Recent News

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    UC San Diego synthetic biologists redesign the way bacteria 'talk' to each other

    An innovative bacterial communication system, regulated by a safe biological compound, achieves precise control of single and multiple bacterial populations.

    “We hope that this system can increase control and safety of synthetic genetic circuits, and therefore facilitate their transition to real life applications,” said Arianna Miano, a UC San Diego bioengineering PhD student and the first author on the Nature Communications paper.

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    Quality Control Mechanisms inside Cells Help Clear Collisions

    New model reveals ribosome serves as a unique signaling hub for quality control signals

    As ribosomes (green balls) translate an mRNA (yellow string) in a directional manner (background to the foreground), the nascent peptide chain (shiny beads emerging from the green balls) folds into unique functional shapes. Stressors that elicit localized stalls during translation can result in ribosomal collisions (stalled ribosome: red ball; colliding ribosome: orange ball) and trigger ribosomal ubiquitylation. Researchers identified two deubiquitylating enzymes, OTUD3 and USP21 (fire extinguishers), that antagonize ribosomal ubiquitylation, allowing for translation through stall-inducing sequences that would normally terminate translation.

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    Parkinson’s Disease Protein Structure Solved inside Cells Using Novel Technique

    Parkinson’s disease‐related protein LRRK2 structure solved using a trailblazing new technique, revealing its surprising organization in cells, and paving the way for a treatment

    Reika Watanabe and colleagues used cryo‐electron microscopy to look up close at the structure of Parkinson’s disease‐related protein LRRK2, depicted inside the magnifying glass. Image by Reika Watanabe and Guillaume Castillon.

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    Researchers Identify Mechanism for Neurotransmitter‐Receptor Matchmaking

    Sustained transmitter exposure proven to be enough to induce receptors to appear

    One area of ambiguity is the neurotransmitter receptor. When a neurotransmitter changes in one neuron, the receptors on the other neuron must change along with it or the result is a mismatched and dysfunctional connection. Now researchers at UC San Diego have found a mechanism explaining how receptor matchmaking unfolds.

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    Cressida Madigan Named 2020 Sloan Research Fellow

    Each year, 126 of the brightest early career scientists in the U.S. and Canada are awarded the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship. This year, six University of California San Diego researchers made the list, upping the total number of campus recipients to 136 since the fellowship was established more than six decades ago.

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    Cell’s Design Helps Launch Quick Defenses When under Attack

    Immune system cells found to reposition key genes to rapidly fight invading pathogens

    Under normal, healthy conditions, genes within immune system cells known as neutrophils remain dormant. But once an infection is detected, neutrophils sound the alarm and push these genes into action as a critical line of defense against invading pathogens. These genes help the cell fight back by releasing an array of molecules that attack infection-causing bacteria.

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    Fly Model Offers New Approach to Unraveling ‘Difficult’ Pathogen

    Transgenic fruit flies help scientists trace the cascade of symptoms caused by toxic infection

    The Clostridium difficile pathogen takes its name from the French word for “difficult.” A bacterium that is known to cause symptoms ranging from diarrhea to life-threatening colon damage, C. difficile is part of a growing epidemic of concern for the elderly and patients on antibiotics.

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    Flyception 2.0: New Imaging Technology Tracks Complex Social Behavior

    For the first time researchers record uninhibited fly brain activities during various stages of mating

    What happens in the brain during courtship? During sex? Scientists at the University of California San Diego have a much clearer idea thanks to the evolution of an advanced imaging system designed to record ultra-precise brain activities in flies.

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    Drug Lord’s Hippos Make Their Mark on Foreign Ecosystem

    Study on the impacts of the world’s largest invasive animal in Colombia provides key insight into the future of a growing population

    Four hours east of Medellín in northern Colombia’s Puerto Triunfo municipality, the sprawling hacienda constructed by infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar of “Narcos” fame has become a tourist attraction. When Escobar’s empire crashed, the exotic animals housed at his family’s zoo, including rhinos, giraffes and zebras, were safely relocated to new homes… except for the hippopotamuses.

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    Algae Shown to Improve Gastrointestinal Health

    Project is the first to test green algae on symptoms related to human digestion

    Researchers at the University of California San Diego recently completed the first study examining the effects of consuming C. reinhardtii and demonstrated that the algae improves human gastrointestinal issues associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) such as diarrhea, gas and bloating. Results of the project are published in the Journal of Functional Foods.

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