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Aug 10 2023Engineered Bacteria Detect Tumor DNA
Advanced biosensor leverages gene swapping to identify colon cancer
CATCH technology engineers cells to detect and discriminate cell-free DNA. This may be of value in clinical (cancer and infection) and commercial (ecology, industrial) applications–wherever and whenever, the detection of DNA is valuable.
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Jun 21 2023A Deep Look Inside Our Minds: Adapting to Change and Stress (UCTV)
The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a new era of how we interact and function in society. Our brains and behaviors experienced unprecedented upheavals, forcing us to adapt to new ways of living. In recent years, science has made bold advances in understanding how the brain and its wiring manage new situations and stress. Leading experts in cognitive science, neurobiology and psychology present perspectives on the brain and the fascinating ways it adapts to change and stress. Hear about what happens inside the brain during times of stress; how to self-regulate your brain and bodily states; as well as ideas on mindfulness, radical honesty and how to build emotional resilience.
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Apr 21, 2023
A Deep Look in to Earth Day 2023: New Science for a Changing World
UC San Diego's School of Biological Sciences presents another event in their Deep Look series focusing on Earth Day. UC San Diego researchers will offer perspectives from a range of scientific disciplines relevant to the planet and its future. How are wildflowers adapting to climate change? How can humans sustainably co-exist with one of the world’s largest vertebrates, the Asian elephant? How is modern genetics being used to aid the future of the California Condor? Plus, UC San Diego has launched a new Center for Nature, Science and Society to explore the nexus of climate change, biodiversity and human impacts.
Watch A Deep Look in to Earth Day 2023: New Science for a Changing Worldon YouTube Read A Deep Look in to Earth Day 2023: New Science for a Changing Worldarticle -
Apr 14 2023Tracking a New Path to Octopus and Squid Sensing Capabilities
Research published in Nature reveals that the octopus explores the marine environment with sensing features that are evolutionarily related to human brain receptors
Research led by UC San Diego (Hibbs Lab) and Harvard University (Bellono Lab) has traced the evolutionary adaptations of octopus and squid sensing capabilities. The studies, featured on the cover of the journal Nature, reveal evolutionary links to human brain receptors. The researchers describe for the first time the structure of an octopus chemotactile receptor, which octopus arms use for taste-by-touch exploration of the seafloor.
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Mar 9, 2023Honey Bees Can Learn How to Waggle Dance More Accurately If They Can Observe Experienced Bees First
Researchers find that learning and culture are needed for one of the most intricate forms of communication known outside humans
Passing down shared knowledge from one generation to the next is a hallmark of culture and allows animals to rapidly adapt to a changing environment. While widely evident in species ranging from human infants to naked mole rats or fledgling songbirds, early social learning has now been documented in insects.
Watch Honey Bees Can Learn How to Waggle Dance More Accurately If They Can Observe Experienced Bees Firston YouTube Read Honey Bees Can Learn How to Waggle Dance More Accurately If They Can Observe Experienced Bees Firstarticle -
Jan 26, 2023Jumbo Phage Infects a Bacterium
UC San Diego leads initiative aiming to develop bacteriophages as solutions for antibiotic resistance crisis
A nucleus-like compartment (green) is formed to protect the newly synthesized phage genomes from bacterial defense systems. The capsids (gray) of the new phage travel along filaments called PhuZ (yellow) to be delivered to the nucleus where they dock in order to package phage DNA. Eventually, the bacterial cell lyses and the new phage emerge ready to infect new bacteria.
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Dec 13, 2022Brain Cells Under Attack Don ‘Body Armor’ Response, Offering New Views of Stroke Damage
Cells within neurons discovered to take ‘pro-survival’ steps to reduce brain tissue injury
UC San Diego research led by Associate Project Scientist Barbara Calabrese and Professor Shelley Halpain in the School of Biological Sciences details what happens within brain cells as they detect threatening conditions. Cells of neurons, the brain’s transmission connectors, can reorganize themselves into a type of body armor mode of protection when faced with threatening conditions such as during a stroke. The pro-survival mechanism helps reduce brain tissue damage.
