July 9, 2018
July 9, 2018 —
UC San Diego has selected Kit Pogliano, a professor of molecular biology, as its new dean for the Division of Biological Sciences. Pogliano was selected after a national search and will begin her new appointment on Sept. 15, 2018. She is the fourth dean of the division and its first female leader. She will lead a renowned division that consistently ranks among the world’s best in biology research and education.
July 9, 2018
July 9, 2018 —
Physicians at UC San Diego Health are now offering prostate artery embolization as a new treatment option for men with benign prostatic hyperplasia, or an enlarged prostate. The minimally invasive procedure is an alternative to surgery, with no hospital stay, little operative pain and lower cost.
July 9, 2018
July 9, 2018 —
A team led by the University of California San Diego has developed a chip that can detect a type of genetic mutation known as a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and wirelessly send the results in real time to an electronic device. The chip is at least 1,000 times more sensitive at detecting an SNP than current technology. The advance could lead to cheaper, faster and portable biosensors for early detection of genetic markers for diseases such as cancer.
July 6, 2018
July 6, 2018 —
Ceramides—waxy, oily lipid molecules that affect biological function like insulin resistance, gene regulation and tumor suppression—could be applied to new cancer treatments…if only scientists could study them directly in living organisms. Tackling this task with a brand of chemistry that addresses biological challenges, University of California San Diego Professor Neal Devaraj produced research results that confront the limitations of studying ceramides.
July 5, 2018
July 5, 2018 —
Researchers at Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at University of California San Diego have found that the cost for the 10 “highest spend” medications in Medicare Part D — the U.S. federal government’s primary prescription drug benefit for older citizens — rose almost one-third between 2011 and 2015, even as the number of persons using these drugs dropped by the same amount.
July 2, 2018
July 2, 2018 —
MIT Technology Review has named Sheng Xu, a professor of nanoengineering at the University of California San Diego, as one of this year’s top innovators under 35. Xu is being recognized for inventing a clever way to make off-the-shelf electronics stretchable.
July 2, 2018
July 2, 2018 —
Could nuclear power make a significant contribution to decarbonizing the U.S. energy system over the next three or four decades? The answer: probably not and that’s cause for major concern, according to a recently published paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS).
June 29, 2018
June 29, 2018 —
It is with great and wrenching sadness that we announce the passing of Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science Jeffrey L. Elman, who died suddenly on Thursday, June 28. He was 70.
June 29, 2018
June 29, 2018 —
Emerging CAR-T immunotherapies leverage modified versions of patient’s T-cells to target and kill cancer cells. In a new study, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and University of Minnesota report that similarly modified natural killer (NK) cells derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) also displayed heightened activity against a mouse model of ovarian cancer.
June 29, 2018
June 29, 2018 —
PET plastic, short for polyethylene terephthalate, is the fourth most-produced plastic, used to make things such as beverage bottles and carpets, most of which are not being recycled. Some scientists are hoping to change that, using supercomputers to engineer an enzyme that breaks down PET. They say it's a step on a long road toward recycling PET and other plastics into commercially valuable materials at industrial scale.
