Surprisingly high fraction of dead galaxies found in ancient galactic city: Why cluster’s galaxies are unlike those in all the other known protoclusters is a mystery
An international team of astronomers led by researchers at the University of California, Riverside, has discovered an unusual massive cluster of young galaxies forming in the early universe. The newly discovered growing galactic metropolis, named MAGAZ3NE J095924+022537, is a newborn galaxy cluster, or protocluster, consisting of at least 38 member galaxies, and is about 11.8 […]
Scientists discover new avian immunological pathway
A research team led by a biomedical scientist at the University of California, Riverside, has discovered a new immune pathway in chickens that viruses — such as those that tend to infect birds, humans, and animals and spread diseases like influenza or Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever — may be targeting. The discovery, which has implications also […]
Can seven questions determine how wise you are? Seven-item Jeste-Thomas Wisdom Index has high validity to measure wisdom and potential to improve overall well-being
Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report that an abbreviated, seven-item scale can help determine with high validity a person’s level of wisdom, a potentially modifiable personality trait that has been shown to have a strong association to well-being. The study’s researchers had previously developed the 28-item San Diego Wisdom Scale […]
New technology designed to genetically control disease-spreading mosquitoes: CRISPR-based system developed to safely restrain mosquito vectors via sterilization
Leveraging advancements in CRISPR-based genetic engineering, researchers at the University of California San Diego have created a new system that restrains populations of mosquitoes that infect millions each year with debilitating diseases. The new precision-guided sterile insect technique, or pgSIT, alters genes linked to male fertility — creating sterile offspring — and female flight in […]
Novel mechanism links genetic defect in IBD patients to gut leakiness: Study in mice and human tissue is the first to show how a disease mutation weakens barrier properties of epithelial cells lining the gut
A team of researchers led by a biomedical scientist at the University of California, Riverside, has identified a novel mechanism by which loss-of-function mutations in the gene PTPN2, found in many patients with inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD, affect how intestinal epithelial cells maintain a barrier. The intestinal epithelium, a single layer of cells, plays […]
Wildfire smoke may have contributed to thousands of extra COVID-19 cases and deaths in western U.S. in 2020
Thousands of COVID-19 cases and deaths in California, Oregon, and Washington between March and December 2020 may be attributable to increases in fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) from wildfire smoke, according to a new study co-authored by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The study is the first to quantify the degree […]
Targeting mitochondria shows promise in treating obesity: Molecule that changes the shape of mitochondria corrects obesity
A team of University of California, Irvine, scientists have discovered a novel pharmacological approach to attenuate the mitochondrial dysfunction that drives diet-induced obesity. The results of their study were published recently in the journal, EMBO Molecular Medicine. Consuming a high-fat diet can lead to obesity and metabolic disorders such as diabetes and fatty liver. Palmitate, […]
‘We Need a Lot of Humility’: What We Heard This Week
“We need a lot of humility.” — Monica Gandhi, MD, MPH, of University of California San Francisco, discussing the many unknowns surrounding whether one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine provides sufficient protection for the previously infected. “You either choose to live with it, or avoid anything that makes life meaningful.” — Alex Myers, DO, a […]
3D ‘assembloid’ shows how SARS-CoV-2 infects brain cells
Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine have produced a stem cell model that demonstrates a potential route of entry of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, into the human brain. The findings are published in the July 9, 2021 online issue of Nature Medicine. […]
Single cancer cells have different appetites for fatty acids
A new method developed by Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) and University of California, Riverside provides new insights into cancer biology by allowing researchers to show how fatty acids are absorbed by single cells. Fatty acids, along with glucose and amino acids, are a major energy source for cellular growth and proliferation, and abnormal fatty […]