Watch Brain Cells Under Attack Don ‘Body Armor’ Response, Offering New Views of Stroke Damageon YouTube Read Brain Cells Under Attack Don ‘Body Armor’ Response, Offering New Views of Stroke Damagearticle -
Dec 12, 2022A Deep Look into Mental Health: On Campus, In Our Community and Around the World
Join us as we explore the mental health crisis on college campuses, views from underserved communities and international perspectives on mental health.
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Dec 7, 2022Researchers Identify Elusive Carbon Dioxide Sensor in Plants that Controls Water Loss
Surprised biologists discover how two proteins work together to form long-sought plant water loss-regulating sensor, carrying implications for trees, crops and wildfires
Using a mix of tools and research approaches, scientists at UC San Diego have identified a long-sought carbon dioxide sensor in plants, key for controlling water evaporation, photosynthesis and plant growth. The discovery revealed that two proteins work together to form the sensor, carrying implications for trees, crops and wildfires.
Watch Researchers Identify Elusive Carbon Dioxide Sensor in Plants that Controls Water Losson YouTube Read Researchers Identify Elusive Carbon Dioxide Sensor in Plants that Controls Water Lossarticle -
Oct 24 2022The Thinking Undead: How Dormant Bacteria Calculate Their Return to Life
Unexpected activity in dormant bacterial cells offers lessons for understanding life in extreme states on Earth and perhaps other planets
Facing starvation and stress conditions, some bacteria enter a dormant state in which life processes stop. Shutting down into a deep dormancy allows these cells, called spores, to withstand punishing extremes of heat, pressure and even the harsh conditions of outer space.
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Aug 3 2022Giant Viruses Build a Cell Nucleus Surprisingly Like Our Own
New technologies provide unprecedented view of virus’ ‘weird biology’—critical for future biomedical applications against bacterial infections
UC San Diego scientists are using new technologies to obtain unprecedented looks inside viruses and their unique abilities to infect and destroy bacteria. Using cryo-EM and other technologies, the researchers found that jumbo phage cells feature a compartment that is surprisingly similar to the nucleus of human cells.
Watch Giant Viruses Build a Cell Nucleus Surprisingly Like Our Own on YouTube Read Giant Viruses Build a Cell Nucleus Surprisingly Like Our Own article -
June 29 2022Immune Cells Anchored in Tissues Offer Unique Defenses Against Pathogens and Cancers
A new atlas of tissue-resident memory T cells offers hope for therapies based on protective 'first responders'
UC San Diego School of Biological Sciences researchers have gained ground in understanding unique immune cells equipped to remember the identities of malicious invaders. The researchers developed a new atlas that describes tissue-resident memory T cells in diverse tissue settings, boosting the prospects of the development of immune defense strategies to enhance immunity at sites vulnerable to infection.
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May 4 2022Researchers Manipulate Demographic of Bacterial Community with Novel Electronic Technology
Scientists find that electrical shocks can change the types of cells in bacterial communities, offering a new approach to precisely control bacteria
Molecular biologists and physicists at the University of California San Diego have joined forces to develop a novel method of using electrical shocks to control the development of communities of bacteria.
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Apr 7 2022UC San Diego and Thermo Fisher Scientific Enter Innovative Strategic Partnership
Groundbreaking 10-year agreement to accelerate research and technology innovation, develop diverse talent and achieve ambitious sustainability goals
The University of California San Diego and Thermo Fisher Scientific have agreed to form a transformational 10-year strategic partnership that leverages the leading expertise of each organization.
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Mar 14 2022Researchers ID Sex Pheromone of Invasive Giant Hornet
Chemicals used as bait to trap and track so-called 'murder hornets' as they expand their footprint in the Western United States
The world's largest hornet has been the focus of extensive news coverage of late due to its menacing appearance and expanding footprint in North America.
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Jan 18 2022'Simple' Bacteria Found to Organize in Elaborate Patterns
Genetic mechanism found that enables communities of bacterial cells to organize into surprisingly sophisticated segments, revealing a similarity to how plants and animals develop
Over the past several years, research from University of California San Diego biologist Gürol Süel's laboratory has uncovered a series of remarkable features exhibited by clusters of bacteria that live together in communities known as biofilms.
