Recent News
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Researchers Develop First Gene Drive Targeting Worldwide Crop Pest
Innovation establishes method to control invasive fly that deposits eggs in fruit crops, causing millions in damage
Biologists at the University of California San Diego have developed a method of manipulating the genes of an agricultural pest that has invaded much of the United States and caused millions of dollars in damage to high-value berry and other fruit crops.
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Enfu Hui Named 2018 Searle Scholar
Biological Sciences Assistant Professor Enfu Hui has been named one of 15 Searle Scholars for 2018.The Searle Scholars Program supports high risk, high reward research across a broad range of scientific disciplines. The program awards grants to selected universities and research centers to support the independent research of exceptional young faculty in the biomedical sciences and chemistry who have recently been appointed as assistant professors on a tenure-track appointment. The new Searle Scholars are pursuing fundamental, ground-breaking research and will each receive an award of $300,000 in flexible funding support over the next three years.
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Virus Found to Adapt through Newly Discovered Path of Evolution
Innovation allows viruses to test drive new functions and evolve more easily than previously believed possible
Bucking a central tenet of biology, researchers at the University of California San Diego and their colleagues have discovered evidence for a new path of evolution, and with it a deeper understanding of how quickly organisms such as viruses can adapt to their environment.
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Microbiology Academy Names Lorraine Pillus as New Fellow
Lorraine Pillus, professor of molecular biology and associate dean of the Division of Biological Sciences at the University of California San Diego, has been elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, which recognizes excellence, originality, and leadership in the microbiological sciences.
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Biology Graduate Student Honored for EDI Leadership
UC San Diego Division of Biological Sciences graduate student Chandler Puritty was honored on March 1 at a ceremony recognizing university leaders who are making a difference in improving equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI).
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Yishi Jin Named to Junior Seau Endowed Faculty Chair in Traumatic Brain Injury
The inaugural chair holder of the Junior Seau Foundation Endowed Chair in Traumatic Brain Injury at the University of California San Diego is Yishi Jin, Professor and Chair of the Section of Neurobiology in the Division of Biological Sciences. Jin’s research focuses on molecular genetic mechanisms underlying the development of the nervous system, and regeneration of wounded nervous systems, with the goal of better understanding human neurological disorders and brain injury.
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Susan Golden to Receive International Research Honor
Renowned circadian rhythms scientist to be honored at ceremony in Japan
Susan Golden, a distinguished biology professor at the University of California San Diego, has been named the winner of the 2018 Aschoff and Honma Prize for Biological Rhythm Research.
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Taking Aim at Mosquitoes and Disease
With trailblazing genetic technologies and a passion for a certain blood-sucking bug, a new UC San Diego biologist joins the campus' campaign against disease transmission
Enter Omar Akbari’s insect zoo and it’s immediately clear that you’ve entered a different world. It’s not that you’ve passed through several layers of containment that keep the bugs securely locked away… nor the fact that the temperature has just escalated 20 degrees… nor that the room is kept at 60 percent humidity—just the way mosquitoes like it.
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Surprise Finding Points to DNA’s Role in Shaping Cells
Like air inflating a balloon, DNA plays an unexpected role in cell architecture
As a basic unit of life, the cell is one of the most carefully studied components of all living organisms. Yet details on basic processes such as how cells are shaped have remained a mystery. Working at the intersection of biology and physics, scientists at the University of California San Diego have made an unexpected discovery at the root of cell formation.
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Active Genetics Technology Opens New Horizons
Research using the novel technology in fruit flies reveals unexpected features and provides new enabling tools for controlling genetic inheritance and genome engineering
In 2015, University of California San Diego biologists Ethan Bier and Valentino Gantz developed a breakthrough technology known as “active genetics,” which results in parents transmitting a genetic trait to most of their offspring (instead of 50 percent receiving the trait under standard inheritance). Immediate targets of active genetics included gene-drive systems for immunizing mosquitoes against vector borne diseases such as malaria. Bier and Gantz also proposed using active genetics for a variety of other potential human health and agricultural benefits.
To read more about Division of Biological Sciences happenings, see the News Archives.