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J. Craig Venter Discusses New Book on Dawn of Digital Life

If J. Craig Venter has a single mantra, among so many that define his knack for discovery, it would be that human beings are essentially “DNA-driven software machines.”

Maverick of Science Finds His Match

It only takes a few minutes of chatting with J. Craig Venter to understand what first attracted him to return to his alma mater to open a research facility here. Venter’s approach to the scientific endeavor clearly matches that of the campus that first gave him his start. Both are mavericks known for bringing out-of-the-box thinkers together from across a wide spectrum of disciplines in search of the next blockbuster scientific breakthrough.

I Smoke, But I’m Not a Smoker

While smoking among California adults has dramatically declined in recent decades, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report there is a surprisingly large number of people who say they use cigarettes, but don’t consider themselves to be “smokers.”

Global Regulator of mRNA Editing Found

An international team of researchers, led by scientists from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Indiana University, have identified a protein that broadly regulates how genetic information transcribed from DNA to messenger RNA (mRNA) is processed and ultimately translated into the myriad of proteins necessary for life.

Source of ‘Moon Curse’ Revealed by Eclipse

Strange events have long been linked to nights of a full moon, though careful scrutiny dispels any association. So, when signals bounced off the lunar surface returned surprisingly faint echoes on full moon nights, scientists sought an explanation in reason rather than superstition. Still, the most compelling evidence arrived during another event that once evoked irrational fears—on a night when Earth's shadow eclipsed the full moon.

Materials Documenting Birth of Nuclear Age to Be Digitized

The papers of physicist and inventor Leo Szilard chronicling the birth of the nuclear age and the work of the Manhattan Project will soon be digitized by the UC San Diego Library.