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Oct 14 2021UC San Diego Launches Life Sciences Cooperative Education and Corporate Affiliates Programs
UC San Diego's Division of Biological Sciences has initiated a Cooperative Education (Co-Op) Program that offers a paid year-long, immersive work and training experience in an industrial setting. In tandem with the Co-Op Program, the division also initiated a Biological Sciences Corporate Affiliate Program, or "BioCAP," to strengthen links to the San Diego region's deep roster of life sciences and biotechnology companies.
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Oct 5 2021NIH Names Cressida Madigan for 2021 New Innovator Award
UC San Diego Division of Biological Sciences' Cressida Madigan has been named to receive a 2021 New Innovator Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
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August 26 2021Growth-promoting, Anti-aging Retinal at the Root of Plant Growth Too
Discovery published in Science by new UC San Diego biologist features compound that triggers the development of plants' lateral roots.
A new study in plants shows that retinoids' tissue-generating capacities are also responsible for the appropriate development of roots.
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Jun 15 2021Cressida Madigan Named 2021 Pew Biomedical Scholar
The Pew Charitable Trusts has announced that UC San Diego Division of Biological Sciences Assistant Professor Cressida Madigan has been selected for the 2021 Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences.
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Jun 8 2021Researchers Create New CRISPR Tools to Help Contain Mosquito Disease Transmission
Genetics toolkit targets less researched Culex mosquitoes, which transmit West Nile virus and avian malaria
University of California San Diego scientists have now developed several genetic editing tools that help pave the way to an eventual gene drive designed to stop Culex mosquitoes from spreading disease.
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Jun 7 2021Synthetic SPECIES Developed for Use as a Confinable Gene Drive
Researchers create novel CRISPR-based fly species as a new method of controlling gene drive spread
Scientists have developed a gene drive with a built-in genetic barrier that is designed to keep the drive under control. The researchers engineered synthetic fly species that, upon release in sufficient numbers, act as gene drives that can spread locally and be reversed if desired.
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May 18 2021A Deep Look into: Earth Day 2021
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May 13 2021A Push to Inoculate Vaccination Disparity
New UC San Diego biologist endeavors to communicate the safety and life-saving importance of COVID-19 vaccination in underserved communities
Assistant Professor Fabian Rivera-Chávez recently worked alongside colleague Dr. Alli Weis at the University of Utah School of Medicine to publish an article in Spanish in the Los Angeles Times about vaccine safety, part of his efforts to communicate the importance of vaccination in underserved communities.
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May 13 2021Un Empuje Para Inocular la Disparidad de Vacunación
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March 28 2021A Deep Look into COVID and a New World of Innovation
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March 24 2021A Deep Conversation with Rita Colwell
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Feb 01 2021UC San Diego BioSci Alumnus at Helm of Company Behind First At-Home COVID Test
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Jan 12 2021Ocean Acidification is Transforming California Mussel Shells
New analyses reveal how over 60 years a critical marine species has responded to ocean acidification
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Jan 11 2021Wait for Me: Cell Biologists Decipher Signal that Ensures No Chromosome is Left Behind
Researchers use novel probe to witness how a 'matchmaker' molecule puts the brake on cell division until components are ready to be split
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November 25 2020A Deep Look Into: Social Inequities and Suffering Caused by COVID-19 - Reports from the Front Lines
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November 18 2020A Deep Look Into: Trust in Science in Uncertain Times
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October 20 2020A Deep Conversation with Jon Beckwith: A History of Scientific and Social Activism
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Aug 3 2020From the Field: Innovative Animal-borne Video and Sampling Show Antarctic Leopard Seals as Adaptable Apex Predators
If you've ever seen a leopard seal in a film or documentary, chances are it was viciously tearing apart a penguin. Such images are captivating, but this portrayal is incomplete and, more importantly, inaccurate. Leopard seals are complex apex predators that shape their ecosystems in critical ways. Although poorly studied in the past, a recent collaborative study published by NOAA Fisheries and UC San Diego researchers in BMC Ecology has shed some light on the impact these large predators are having in the Antarctic.
