News
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Colossal pledges $600K to the UCSC Genomics Institute to support paleogenomics
Colossal, a company that seeks to bring the mammoth and dodo bird back from extinction, is expanding its support for ancient DNA academic collaborations by pledging a gift of $500K to the UCSC Genomics Institute.
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Genomics on the ground level
Russ Corbett-Detig and Erik Enbody at the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution in Ferria, Italy, 2023. April 15, 2024 By Krizia Chambers One of the biggest current challenges in genomics research is figuring out how to make vast amounts of genomic data available to the people who need it. At the UC Santa Cruz…
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New diagnostic tool achieves accuracy of PCR tests with faster and simpler nanopore system
New tool combines optofluidics and nanopores to rapidly test for COVID-19 and Zika virus April 15, 2024 By Emily Cerf Over the past four years, many of us have become accustomed to a swab up the nose to test for COVID-19, using at-home rapid antigen tests or the more accurate clinic-provided PCR tests with a longer…
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Surprising new finding about telomeres could lead to potential targets for preventing degenerative disease
In a “jaw-dropping” finding published in Science last week, Carol Greider and her collaborators at UC Santa Cruz and Johns Hopkins Medicine used nanopore sequencing to demonstrate that certain chromosomes have telomere lengths that are consistently longer or shorter than others. Telomere length plays a role in longevity and cancer.
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Research on understudied lung cancer drivers may improve treatments
To diagnose and treat cancer, researchers and clinicians typically look at a person’s genetic material to find any mutations in genes that may “drive” cancer, helping to create a specialized treatment plan. They don’t normally look at the gene’s “isoforms” — slightly different versions of the genes that can be created in the body’s processes…
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Beth Shapiro named CSO of Colossal
Beth Shapiro will be taking a leave of absence from UC Santa Cruz to be Chief Scientific Officer of Colossal, a company that is working to bring ancient species back from extinction. Beth Shapiro is Associate Director for Paleogenomics at the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute and author of two books, including How to Clone…
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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…
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Insights from UCSC-made COVID-19 tracking tool will guide the future of studying pathogens in real time
UShER, a software developed at UC Santa Cruz to map the genomic evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, is the most widely used tool for tracking COVID-19 worldwide. A new paper from the tool’s creators outlines the “game-time” decisions that the programmers made to keep up with an evolutionary tree of millions of genomic sequences, offering…