News
-
Study offers guidance on state-of-the-art long-read RNA sequencing techniques
The techniques used for genetic sequencing of DNA and RNA have been rapidly improving over the past decade, but different methods have costs and benefits, and the scientific community has yet to determine which techniques will yield the best results for a given research question.
-
Seed grant funds eDNA research that could mitigate climate change
Affiliate Ed Green has received an Innovation Catalyst Grant for his work on a simple and cost-effective way to gather environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding. Metabarcoding is a way of analyzing species abundance in an ecosystem by surveying DNA sequences in environmental samples like soil or water.
-
New study discovers tiny target on RNA to short-circuit inflammation
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–the molecule responsible…
-
New study discovers cellular activity that hints recycling is in our DNA
Although you may not appreciate them, or have even heard of them, throughout your body, countless microscopic machines called spliceosomes are hard at work.
-
Baskin Engineering will lead regional hub of NSF Engineering PLUS Alliance to serve underrepresented students, faculty, and staff
Building on longstanding commitments to serve underrepresented academics in engineering, the Baskin School of Engineering at UC Santa Cruz has been selected to lead the inaugural Western regional hub for the Engineering PLUS Alliance.
-
Reclaiming the Lab Coat prompts conversations about justice in STEM
The workshop was led by UCSC Genomics Institute Assistant Researcher Ann Mc Cartney and her colleague on the Earth Biogenome Project, Rockefeller University Senior Research Associate Sadye Páez, with the goal of fostering inclusive dialogue among participants that could lead to meaningful change. Working on decorating the lab coats together provided a thought-provoking analysis of…
-
UC Santa Cruz researchers’ tool creates ‘synthetic’ images of cells for enhanced microscopy analysis
“We are generating synthetic images that can also be turned into a time lapse movie, where we can generate the unseen future of cells… With that, we want to see if we are able to predict the future states of a cell, like if the cell is going to grow, migrate, differentiate or divide.”
-
David Haussler receives Lifetime Achievement Award, Holger Schmidt awarded Innovator of the Year
UCSC Genomics Institute Scientific Director David Haussler received a lifetime achievement award from UCSC for his ongoing innovative, interdisciplinary work in genomics, and his collaborations and mentoring to advance the field.
-
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.
-
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…
-
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…
-
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.