School of Medicine

The Latest

Pathways Leading to Beta Cell Division Identified, May Aid Diabetes Treatment

Pancreatic beta cells help maintain normal blood glucose levels by producing the hormone insulin — the master regulator of energy (glucose). Impairment and the loss of beta cells interrupts insulin production, leading to type 1 and 2 diabetes. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have, for the first time, mapped out pathways that regulate beta cell growth that could be exploited to trick them to regenerate.

Stool Microbes Predict Advanced Liver Disease

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) — a condition that can lead to liver cirrhosis and cancer — isn’t typically detected until well advanced. Even then, diagnosis requires a biopsy. To more easily detect NAFLD, UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers and their collaborators report that the microbial makeup of a patient’s stool — gut microbiome — can be used to predict advanced NAFLD with 88 to 94 percent accuracy. The study is published May 2 in Cell Metabolism.

An Evening with Serial Entrepreneur and Innovator Tina Nova

The next installment of the UC San Diego series, Evening with an Entrepreneur, will feature scientist, inventor, serial entrepreneur, innovator, and long-time UC San Diego supporter, Dr. Tina Nova. Nova will sit down with Biocom’s Joe Panetta for an interview to discuss her unique entrepreneurial background and success in molecular diagnostics.

Campuswide Proof-of-Concept Awards Move Innovations to Market

UC San Diego announced its first eight proof-of-concept awards to advance university inventions to commercial impact. Funded through the new “Accelerating Innovations to Market (AIM)” program, these milestone-driven projects are designed to de-risk early-stage technologies.

New Study Suggests Overfishing in One of World’s Most Productive Fishing Regions

A new study suggests that more small-scale fishing boats are operating in the Gulf of California than is economically and ecologically sustainable, suggesting that local fishermen are spending more time and money to catch fewer fish.

Novel Phage Therapy Saves Patient with Multidrug-Resistant Bacterial Infection

Scientists and physicians at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, working with colleagues at the U.S. Navy Medical Research Center – Biological Defense Research Directorate (NMRC-BDRD), Texas A&M University, a San Diego-based biotech and elsewhere, have successfully used an experimental therapy involving bacteriophages — viruses that target and consume specific strains of bacteria — to treat a patient near death from a multidrug-resistant bacterium.