Recent News

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    Biologists Create New Genetic Systems to Neutralize Gene Drives

    Two active genetics strategies help address concerns about gene-drive releases into the wild

    In the past decade, researchers have engineered an array of new tools that control the balance of genetic inheritance.

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    Yishi Jin Named ASCB Fellow, KIBM Co-Director

    Distinguished Professor Yishi Jin of UC San Diego’s Division of Biological Sciences, Section of Neurobiology, has received two distinctions in the fields of cell biology and neuroscience.

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    UC San Diego Scientists to Explore New Frontiers in Parkinson’s Disease Research with $7.2M Grant

    Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s initiative supports international project aiming to unravel the biology of a gene linked to Parkinson’s disease

    In August, a team of researchers at the University of California San Diego published groundbreaking back-to-back studies describing unprecedented details of a protein linked to genetically inherited Parkinson’s disease.  The researchers produced the first visualizations of leucine-rich repeat kinase 2, or LRRK2, as seen within its natural environment inside the cell, as well as the first high-resolution blueprint of the protein.

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    Cancers with High TRIM37 Enzyme Levels More Susceptible to Centrosome Blocker

    Several years ago, researchers at UC San Diego and Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research developed centrinone, a chemical inhibitor that blocks a cellular enzyme called PLK4, which is needed to make centrosomes. Treatment with centrinone, the only PLK4-specific inhibitor in existence, forces cells to divide without centrosomes.

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    Curci Foundation Makes $1.78M Gift to Support PhD Life Science Students

    UC San Diego has been selected by the Shurl and Kay Curci Foundation to receive a gift in support of new graduate students in the life sciences.

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    Artificial Intelligence Aids Gene Activation Discovery

    Machine learning enables long-awaited code breakthrough with potential applications in biomedicine

    Scientists have long known that human genes spring into action through instructions delivered by the precise order of our DNA, directed by the four different types of individual links, or “bases,” coded A, C, G and T.
     
    Nearly 25 percent of our genes are widely known to be transcribed by sequences that resemble TATAAA, which is called the “TATA box.” How the other three-quarters are turned on, or promoted, has remained a mystery due to the enormous number of DNA base sequence possibilities, which has kept the activation information shrouded.

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    Daniela Zárate Named 2020 Bouchet Scholar

    Society promotes scholarly achievements, diversity and excellence in doctoral education

    Daniela Zárate, a graduate student in UC San Diego’s Division of Biological Sciences, has been inducted into the Edward Alexander Bouchet Graduate Honor Society. Zárate is one of five UC San Diego graduate students named as 2020 Bouchet Scholars.

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    Overlooked ‘Housekeeping’ Gene
    Plays Unexpected Role in Seizures

    Largely ignored molecules expressed in the brain may contribute to imbalances in epilepsy and autism spectrum disorder

    Within cells, molecules known as transfer RNAs, or “tRNAs,” play an important but unglamorous workhorse role in keeping the genetic translation process moving along from codes of DNA to functional proteins.

    Because they play such a vital role in this translational “housekeeping,” tRNAs are plentiful. 
    There are hundreds of tRNA genes in mammalian cells and more than enough backup copies, just in case anything goes wrong. Yet because there are so many tRNAs, they’ve been largely overlooked in the search for the roots of disease processes.

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    Leading-edge Technology Unmasks Protein Linked to Parkinson’s Disease

    Two cryo-EM studies pave the way for possible drugs to treat neurodegenerative disorder affecting millions

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    Dean’s Leadership Council Welcomes Kenneth Jenkins

    Kenneth Jenkins of the Mintz law firm has been appointed to the Dean’s Leadership Council of the University of California San Diego’s globally top-ranked Division of Biological Sciences. The Dean’s Leadership Council is the Division’s preeminent team of ambassadors that helps advance the Division on campus and beyond by providing key leadership and sage counsel, and by helping the Division acquire the resources essential to its strategic growth and progress in the 21st century global economy.

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