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July 29 2020A Deep Look into the Future of Biology: New Frontiers in Genetics, Genomics and Ethics
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Jul 16 2020Researchers Discover Two Paths of Aging and New Insights on Promoting Healthspan
Identifying a master aging circuit allows biologists to genetically engineer prolonged life
Molecular biologists and bioengineers at the University of California San Diego have unraveled key mechanisms behind the mysteries of aging. They isolated two distinct paths that cells travel during aging and engineered a new way to genetically program these processes to extend lifespan.
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May 08 2020A Deep Look into COVID-19: Vaccines, Drugs and the Evolutionary Arms Race
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May 05 2020Exercise Boosts Motor Skill Learning Via Changes in Brain's Transmitters
Researchers find switch in chemical messaging is key prelude to motor skill acquisition
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Apr 29 2020They Remember: Communities of Microbes Found to Have Working Memory
Discovery draws surprising parallels between low-level organisms and sophisticated neurons; lays the groundwork for memory-capable biological systems
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Apr 15 2020A Deep Look into the Biology and Evolution of COVID-19
UCTV roundtable explores the biological roots and spread of the global SARS-CoV-2 virus
Of the hundreds of coronaviruses known to exist, many are relatively harmless. Coronaviruses infect your nose, sinuses and upper throat but often result in nothing more than a common cold.
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Apr 06 2020Dissecting COVID-19: Biology Professor Opens Infectious Disease Course to Public Audiences
Podcasted class on UCTV and other outlets to analyze the biological roots and spread of coronavirus
Biological Sciences Assistant Professor Justin Meyer oversees a laboratory that specializes in the evolution of viruses and the natural processes that hasten their spread. He grows viruses in petri dishes and studies them as they evolve in real time, every so often watching them mutate onto new species.
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Mar 02 2020A Deep Look into the Future of Biology: The Next Wave of Technology and Innovation
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Feb 04 2020Flyception 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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Jan 29 2020Drug 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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Jan 16 2020Mosquitoes Engineered to Repel Dengue Virus
Researchers develop the first mosquitoes synthetically designed to neutralize many types of the widespread infectious disease
An international team of scientists has synthetically engineered mosquitoes that halt the transmission of the dengue virus.
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Nov 01 2019Waking Up to Why Sleep Health Matters
UC San Diego students, scientists drive new initiative aimed at helping the public 'see the light' on circadian rhythms and sleep health
At the start of the day, we all do it. We reflexively reach for our phones. As the day winds down, many of us can't help but do the same. We lie in bed as the luminous glow of our phones—along with TVs and tablets, in many cases—shines into our eyes.
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Oct 01 2019Cracking How 'Water Bears' Survive the Extremes
Researchers discover that a protein in tiny tardigrades binds and forms a protective cloud against extreme survival threats such as radiation damage
Scientists at the University of California San Diego have gained a new understanding of how tardigrades are protected in extreme conditions. Their findings are published in the journal eLife on Oct. 1, 2019.
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Sept 05 2019Synthetic Biologists Extend Functional Life of Cancer-Fighting Circuitry in Microbes
Bioengineers and biologists at the University of California San Diego have developed a method to significantly extend the life of gene circuits used to instruct microbes to do things such as produce and deliver drugs, break down chemicals and serve as environmental sensors.
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Jun 19 2019Borrowing from Astronomy to Rob the Twinkle from Brain Imagery
Neurophysicists make new recording of nerve signals by adapting tools of astronomers
Recently, UC San Diego Professor David Kleinfeld, along with postdoctoral fellow Rui Liu, realized how to adopt a process called "adaptive optics" (AO) to correct for changes in the density and moisture of air in the atmosphere to correct microscopic images for the scattering of light that occurs in brain tissue.
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Jun 14 2019Viruses Found to Use Intricate 'Treadmill' to Move Cargo across Bacterial Cells
State-of-the-art technologies reveal bacterial cells organized like human cells, offering insights for new phage therapies on untreatable infections
Now, using advanced technologies to explore the inner workings of bacteria in unprecedented detail, biologists at the University of California San Diego have discovered that in fact bacteria have more in common with sophisticated human cells than previously known.
