electricity. They are the most efficient so far, twice as efficient as the average panel, and do not require cooling.
MIT Technology Review article.
A new drug development startup, Vanquish Oncology, focuses on small molecule compounds developed by
Paul Hergenrother. These compounds may be used to kill cancer cells through targeting the enzyme procaspase-3. Vanquish will develop standalone cancer therapies in addition to drugs to be used in combination with other chemotherapy drugs.
UIUC Office of Technology Management article.
The
Martin Burke research group has determined the antifungal mechanism of amphotericin B. Amphotericin is fairly toxic to humans and this finding will help scientists to synthesize less toxic antibiotics.
UIUC News Bureau article.
Alumna, Dr. Marinda P. Wu (Ph.D. '76, Drago) has been chosen to be president of the the American Chemical Society. The founder and president of Science is Fun! in Orinda, Calif., Dr. Wu will serve as ACS president-elect for 2012.
C&EN article.
Jennifer Lewis and S. Brett Walker have developed a new reactive silver ink for printing high-performance electronics on low-cost materials such as flexible plastic, paper or fabric substrates. They published their research online in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
UIUC News Bureau article.
John Rogers was named one of Nature magazine's "10 who mattered this year" for taking innovative ideas to engineering prototypes.
College of Engineering article,
Nature feature,
PNAS interview.
SCS News — 2011
