News Archive - Scott LaFee

In the Wake of a Wildfire, Embers of Change in Cognition and Brain Function Linger

Five years after the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history, UC San Diego researchers document persistent differences in cognitive function among survivors.

Study Identifies Cause for Excessive Folding of Gyri in Human Cerebral Cortex

UC San Diego researchers identify mutation that causes excessive folding in human brain’s wrinkly cerebral cortex, resulting in diminished cognitive function.

Study Identifies Cause for Mysterious Cases of Epilepsy in Children

An international consortium led by UC San Diego has identified at least some of the genetic drivers of a mysterious form of pediatric epilepsy.

Roger Tsien Inducted Into National Inventors Hall of Fame

The late Roger Tsien, who won a share of the 2008 Nobel Prize for the development of fluorescent protein as a new way to illuminate the workings of life, has been inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Marine Plankton Tell the Long Story of Ocean Health, and Maybe Human Too

UC San Diego researchers suggest that rising levels of manmade chemicals, accumulating in marine plankton, might be used to monitor the impact of human activity on ecosystem health and perhaps study links between ocean pollution and land-based rates of childhood and adult chronic illnesses.

New Computer Program ‘Learns’ to Identify Mosaic Mutations That Cause Disease

UC San Diego researchers describe a method for teaching a computer how to spot complex “mosaic mutations” using an artificial intelligence approach termed “deep learning.”

Looking for an Early Sign of LATE

Researchers at UC San Diego provide new insights into the pathology of limbic predominate age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, which mimics Alzheimer’s, making it very difficult to identify in living patients.

CRISPR Technology Improves Huntington’s Disease Symptoms in Models

Using models, researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues elsewhere, describe using RNA-targeting CRISPR/Cas13d technology to develop a new therapeutic strategy that specifically eliminates toxic RNA that causes Huntington’s Disease.

Scientists Receive $4.8M to Pursue Gene Therapy for ‘Incurable’ Disease

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine has awarded UC San Diego researchers $4.8 million to advance a gene therapy to treat Friedreich’s ataxia, a rare but devastating neuromuscular disorder.

Artificial Neural Networks Learn Better When They Spend Time Not Learning at All

UC San Diego researchers discuss how mimicking sleep patterns of the human brain in artificial neural networks may help mitigate the threat of catastrophic forgetting in the latter, boosting their utility across a spectrum of research interests.