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News Archive - Biological Sciences

‘Comet’ Supercomputer Calculations Boost Our Understanding of Immune System

October 7, 2020

A team from the San Diego Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego contributed to a study led by the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center on T cell receptors, which play a vital role in alerting the adaptive immune system to mount an attack on invading foreign pathogens, including Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

New Research Provides Clues on Optimizing Cell Defenses When Viruses Attack

September 29, 2020

UC San Diego scientists are providing new clues on how cells defend themselves from attack from viruses. The new study advance’s science’s understanding of interferons— proteins that help combat viruses like SARS-CoV-2—with possible implications for new clinical treatments.

Biologists Create New Genetic Systems to Neutralize Gene Drives

September 18, 2020

Addressing concerns about gene-drive releases in the wild, UC San Diego scientists and their colleagues have developed two new genetic systems that halt or eliminate gene drives after release. The details are published in the journal Molecular Cell.

Artificial Intelligence Aids Gene Activation Discovery

September 9, 2020

With the aid of artificial intelligence, UC San Diego scientists have solved a long-standing puzzle in human gene activation. The discovery described in the journal Nature could be used to control gene activation in biotechnology and biomedical applications.

National Science Foundation-funded CloudBank Now Operational

September 1, 2020

The San Diego Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego, the University of Washington, and UC Berkeley have entered production operations of the National Science Foundation-funded CloudBank program, which aims to simplify the use of public clouds across computer science research and education.

Overlooked ‘Housekeeping’ Gene Plays Unexpected Role in Seizures

August 26, 2020

Molecules known as tRNAs are often overlooked in study of disease processes. Researchers have now found that a mutation in a tRNA gene called n-Tr20—expressed only in the brain—can disrupt the landscape of entire cells, leading to chain reactions that alter brain function and behavior.

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

August 19, 2020

An elusive protein that many consider the key of fully understanding the causes of genetic Parkinson’s disease has come much more clearly into focus. Impacting millions around the world, Parkinson’s is a neurological disorder that progressively attacks motor functions.

Evolutionary Stalling: Researchers Explore the Boundaries of Natural Selection

August 18, 2020

What are the boundaries of natural selection? Research published in PNAS shows that even natural selection has a tough time optimizing performance simultaneously across multiple components of the cell. They call the concept "evolutionary stalling."

Novel ‘On-off’ Switch Discovered in Plant Defenses

July 21, 2020

Researchers investigating the ways that plants protect themselves—from insects to pathogens—have discovered an “on-off” switch that controls plant defensive mechanisms. The finding lays the groundwork for improved plant disease resistance and food stability.

Researchers Discover Two Paths of Aging and New Insights on Promoting Healthspan

July 16, 2020

Scientists have unraveled key mechanisms behind the mysteries of aging. They isolated two paths that cells travel during aging and engineered a new way to genetically program these aging routes. The researchers also identified a master circuit that guides the aging processes.
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