News Archive
July 26, 2023
UC San Diego Bioengineers Uncover Lipid Metabolic Dynamics in Drosophila Brain During Aging
UC San Diego bioengineers uncover lipid metabolic dynamics in the brains of fuit flies during aging. This research relies on a cutting-edge imaging technique called SRS imaging. The technique allows researchers to peer inside living cells without disturbing cell function. This research demonstrates a new approach for studying brain lipid metabolic activity in live cells. The research also illuminates the interconnection of aging, dietary, and genetic manipulations on brain lipid metabolic regulation. Full Story
July 19, 2023
Single-Cell Atlas of the Human Kidney Provides New Resources to Study Kidney Disease
What causes certain individuals who experience a sudden decline in kidney function to develop kidney disease while others recover? A new study co-led by UC San Diego bioengineers could provide detailed insight—at the level of individual cells—into the underlying factors contributing to these divergent outcomes. Full Story
June 1, 2023
The Class of 2023: Dedicated to Their Dreams
UC San Diego’s Class of 2023 looks forward to diving into their future. Their passions range from international environmental equity to artificial intelligence and from biosustainability to lasers and optics. Together, they forged their own pathways at UC San Diego and look forward to taking their next steps. Our soon-to-be alumni are ready to turn their tassels and start making their dreams into reality. Full Story
May 18, 2023
New Research from UC San Diego Sheds Light on the Possible Origins of Life
UC San Diego researchers have identified the conditions for cell metabolism to emerge on the early Earth, shedding new light on the origins of life itself, along with the fundamental nature of biological carbon fixation. Full Story
May 1, 2023
Safe, autonomous driving tech takes the wheel at Research Expo 2023
Ross Greer, an electrical and computer engineering graduate student at UC San Diego, won the grand prize at Research Expo 2023 for his work on a technology that could enable vehicles to drive more autonomously and decide when the driver is prepared to take back control of the wheel. Full Story
April 27, 2023
Scientists Slow Aging by Engineering Longevity in Cells
Researchers have developed a biosynthetic “clock” that keeps cells from reaching normal levels of deterioration related to aging. They engineered a gene oscillator that switches between the two normal paths of aging, slowing cell degeneration and setting a record for life extension. Full Story
April 18, 2023
This student organization builds neurotechnology devices
UC San Diego students will present three projects at an event that will bring together teams for five University of California campuses April 29 at UCLA. The neuro-tech conference is organized by student organizations at UC San Diego, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz and UC Davis. Full Story
April 11, 2023
Commercial-scale Biomanufactured Melatonin is Here
For the first time, large amounts of melatonin are being made by bacteria. Engineered E. coli are feeding on glucose and churning out melatonin, the hormone that controls circadian rhythms. This mode of manufacturing is growing thanks in part to bioengineering advances made at UC San Diego. Full Story
March 2, 2023
Four Early Career Professors at UC San Diego Awarded Sloan Research Fellowships
Nanoengineering professor Tod Pascal and bioengineering professor Lingyan Shi are among the four professors at UC San Diego who have been selected as 2023 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellows, a prestigious award for early-career scientists of outstanding promise. Full Story
February 28, 2023
Two UC San Diego Engineers Elected to the National Academy of Inventors
Two engineers from the University of California San Diego have been elected Senior Members of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), in recognition of their efforts to improve human health through engineering. Bioengineering professors Michael J. Heller, who is also associated with nanoengineering, and Karen Christman are being recognized for the positive impacts that have come from their research. Full Story
February 1, 2023
This Injectable Biomaterial Heals Tissues From the Inside Out
A new biomaterial that can be injected intravenously, reduces inflammation in tissue and promotes cell and tissue repair. The biomaterial was tested and proven effective in treating tissue damage caused by heart attacks in both rodent and large animal models. Researchers also provided proof of concept in a rodent model that the biomaterial could be beneficial to patients with traumatic brain injury and pulmonary arterial hypertension. Full Story
January 25, 2023
Supplementation with amino acid serine eases neuropathy in diabetic mice
Approximately half of people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes experience peripheral neuropathy—weakness, numbness, and pain, primarily in the hands and feet. The condition occurs when high levels of sugar circulating in the blood damage peripheral nerves. Now, working with mice, Salk Institute researchers, in collaboration with the University of California San Diego, have identified another factor contributing to diabetes-associated peripheral neuropathy: altered amino acid metabolism. Full Story
January 17, 2023
In Cells, UV-Emitting Nail Polish Dryers Damage DNA and Cause Mutations
The ultraviolet nail polish drying devices used to cure gel manicures may pose more of a public health concern than previously thought. Researchers at UC San Diego studied these UV light-emitting devices, and found that their use leads to cell death and cancer-causing mutations in human cells. Full Story
December 22, 2022
Identifying pathways to slow cardiac aging
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, and is caused in part by age-related cardiac structural dysfunction. A team of bioengineers at UC San Diego published a paper in Nature Aging on Dec. 22 that helps advance our understanding of how hearts age, and sheds light on a possible pathway to slow cardiac aging. Full Story
December 20, 2022
2022 Research Highlights
From tools to track the origin and spread of COVID-19, to making homes safer in earthquakes, to using smartphones as diagnostic tools, researchers at the Jacobs School of Engineering pioneered important work in 2022. A few highlights of our outstanding research this year are here. Full Story
November 22, 2022
16 Jacobs School researchers among most highly cited in the world
A remarkable 16 faculty and research scientists at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering are among the world’s most influential researchers in their fields, according to the 2022 Clarivate listing of Most Highly Cited Researchers in the World. The list highlights individuals at universities, research institutes and commercial organizations who have demonstrated a disproportionate level of significant and broad influence in their field of research. Full Story
November 17, 2022
Parsing the Genetic Drivers of Head and Neck Cancers
In a new study, published in the November 14, 2022 issue of PNAS, a team of researchers including Ludmil Alexandrov, a bioengineering faculty and UC San Diego School of Medicine faculty member, expands and deepens understanding of how genetic aberrations fuel HPV-negative head and neck cancers and, potentially, provide paths to further refinement and improvement of immune checkpoint inhibitors for HPV-negative head and neck cancers. Full Story
November 10, 2022
The Jacobs School at Neuroscience 2022
The Society for Neuroscience is holding its annual conference, Neuroscience 2022, Nov. 12 to 16 in San Diego and the faculty of the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering will have a strong presence at the event. Full Story
November 3, 2022
UC San Diego Faculty Receive New EDI Award from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
As part of a new funding opportunity launched to promote equity, diversity and inclusion in science, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, in collaboration with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, has selected UC San Diego Assistant Professors Brian Aguado and Sonya Neal as two of 25 grant recipients in the new program. Full Story
October 27, 2022
With $25 Million Gift to Bioengineering at UC San Diego, Gene Lay Honors his Mentor Shu Chien
Eminent biotechnology innovator and entrepreneur Gene Lay, through the Laygend Foundation, has committed to provide $25 million as an endowment gift to support UC San Diego's world-leading bioengineering department. In recognition of Lay's generous gift, UC San Diego is renaming its bioengineering department the Shu Chien-Gene Lay Department of Bioengineering. Full Story