The Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB) is an interdisciplinary institute dedicated to transformative research and technology in life sciences using team-based strategies to tackle grand societal challenges. Members conduct genomic research in the areas of food security, energy, health, technology, and environmental conservation within collaborative research themes. These themes draw faculty from many schools and departments, including biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, sociology, and business, who remain an integral part of their home departments while also pursuing research at the IGB.

In each theme, the common goal of a particular grand challenge in research—developing more effective cancer therapeutics, creating more efficient and robust food and fuel crops, uncovering the origins of life—creates synergy among diverse groups of scientists. Our work ranges from basic research that expands the horizons of human knowledge to applied research that builds on this foundational knowledge to create new technologies. The IGB’s complement of research themes is dynamic, adapting to new discoveries, methods, and needs.