UC San Diego scientists have identified light-induced electrical activity as the brain mechanism controlling chemical code switching related to stress. While investigating neurotransmitter switching in rats, the researchers found that specific brain neurons were responsible, with possible implications…
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the country’s most esteemed honorary societies and independent policy research centers, has elected three professors of the University of California San Diego as new members.
UC San Diego biologists have created the world’s first gene drive system—a mechanism for manipulating genetic inheritance—in Drosophila suzukii, 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…
Biologists 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. Publishing in the journal Science, the researchers say their findings, which address longstanding mysteries of how genes…
Two neuroscientists have produced a new kind of atlas of the human brain that, they hope, can be eventually refined and improved to provide more detailed information about the organization and function of the human brain.
Through a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase II clinical trial, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report that small doses of NGM282, a non-tumorigenic variant of an endocrine gastrointestinal hormone, can significantly and rapidly decrease liver fat…
UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers developed a visible neural network and used it to build DCell, a virtual model of a functioning brewer’s yeast cell. To do this, they amassed all knowledge of cell biology in one place and created a hierarchy of these cellular components. Then they mapped…
Using artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques, researchers at Shiley Eye Institute at UC San Diego Health and University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues in China, Germany and Texas, have developed a new computational tool to screen patients with common but…
Working at the intersection of biology and physics, scientists at UC San Diego have made a surprising discovery at the root of cell formation. They found that DNA executes an unexpected architectural role in shaping the cells of bacteria. Studying the bacterium Bacillus subtilis, the researchers…
Employing CRISPR/Cas9 advancements, UC San Diego researchers are using new active genetics technology to reveal new fundamental mechanisms that control gene activity. The authors also provide experimental validation for using active genetics as an efficient means for targeted gene insertion, or “transgenesis,”…