Recent News

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    Pesticide Cocktail Can Harm Honey Bees

    Combined with common fungicide, ‘bee safe’ Sivanto leads to abnormal behavior and lower survival

    A recently approved pesticide growing in popularity around the world was developed as a “bee safe” product, designed to kill a broad spectrum of insect pests but not harm pollinators.

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    Next-generation Gene Drive Arrives

    CRISPR-based ‘allelic drive’ allows genetic editing with selective precision and broad implications

    New CRISPR-based gene drives and broader active genetics technologies are revolutionizing the way scientists engineer the transfer of specific traits from one generation to another.

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    Julian Schroeder Awarded International Prize for Advances in Plant Research

    Khalifa International Award recognizes agricultural innovation

    UC San Diego Distinguished Professor Julian Schroeder has been awarded a prestigious international prize for his research achievements in plant drought and salt tolerance, as well as research on improving the water use efficiency of plants.

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    Researchers Discover a New Mechanism Used by Bacteria to Evade Antibiotics

    Surprise survival mechanism could lead to retooled drugs to treat infectious diseases

    Researchers at the University of California San Diego who combine experiments and mathematical modeling have discovered an unexpected mechanism that allows bacteria to survive antibiotics.

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    Foreign Bees Monopolize Prize Resources in Biodiversity Hotspot

    Immense numbers of introduced honey bees overwhelm native pollinators for access to pollen and nectar

    Hike around the natural habitats of San Diego County and it becomes abundantly clear that honey bees, foreign to the area, are everywhere. In a study published last year, researchers at the University of California San Diego found that honey bees are the most widespread and abundant pollinators of wild plants in the world, with the San Diego region having exceptionally high honey bee visitation on native plants—roughly three-quarters of all observed pollinators.

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    Opposite Effect: Protein Widely Known to Fight Tumors Also Boosts Cancer Growth

    Researchers find evidence that genome ‘guardian’ can stimulate cancer

    Search for a description of “p53” and it becomes clear that this human protein is widely known for its cancer-fighting benefits, leading to its renown as “the guardian of the genome.” Scientists at the University of California San Diego have published a new study challenging that description.

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    UC San Diego Researchers First to Use CRISPR/Cas9 to Control Genetic Inheritance in Mice

    Technology offers powerful new genetic tools for human disease research in rodents

    Biologists at the University of California San Diego have developed the world’s first CRISPR/Cas9-based approach to control genetic inheritance in a mammal.

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    New CRISPR-based Technology Developed to Control Pests with Precision-guided Genetics

    CRISPR-based method sterilizes male insects for population suppression of agricultural pests and disease-carrying mosquitoes

    Combining historical lessons with modern genetic technologies, scientists at the University of California San Diego have developed a new way to control and suppress populations of insects, potentially including those that ravage agricultural crops and transmit deadly diseases.

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    UC San Diego Awarded $2 Million to Advance Algae-based Renewable Polymers

    Department of Energy funds ‘bio-economy’ project for novel manufacturing of algae-based biopolymers

    A team of University of California San Diego biologists and chemists has been granted $2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop new methods for manufacturing products based on algae.

    Project principal investigator Stephen Mayfield of UC San Diego’s Division of Biological Sciences will lead efforts to develop novel platforms to produce biologically based monomers that will be used to manufacture renewable and biodegradable versions of plastic polymers called polyurethanes.

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    Coming to Light: Researchers Document Surprise Mobility in Wild Bacteria

    University of California San Diego Biologist Susan Golden and her colleagues have used cyanobacteria as a key model for circadian rhythm studies, analyzing the organism’s 24-hour regular cycles that operate with the precision of a mechanical clock. 

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