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May 16 2019Researchers Unravel Mechanisms that Control Cell Size
Team of biologists, engineers and physicists uncover origins of precise cellular reproduction
Working with bacteria, a multidisciplinary team at the University of California San Diego has provided new insight into a longstanding question in science: What are the underlying mechanisms that control the size of cells?
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May 10 2019Shatterproof: The Seeds of a Blockbuster Discovery
Basic science yields discoveries that are crucial to our lives and the world we inhabit, generating advances that enrich our knowledge about life, health and the natural wonders that shape our existence. But in the modern era of instant gratification and razor-thin attention spans, such contributions are too often supplanted by glitzy tweets and bite-sized news nuggets.
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May 09 2019Scientists Locate Brain Area Where Value Decisions Are Made
Data from mouse neurons point to unexpected brain region, carrying implications for health and disease
Neurobiologists at the University of California San Diego have pinpointed the brain area responsible for value decisions that are made based on past experiences.
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Apr 11 2019Pesticide 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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Jan 23 2019UC 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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Dec 13 2018Coming 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.
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Sep 27 2018Taking out the (Life-threatening) Garbage: Bacteria Eject Trash to Survive
'Minicell' pods, used in drug delivery, discard damaged proteins to prolong life
Scientists have known for decades that certain bacteria produce small spherical versions of themselves. Although they lack basic materials to reproduce or function like normal cells, recent interest in such "minicells" has spiked due to their proficiency as nano-sized delivery tools for drugs and vaccines to targeted cells and tissues.
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July 25 2018Bacterial Communities Use Sophisticated Strategy to Communicate over Long Distances
Clusters of bacteria employ the same 'percolation' method we use to brew coffee
A theory known as "percolation" is now helping microbiologists at the University of California San Diego explain how communities of bacteria can effectively relay signals across long distances.
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March 05 2018Researchers Film Bacteria Using "Hand-to-Hand" Combat to Steal Antibiotic Resistance Genes
Researchers at the University of California San Diego Center for Microbiome Innovation have identified the mechanism by which a clinically relevant bacterium may gain antibiotic resistance, and have come up with a model for predicting the conditions under which it spreads. The findings, which establish a framework for understanding, quantifying and hopefully combating the emergence of superbugs, were published in a recent paper in eLife.
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Feb 05 2018UC San Diego Undergraduate Synthesizes Visual Arts, Community Engagement and Scientific Research for Health Activism
Multidisciplinary issues need multidisciplinary solutions. That's biology major and visual arts minor Anika Ullah's mantra. Ullah believes that when put together, visual media, science and community engagement can serve as powerful tools for gaining insight into current health-related issues, shaping scientific study design and increasing public agency—and she's dedicated her undergraduate career to three local, binational and global projects that accomplish that aim.
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Jan 25 2018Discovery Offers New Genetic Pathway for Injured Nerve Regeneration
Finding could pave road to regrowth after traumatic injuries, stroke and spinal damage
On the hunt for genes involved in regenerating critical nerve fibers called axons, biologists at the University of California San Diego came away with a surprise: The discovery of a new genetic pathway that carries hope for victims of traumatic injuries—from stroke to spinal cord damage.
UC San Diego Biological Sciences Assistant Project Scientist Kyung Won Kim, Professor Yishi Jin and their colleagues conducted a large-scale genetic screening in the roundworm C. elegans seeking ultimately to understand genetic influences that might limit nerve regrowth in humans. Unexpectedly, the researchers found the PIWI-interacting small RNA (piRNA) pathway—long believed to be restricted to function in the germline—plays an active role in neuron damage regeneration.
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Nov 28 2017Don Helinski Honored with Revelle Medal
Biologist receives Chancellor's highest honor for a half-century of contributions
Don Helinski, professor emeritus in the Division of Biological Sciences' Section of Molecular Biology, has been awarded a 2017 Revelle Medal, the highest honor given by the Chancellor to a current or former UC San Diego faculty member. Helinski was honored with the medal on Nov. 17, 2017 during the university's Founders Day celebration.
