Month: April 2021
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Scientists describe ‘hidden biodiversity crisis’ as variation within species is lost
Caption: Nature has always been a source of artistic inspiration and materials, and variation, both across species and within species, an important contributor to art and culture. This painting illustrates intraspecific variation in sockeye salmon runs and was created from natural botanical pigments foraged from North American native species, including Western red cedar (bark), red…
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Earth Day Update
Rachel Meyer, CALeDNA | April 22, 2021 Even with laboratory supply shortages, we’ve found ways to keep momentum up and maintain our undergraduate and citizen science research on the environment. Hundreds of environmental DNA collections were made this year by CALeDNA volunteers and scientists all over California, including the Los Angeles River, Montara Mountain,…
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Public Health Pathogen Genomics at UCSC
Driven by new SARS-CoV-2 virus variants, COVID-19 is surging once again. If you are a software developer with experience in computational analysis, data visualization, or computational biology, you can do something about it. The UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute is organizing a project called Public Health Pathogen Genomics. We vow to get genomics tools in…
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‘Mini-brains’ research brings neural development breakthrough
Scientists identify genetic switch that helps determine how many neurons grow in an embryo Human, left, and chimpanzee mini-brains at five weeks old © S.Benito-Kwiecinski/MRC LMB/Cell Clive Cookson, Science Editor | Financial Times | MARCH 24 2021 Researchers in Cambridge have identified a key genetic switch that ensures humans develop much bigger brains than apes,…
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Honoring UC Santa Cruz’s 2021 Distinguished Graduate School Alumni
Five honorees distinguish themselves in the humanities and sciences UC Santa Cruz’s graduate student alumni are helping to shape 21st century feminist thought, fostering inclusion and creativity in the theater arts, conducting pioneering cancer research, and much more. Dan White | UCSC | April 15, 2021 As part of this month’s all-virtual Alumni Week celebrations, the…
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UCSC’s Million-COVID-Genome Tree Could be a First
Solving a computational puzzle, a UCSC team created a dynamic evolutionary tree to enable real-time genomic contact tracing SANTA CRUZ, CA – April 13, 2021 – Early in the pandemic, UCSC knew they wanted to help researchers tracking the virus. During the 2013 Ebola outbreak, the seasoned Browser team had used their coding skills to…
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Researchers identify novel SARS-CoV-2 variant unregistered on genomic sequence databases
Dr. Sanchari Sinha Dutta, Ph.D. | News-Medical.Net | Apr 7 2021 A team of scientists from the University of California Santa Cruz, USA, recently identified a novel variant (B.1.x) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that might be circulating in at least 20 US states and six countries globally. The mutations found in…
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Complicated legacies: The human genome at 20
Algorithmic biology unleashed Hallam Stevens | Science Magazine | February 5, 2021 Millions of people today have access to their personal genomic information. Direct-to-consumer services and integration with other “big data” increasingly commoditize what was rightly celebrated as a singular achievement in February 2001 when the first draft human genomes were published. But such remarkable…
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Intended consequences statement
As the biodiversity crisis accelerates, the stakes are higher for threatened plants and animals. Rebuilding the health of our planet will require addressing underlying threats at many scales, including habitat loss and climate change. Conservation interventions such as habitat protection, management, restoration, predator control, translocation, genetic rescue, and biological control have the potential to help…