Urban ecosystems were created by people, for people, but that doesn’t mean animals haven’t evolved to survive or even thrive within modern cities. Dr. Seth Magle and Dr. Maureen Murray highlight the importance of understanding human-wildlife interactions and the incredible research done by the Urban Wildlife Institute at Lincoln Park Zoo.
The survival of all forms of Life on Earth through geological time has depended on controlling mineral growth within the environments they inhabit. This process, called biomineralization, has been an essential unavoidable, and ubiquitously distributed force of nature that has caused essential strategic benefits (like forming bones for muscle attachment), as well as profound practical problems and impediments (such as the growth of kidney stones).
Continue reading “Biomineralization: Life Harnessing Mineral Growth Over Four Billion Years”
About 12,000 years ago, early humans began directly shaping nature through selective breeding of plants and animals. This moment in time is called the Agricultural Revolution. What humans eat today, in Chicago and around the globe, is a direct result of the advances made thousands of years before any of us were ever born. But the truth is that the Agricultural Revolution never stopped. In some ways, it’s just begun… Continue reading “Engineering Plants: The 12,000 Year Plan”
This summer, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign developed a comprehensive program, called SHIELD, to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. One key to the program is a new, highly-specific test for SARS-CoV-2. Now, with a game-changing new testing procedure available, the University of Illinois System has created a team called SHIELD Illinois to deploy the program across the state. Join University of Illinois leaders to learn how SHIELD works, how it makes testing more effective, and ultimately how the program will be rolled out beyond the University’s campus.
Learn about the cutting edge research being done in the world of animal/tick interaction in order to better human health outcomes!
Continue reading “The Power of Genomics: Optimizing Health Outcomes & Wildlife Conservation”
Learn how ancient DNA is currently being used to inform studies of human ancestry, our prehistoric interactions with animals, and our ancestors’ diets!
Continue reading “The Study of Ancient DNA: Knowledge from Unexpected Sources”
