News Archive

September 11, 2018 — Two to three million years ago, the functional loss of a single gene triggered a series of changes in what would eventually become the modern human species. Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report on studies of mice engineered to lack the same gene and resulting data that suggest the lost gene may also have contributed to humanity’s well-documented claim to be among the best long-distance runners in the animal kingdom.

August 29, 2018 — Over the next five years, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, will award approximately $20 million to four academic centers to launch a new national Career Development Consortium for Excellence in Glycosciences.

August 23, 2018 — The CIPRES science gateway, which supports major discoveries about evolutionary relationships among our planet’s living creatures, has been awarded grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that will provide more than $2.8 million to sustain and enhance the gateway.

August 21, 2018 — A study by students attending this year's Research Experience for High School Students (REHS)summer internship program at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), an Organized Research Unit of UC San Diego, shows that many previous REHS participants followed a computer science and engineering (CSE) path into college, graduate school, and beyond.

August 15, 2018 — UC San Diego biologists and their colleagues have revealed that enhancer RNAs play a significant role in cancer dissemination. The researchers found that eRNAs have a direct role in the activation of genes that are important for tumor development. This role is facilitated by the ability of eRNAs to directly interact with BRD4, a protein known as a cancer disseminator. BRD4 has been recognized as a promising cancer target.

July 25, 2018 — A concept known as “percolation” is helping microbiologists at UC San Diego explain how communities of bacteria can effectively relay signals across long distances. Once regarded as simple clusters of microorganisms, communities of bacteria have been found to employ a strategy we use to brew coffee and extract oil from the sea. Percolation helps the microscopic community thrive and survive threats, such as chemical attacks from antibiotics.

July 12, 2018 — New research has uncovered a protein that enables the replication of arenaviruses, lethal pathogens spreading in West Africa. The research identified DDX3 as a key factor through its unexpected ability to dismantle normal human immune system defenses. The study may pave the way to new therapeutic treatments for arenaviruses and hemorrhagic fever.

July 10, 2018 — Researchers discovered an unexpected twist in the battle versus tumors. Tumors employ a protein called PD-L1 to blind T cells from functioning. PD-L1 protects tumors through a “molecular brake” known as PD-1. Researchers have found that some tumor cells display not only their PD-L1 weapon, but also the PD-1 brake, essentially becoming a neutralizing function. The unexpected mechanism could help determine whether a cancer patient will respond to immunotherapy.

July 9, 2018 — Through x-ray crystallography and kinase-inhibitor specificity profiling, University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers, in collaboration with researchers at Peking University and Zhejiang University, reveal that curcumin, a natural occurring chemical compound found in the spice turmeric, binds to the kinase enzyme dual-specificity tyrosine-regulated kinase 2 (DYRK2) at the atomic level. This previously unreported biochemical interaction of curcumin leads to inhibition of DYRK2 that impairs cell proliferation and reduces cancer burden.

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.