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Nov 2 2017Scientists Decipher Mechanisms Underlying the Biology of Aging
Multi-pronged approach reveals a delicate balance required for longevity
Understanding the factors that control aging has been one of humanity's endless pursuits, from the mystical fountain of youth to practical healthful regimens to prolong life expectancy.
A team of scientists at the University of California San Diego has now helped decipher the dynamics that control how our cells age, and with it implications for extending human longevity. As described in a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a group led by biologist Nan Hao employed a combination of technologies in engineering, computer science and biology to analyze molecular processes that influence aging.
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Oct 5 2017A Flip Flop Revolution
From algae surfboards to sustainable shoes, a campus innovation that could change the world
UC San Diego students and researchers have produced the world's first algae-based, renewable flip flops.
The first prototypes of their new invention, developed over the summer in a York Hall chemistry laboratory, consist of a flexible, spongy slipper adorned with a Triton logo and a simple strap—fairly basic, as flip flops go.
But when they go into full production later this academic year at what researchers hope will be a projected cost of $3 a pair, the impact of this campus innovation could be revolutionary, changing the world for the better environmentally.
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Sept 13, 2017Tata Institute for Genetics and Society Advances with Building Naming, Inaugural Chair Holders
C San Diego celebrated the dedication of a new building for the divisions of Biological and Physical Sciences on Sept. 12 with a special announcement. The cutting-edge science building will bear the name Tata Hall for the Sciences, or Tata Hall, in recognition of a $70 million gift from the Tata Trusts, which was committed last year to create the binational Tata Institute for Genetics and Society.
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Aug 7 2017A New View for Protein Turnover in the Brain
Researchers probe key processes potentially underlying a variety of neurological diseases
Scientists at the University of California San Diego, led by graduate student Marisa Goo under the guidance of Professor Gentry Patrick, have provided the first evidence that lysosomes can travel to distant parts of neurons to branch-like areas known as dendrites.
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Jul 13 2017Scientists Invent New Tool for the Synthetic Biologist's Toolbox
Researchers at the University of California San Diego have invented a new method for controlling gene expression across bacterial colonies. The method involves engineering dynamic DNA copy number changes in a synchronized fashion.
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May 22 2017Study Finds Bacteria Living in Marine Sponge Produce Toxic Flame Retardant-Like Compounds
A Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego-led research team, along with scientists in the UC San Diego Division of Biological Sciences, discovered for the first time that a common marine sponge hosts bacteria that specialize in the production of toxic compounds nearly identical to man-made fire retardants.
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May 4 2017Q&A with Heather Henter, Academic Coordinator, UC San Diego Natural Reserve System
The UC Natural Reserve System (NRS) is a network of 39 (soon to be 40) largely undisturbed properties across the state, set aside to fulfill the mission of the UC: education, research and public service. We are different from state/national parks or other wild lands because we are part of a university, thus research and education are a focus. These sites are living laboratories for researchers and classrooms without walls for students. And because we are a system, we can address important topics like climate change ecosystem-wide. The network includes most habitats in the state, from coast to desert to alpine.
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Apr 7 2017Stephanie Mel Honored for Exceptional Undergraduate Teaching
Associate teaching professor among those recognized at Chancellor's Associates Faculty Excellence Awards ceremony
Stephanie Mel, associate teaching professor of molecular biology, was recognized by the UC San Diego Chancellor's Associates for excellence in undergraduate teaching during the 2017 Faculty Excellence Awards.
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Apr 6 2017UC San Diego Biologists Discover Timesharing Strategy in Bacteria
Communities found to coordinate feeding to streamline efficiency
Timesharing, researchers have found, isn't only for vacation properties. While the idea of splitting getaway condos in exotic destinations among various owners has been popular in real estate for decades, biologists at the University of California San Diego have discovered that communities of bacteria have been employing a similar strategy for millions of years.
