January 16, 2020
Two different UC San Diego research teams identified the same molecule — αvβ5 integrin — as Zika virus’ key to brain cell entry. They found ways to take advantage of the integrin to both block Zika virus from infecting cells and turn it into something good: a way to shrink…
July 22, 2020
With a bottom-up approach to synthetic biology, UC San Diego Chemist Neal Devaraj, Physicist Sunil Sinha and a team of researchers showed that lipid sponge droplets can be programmed to function like cellular organelles.
August 25, 2020
UC San Diego researchers engineered fluorescent tools that combine the gene editing technique CRISPR and biosensor technologies to look inside cells in a whole new way. Their findings show that a major protein that binds to the signaling molecule cAMP can form membraneless organelles in human cells.
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.
January 6, 2021
Biologists have unraveled the mystery of how chromosomes are inherited correctly every time a cell divides. They discovered how a “matchmaker” molecule stops cell division until components are ready to be split. Alterations in the process can result in birth defects and certain cancers.
May 11, 2021
Scientists have developed a novel CRISPR-based genetic sensor called a “CopyCatcher” to detect instances in which a genetic element is copied precisely from one chromosome to another in cells of a fruit fly.
May 28, 2021
Scientists have developed a toolkit that helps pave the way to a gene drive designed to stop Culex mosquitoes from spreading disease. Culex mosquitoes spread devastating afflictions stemming from West Nile virus, Japanese encephalitis virus and the pathogen causing avian malaria.
June 1, 2021
UC San Diego engineers developed a technology that turns a conventional light microscope into what’s called a super-resolution microscope. It improves the microscope’s resolution (from 200 nm to 40 nm) so that it can be used to directly observe finer structures and details in living cells.
October 8, 2021
As reported in Science, researchers from three UC campuses reconstituted the circadian clock of cyanobacteria in a test tube, enabling them to study rhythmic interactions of clock proteins in real time and understand how these interactions enable the clock to exert control over gene expression.
January 12, 2023
Researchers have developed a new system for developing gene drives for areas ranging from human health to global food supplies. The new “hacking” system converts split gene drives into full drives, offering new flexibility for safely conducting gene drive experiments in a range of applications.
