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The Latest

Researchers ID Cancer Gene-Drug Combinations Ripe for Precision Medicine

In an effort to expand the number of cancer gene mutations that can be specifically targeted with personalized therapies, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center looked for combinations of mutated genes and drugs that together kill cancer cells. The study, published July 21 in Molecular Cell, uncovered 172 new combinations that could form the basis for future cancer therapies.

Remembering Stanford ‘Sol’ Penner, a Founding Engineering Professor at UC San Diego

Professor Emeritus Stanford S. “Sol” Penner, one of the founders and creators of the engineering program at the University of California San Diego, passed away on July 15, 2016 at his home in La Jolla, Calif. He was 95 years old.

Synthetic Biology Used to Limit Bacterial Growth and Coordinate Drug Release

Researchers at the University of California San Diego and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have come up with a strategy for using synthetic biology in therapeutics. The team engineered a clinically relevant bacterium to produce cancer drugs and then self-destruct and release the drugs at the site of tumors. The approach enables continual production and release of drugs at disease sites in mice while simultaneously limiting the size, over time, of the populations of bacteria engineered to produce the drugs.

Big Ideas that Solve Problems

You have to fundamentally move the needle, said Daniel Kaufman (UC San Diego B.A. ‘84) about the kinds of projects he oversees as director of Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects group (ATAP).

Synthetic Membranes Created to Mimic Properties of Living Cells

Biochemists at the University of California San Diego have developed artificial cell membranes that grow and remodel themselves in a manner similar to that of living mammalian cells.

Poison Drummer Rikki Rockett Cancer-Free Following Immunotherapy at UC San Diego Health

Rikki Rockett, drummer for the band Poison, got the best news of his life last week: his cancer is gone. Rockett was diagnosed with oral cancer more than a year ago. Several months ago, he came to Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health, where he underwent experimental cancer immunotherapy, which has now eradicated the tumor.