News

Grateful to Northeastern Global News for highlighting our lab’s work to uncover and engineer the chemistry of medicinal plants for human health.

Our paper on elucidation of cardenolide biosynthesis in foxglove is out. Here’s the news release from Northeastern Global News.

Jing-Ke Weng has received the 2026 Charles Albert Shull Award from the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB). This award recognizes our lab’s work on how plants generate chemical innovation and how that knowledge can advance medicine, agriculture, and sustainability. Here is the news release from IPHI. This recognition belongs to all past and current members of the Weng lab, whose creativity, dedication, and teamwork have made this journey possible.

Our paper on elucidation and engineering of withanolide biosynthesis is out. Here’s the news release from Northeastern Global News.

Our paper on DUF3328 as a family of binuclear copper-dependent metalloenzymes in fungi is out. Here’s the news release from IPHI.

Our paper on tracing the evolutionary trajectory of of the dechloroacutumine halogenase in moonseed plant is out today. Here’s the news release from Northeastern Global News.

Our paper on the resurrection of an extinct gene in coyote tobacco—revealing a remarkable story of the evolutionary dynamics of plant cyclic peptides—is out today. Here’s the news release from Northeastern Global News.

Our lab’s research on peanut allergies and plant-human interactions was featured in Sampan.org. The article dives into our interdisciplinary work combining plant science and AI to tackle food allergies and beyond. Read the full article here.

We’re excited to share that our recent research on TAS2Rs has caught the attention of the French science magazine Sciences et Avenir! Their article highlights how our work could pave the way for new insights into tackling food allergies, drawing inspiration from an unexpected source—frogs. Curious to learn more? Check out the full story here.

Our recent collaboration with Dr. Seth Rakoff-Nahoum at Boston Children’s Hospital, focusing on mapping the biogeography of plant food-human interactions relevant to food allergies, has been highlighted by Northeastern Global News. Click here to read more.