Recent News

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    Elina Zúñiga Elected Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology

    Elina Zúñiga, a professor of molecular biology in UC San Diego’s School of Biological Sciences, has been honored by her peers by being elected a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.

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    UC San Diego Biological Sciences Moves into Top 10 in Global Rankings

    The University of California San Diego ranked 10th in the world in biological sciences in the 2021 edition of the QS World University Rankings released on March 3, 2021. UC San Diego biological sciences moved up one spot from the previous year’s world rankings.

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    ‘Island of Rats’ Recovers

    Island birds, seashore ecosystem return to natural balance after invasive rodent removal

    Along the western edge of Alaska’s Aleutian archipelago, a group of islands that were inadvertently populated with rodents came to earn the ignominious label of the “Rat Islands.” The non-native invaders were accidentally introduced to these islands, and others throughout the Aleutian chain, through shipwrecks dating back to the 1700s and World War II occupation.

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    New ‘Split-drive’ System Puts Scientists in the (Gene) Driver Seat

    Researchers develop tunable system that harnesses the spread of cargo carried by gene drives

    Powerful new genetic engineering methods have given scientists the potential to revolutionize several sectors of global urgency.

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    Food for Thought: New Maps Reveal How Brains are Kept Nourished

    Micro-scale depictions solve century-old puzzle of brain energy use and blood vessel clusters

    Our brains are non-stop consumers. A labyrinth of blood vessels, stacked end-to-end comparable in length to the distance from San Diego to Berkeley, ensures a continuous flow of oxygen and sugar to keep our brains functioning at peak levels.

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    Researchers Unveil Detailed Genome of Invasive Malaria Mosquito

    New ‘gold standard’ reference genome reveals thousands of new genes vital for targeting pathogen transmission and immunity

    Despite the broad notoriety of sharks, snakes, scorpions and other formidable creatures, mosquitoes remain the deadliest animal on the planet… by far. Mosquito-transmitted malaria remains the number one worldwide killer among vector-borne diseases, claiming more than 400,000 human lives in 2019.

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    BioSci at 60: Mentorship, Then & Now

    A look back, and ahead, at student support.

    As the School of Biological Sciences celebrates its 60th anniversary, Brown and Neal discuss mentorship as a foundation of strength in their lives and a force to support students through the next 60 years.

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    [BIO]rigins

    Some of Professor Willie Brown’s early teaching mentors were also founding faculty— we talked to Stu Brody, Don Helinski, and Mel Simon about the early days of BioSci

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    Shooting for the Moon

    UC San Diego alumnae Jessica Meir and Kate Rubins selected to NASA’s Artemis program that aims to land first woman and next man on the moon by 2024

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    Immune System Sets ‘Tripwire’ to Protect against Viruses

    Cell defenses have evolved to turn the tables on viral attacks by using bait and sounding an alarm

    Scientists are opening new windows into understanding more about the constantly shifting evolutionary arms race between viruses and the hosts they seek to infect. Host organisms and pathogens are in a perennial chess match to exploit each other’s weaknesses.

  To read more about School of Biological Sciences happenings, see the News Archives.