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Mar 21 2017Ancient Biological Clockwork Revealed Using 'Secret Sauce'
A new paper released in the prestigious journal Science explains how the labs of LiWang and his colleagues captured assemblies of the proteins that direct cyanobacterial circadian rhythms, or biological clocks, in large complexes and made spectroscopic "snapshots" of their different formations using X-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.
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Mar 2 2017Bacteria Recruit Other Species with Long Range Electrical Signals
Biologists at UC San Diego who recently found that bacteria resolve social conflicts within their communities and communicate with one another like neurons in the brain have discovered another human-like trait in these apparently not-so-simple, single-celled creatures.
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Jan 18 2017Biologists Discover How Viruses Hijack Cell's Machinery
Biologists at UC San Diego have documented for the first time how very large viruses reprogram the cellular machinery of bacteria during infection to more closely resemble an animal or human cell—a process that allows these alien invaders to trick cells into producing hundreds of new viruses, which eventually explode from and kill the cells they infect.
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Nov 10 2016Hacking a Revolution in Biology
Graduate students in new quantitative biology doctoral program learn to modify microscopes and other instruments to probe frontiers of their emerging discipline
Graduate studies within any single scientific discipline are challenging endeavors on their own. But imagine combining graduate school-level training in physics and mathematics with advanced research in engineering and biology.
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Oct 14 2016Rachel Dutton Awarded Packard Fellowship
A molecular biology professor at the University of California San Diego who developed an innovative way to understand the development and evolution of microbial communities using cheese is one of 18 early-career scientists and engineers nationwide who have won prestigious 2016 Packard Fellowships for Science and Engineering.
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Aug 22 2016Single-Celled Fungi Multiply, Alien-Like, by Fusing Cells in Host
Microsporidia cause diarrhea, an illness called microsporidiosis and even death in immune-compromised individuals.
In spite of those widespread medical problems, scientists were uncertain about how these single-celled fungi reproduced in human or animal cells.
But in a study that employed transparent roundworms, biologists at the University of California San Diego succeeded in directly observing how these microorganisms replicate and spread. And what they saw surprised them.
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Jul 20 2016Synthetic Biology Used to Limit Bacterial Growth and Coordinate Drug Release
Researchers at the University of California San Diego and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have come up with a strategy for using synthetic biology in therapeutics. The approach enables continual production and release of drugs at disease sites in mice while simultaneously limiting the size, over time, of the populations of bacteria engineered to produce the drugs. The findings are published in the July 20 online issue of Nature.
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Apr 21 2016Say 'Cheese'
In an innovative effort to understand microbial communities, a UC San Diego biology professor has turned cheese into her 'lab rat'
While many microbiologists build entire research careers around studies of a single microorganism, Rachel Dutton has taken her career in the other direction—examining collections of microbes, but with an unusual twist. She studies what grows on cheese.
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Oct 29 2015Mining Microbes: Division Plays Key Role in Campus Initiative
You are only 10 percent human. Ninety percent of the cells that make up our bodies are actually bacteria, viruses, fungi and other microbes. And researchers are now finding that these unique microbial communities — called microbiomes — can greatly influence human and environmental health. The human gut microbiome alone has now been linked to allergies, inflammatory bowel disease, obesity and many other conditions.
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Oct 15 2015A Mentor for Success
Biology professor strives to serve as example for students from diverse backgrounds
Like many faculty members at UC San Diego, Gentry Patrick arrived on campus with sterling academic credentials: An undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley, a Ph.D. from Harvard University and a postdoctoral fellowship from Caltech.
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Oct 8 2015Evolution of Kangaroo-Like Jerboas Sheds Light on Limb Development
With their tiny forelimbs and long hindlimbs and feet, jerboas are oddly proportioned creatures that look something like a pint-size cross between a kangaroo and the common mouse.
How these 33 species of desert-dwelling rodents from Northern Africa and Asia evolved their remarkable limbs over the past 50 million years from a five-toed, quadrupedal ancestor shared with the modern mouse to the three-toed bipedal jerboa is detailed in a paper published in this week's issue of the journal Current Biology.
