Molecular, Cell & Developmental Biology News
Student-built app slashes weeks off brain mapping to speed up neuroscience research
March 6, 2025
UC Santa Cruz neuroscientists aiming to better understand how specific brain connectivity contributes to perception, thoughts, and behavior are leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance their study of brain function. By integrating AI, they are streamlining the process of aligning thin slices of mouse brain tissue with a reference atlas, helping to identify key details such as the brain region of origin more efficiently.
New biology study reveals four novel genes required for male fertility in mice
March 3, 2025
The pioneering research of UC Santa Cruz’s Upasna Sharma to determine how a father’s life experiences and environment can influence the health and wellbeing of his children moves forward with the recent discovery of four genes required for male fertility and the creation of specific RNA molecules in sperm.
Clinical pediatric cancer lab at UC Santa Cruz is cleared to accept and test patient samples
March 3, 2025
The UC Santa Cruz Colligan Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory has received its CLIA certificate of registration from the California Department of Public Health, which clears the way for it to begin accepting patient samples.
Turning opportunity into impact
February 21, 2025
UCSC student Cali Kimura is pursuing a career in women’s health and finds motivation with Weiss Family Scholarship award
NIH awards Kellogg Lab nearly $3 million to continue research on molecular mechanisms that control cell growth, size
February 11, 2025
Doug Kellogg, professor of molecular, cell, and developmental biology at UC Santa Cruz, has been awarded $2.95 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study control of cell growth and size in normal cells—and how it goes wrong in cancer.
Students make winning videos about importance of federal support for science research
January 21, 2025
Impactful scientific discovery isn't possible without funding to support the research, and three UC Santa Cruz students have created short videos that took top prizes in a national competition held by the Science Coalition, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to sustaining the federal government’s investment in basic scientific research.
Science Division debuts ‘degree-defining experiences’ drawing on UC Santa Cruz’s unique strengths
October 15, 2024
The Science Division has received a $1 million donation to begin a major new program on “degree-defining experiences.” The program will pilot 17 projects across campus that aim to profoundly inspire undergraduate students and fill them with the kind of optimism that forever changes how they see their time at UC Santa Cruz and their future careers.
Genomics Institute provides seed funds for six multidisciplinary projects
October 15, 2024
The Genomics Institute has awarded grants of up to $50,000 to six multidisciplinary research projects in the inaugural year of its seed funding program
UC Santa Cruz neuroscientist to provide rapid-response expertise for AI policymaking
September 30, 2024
Assistant Professor Dan Turner-Evans will spend the 2024-25 academic year in Washington, D.C., providing expertise to lawmakers as they develop federal policies on artificial intelligence (AI) as part of the rapid-response cohort of Science & Technology Policy Fellows chosen by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Researchers to investigate genetic roots of autism, look for new treatments
August 30, 2024
A new award from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine will support a team of UC Santa Cruz researchers in exploring the genetic underpinnings of autism spectrum disorder.
From Santa Cruz to Johns Hopkins
August 21, 2024
A year after graduating UCSC, Ozzy Bagno (Cowell ’23, molecular, cellular and developmental biology) is pursuing his Ph.D. at one of the top medical schools in the country, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
New study discovers tiny target on RNA to short-circuit inflammation
May 24, 2024
UC Santa Cruz researchers have discovered a peptide in human RNA that regulates inflammation and may provide a new path for treating diseases such as arthritis and lupus. The team used a screening process based on the powerful gene-editing tool CRISPR to shed light on one of the biggest mysteries about our RNA.
New study discovers cellular activity that hints recycling is in our DNA
May 10, 2024
Introns are perhaps one of our genome’s biggest mysteries. They are DNA sequences that interrupt the sensible protein-coding information in your genes, and need to be "spliced out.”
UC Santa Cruz scientists reveal new path to increasing lactation for nursing mothers
April 19, 2024
Scientists at UC Santa Cruz have discovered a cellular process in the breast that can increase milk production by pregnant women, revealing a potential path to addressing lactation insufficiency syndrome—the inability of a nursing mother to produce sufficient milk to meet their infant’s nutritional needs.
New study finds potential targets at chromosome ends for degenerative disease prevention
April 11, 2024
Published online today in Science, a new study finds that telomere lengths follow a different pattern than has thus far been understood. Instead of telomere lengths falling under one general range of shortest to longest across all chromosomes, this study finds that different chromosomes have separate end-specific telomere-length distributions.
Ph.D. student takes gut-wrenching research to the stage
April 5, 2024
Natalie Pedicino, a Ph.D. student in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, will bolt up to San Francisco on May 3 to distill her past three years of research into a three-minute lightning talk that will test her stage presence and science-communication skills.
