Month: February 2024
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Opening volley
UC Santa Cruz is broadening the federal Year of Open Science—aimed at making taxpayer-funded research findings more accessible to the public—into the Year of Open Scholarship, with the goal of normalizing open access to data and discovery
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Beth Shapiro and the Hunt for the Oldest DNA
DNA can tell us much more about extinct species than their fossil records alone, but because of how quickly DNA degrades, there have been limits on how far back in time researchers can go. UCSC professor Beth Shapiro and her colleagues are pushing those limits. Watch on PBS | NOVA.
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Protein designer awarded $2.5M to develop bioluminescent protein for deep tissue imaging
Assistant Professor of Biomolecular Engineering Andy Yeh, who was awarded a nearly $2.5 million grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to develop completely artificial enzymes that can produce bioluminescence in the body for deep tissue imaging.
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PBS’s ‘Easter Island Origins’ explores surprising genetic research to help tell the story of the Rapa Nui people
Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, is famous for its moʻai, giant human-like figures carved out of stone that can weigh more than 80 tons. It is an island with a rich history that has been communicated over the generations through oral histories and hundreds of archeological sites, and now UC Santa Cruz Assistant…
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Bioelectronics enable precise control on organoids for better understanding of neuro diseases, neuron circuits
An experimental setup with the plug-and-play bioelectronics system on top of a cell culture plate. February 07, 2024 By Emily Cerf Cortical organoids, which are miniature three-dimensional models of brain tissue grown from stem cells, offer scientists a sophisticated and accurate model to better understand how neurons control brain functioning — but researchers are still developing…