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Jul 22 2015Resolving Social Conflict Is Key to Survival of Bacterial Communities
Far from being selfish organisms whose sole purpose is to maximize their own reproduction, bacteria in large communities work for the greater good by resolving a social conflict among individuals to enhance the survival of their entire community.
It turns out that, much like human societies, bacterial communities benefit when they can balance opposing needs within the group.
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Jun 22 2015Scientists Create Synthetic Membranes That Grow Like Living Cells
Chemists and biologists at UC San Diego have succeeded in designing and synthesizing an artificial cell membrane capable of sustaining continual growth, just like a living cell.
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Apr 24 2015Surfing into a Greener Future
World's first algae-based, sustainable surfboard produced by UC San Diego biology and chemistry students
UC San Diego's efforts to produce innovative and sustainable solutions to the world's environmental problems have resulted in a partnership with the region's surfing industry to create the world's first algae-based, sustainable surfboard.
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Mar 4 2015The Future of Neurosciences at UC San Diego
Division of Biological Sciences Professors Darwin Berg and Nick Spitzer, Director of the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind, discuss the development of neuroscience research at UC San Diego, President Obama's BRAIN Initiative and the emerging field of "neurotechnology."
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Jul 07 2014Why 'Whispers' Among Bees Sometimes Evolve Into 'Shouts'
Let's say you're a bee and you've spotted a new and particularly lucrative source of nectar and pollen. What's the best way to communicate the location of this prize cache of food to the rest of your nestmates without revealing it to competitors, or "eavesdropping" spies, outside of the colony?
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Apr 15 2014Biologists Develop Nanosensors to Visualize Movements and Distribution of Plant Stress Hormone
Biologists at UC San Diego have succeeded in visualizing the movement within plants of a key hormone responsible for growth and resistance to drought.
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Oct 10 2013New Dean Seeks to Improve Undergraduate Experience
Biology majors and students taking undergraduate biology courses will see some new changes to improve the undergraduate experience this year, according to Dean Bill McGinnis.
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Dec 10 2012Biologists Engineer Algae to Make Complex Anti-Cancer 'Designer' Drug
Biologists at UC San Diego have succeeded in genetically engineering algae to produce a complex and expensive human therapeutic drug used to treat cancer.
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Sep 24 2012Discovery May Shed Light on Why Some HIV-Positive Patients Have More Virus
Biologists at UC San Diego have unraveled the anti-viral mechanism of a human gene that may explain why some people infected with HIV have much higher amounts of virus in their bloodstreams than others.
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Jul 12 2012Discovery of Chemical That Affects Biological Clock Offers New Way to Treat Diabetes
Biologists at UC San Diego have discovered a chemical that offers a completely new and promising direction for the development of drugs to treat metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes–a major public health concern in the United States due to the current obesity epidemic.
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May 23 2012Commonly Used Pesticide Turns Honey Bees into 'Picky Eaters'
Biologists at UC San Diego have discovered that a small dose of a commonly used crop pesticide turns honey bees into "picky eaters" and affects their ability to recruit their nestmates to otherwise good sources of food.
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May 2 2012Study Shows Experiments Underestimate Plant Responses to Climate Change
Experiments may dramatically underestimate how plants will respond to climate change in the future.
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Apr 12 2012Studies Reveal How Cells Distinguish Between Disease-Causing and Innocuous Invaders
The specific mechanisms by which humans and other animals are able to discriminate between disease-causing microbes and innocuous ones in order to rapidly respond to infections have long been a mystery to scientists. But a study conducted on roundworms by biologists at UC San Diego has uncovered some important clues to finally answering that question.
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Dec 18 2011Researchers Create Living 'Neon Signs' Composed of Millions of Glowing Bacteria
In an example of life imitating art, biologists and bioengineers at UC San Diego have created a living neon sign composed of millions of bacterial cells that periodically fluoresce in unison like blinking light bulbs.
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Nov 17 2011Worms Reveal Secrets of Wound Healing Response
The lowly and simple roundworm may be the ideal laboratory model to learn more about the complex processes involved in repairing wounds and could eventually allow scientists to improve the body's response to healing skin wounds, a serious problem in diabetics and the elderly.
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