News
March 11, 2013
What is the Story Behind the Research Expo Gold Squares?
The gold squares on the Research Expo 2013 postcards…what are they? The gold squares are ceramic packages that house experimental circuits developed in the lab of bioengineering professor Gert Cauwenberghs at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. The research is aimed at developing new circuits that increase the speed and decrease the energy required to wirelessly transfer biological data—such as ECG signals from the heart and EEG signals from the brain—from sensors worn on the body to nearby data collectors. Full Story
March 4, 2013
International Consortium Builds 'Google Map' of Human Metabolism
Building on earlier pioneering work by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, an international consortium of university researchers has produced the most comprehensive virtual reconstruction of human metabolism to date. Scientists could use the model, known as Recon 2, to identify causes of and new treatments for diseases like cancer, diabetes and even psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. Full Story
February 20, 2013
New injectable hydrogel encourages regeneration and improves functionality after a heart attack
University of California, San Diego bioengineers have demonstrated in a study in pigs that a new injectable hydrogel can repair damage from heart attacks, help the heart grow new tissue and blood vessels, and get the heart moving closer to how a healthy heart should. The results of the study were published Feb. 20 in Science Translational Medicine and clear the way for clinical trials to begin this year in Europe. The gel is injected through a catheter without requiring surgery or general anesthesia -- a less invasive procedure for patients. Full Story
February 7, 2013
Shu Chien Named San Diego Festival of Science & Engineering Chief Engineer
At the 2011 National Medal of Science ceremony in which Shu Chien accepted his award, President Obama stressed the importance of encouraging young students to pursue STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields. Chien, a UC San Diego professor of bioengineering and medicine and director of the Institute of Engineering in Medicine, echoed the sentiment: “The strength of our country depends on science and engineering,” he said. Now, Chien is serving as the chief engineer of the 2013 San Diego Festival of Science & Engineering, taking place March 16 to 23. Full Story
January 23, 2013
Blocking Digestive Enzymes May Reverse Shock, Stop Multiorgan Failure
New research from the University of California, San Diego published in the Jan. 23 issue of Science Translational Medicine moves researchers closer to understanding and developing treatments for shock, sepsis and multiorgan failure. Collectively, these maladies represent a major unmet medical need: they are the number one cause of mortality in intensive care units in the United States, with hundreds of thousands of deaths annually. There is currently no treatment for these conditions in spite of many clinical trials Full Story
January 7, 2013
Genomic 'Hotspots' Offer Clues to Causes of Autism, Other Disorders
An international team, led by researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has discovered that “random” mutations in the genome are not quite so random after all. Their study, to be published in the journal Cell on December 21, shows that the DNA sequence in some regions of the human genome is quite volatile and can mutate ten times more frequently than the rest of the genome. Genes that are linked to autism and a variety of other disorders have a particularly strong tendency to mutate. Clusters of mutations or “hotspots” are not unique to the autism genome but instead are an intrinsic characteristic of the human genome, according to principal investigator Jonathan Sebat, PhD, professor of psychiatry and cellular and molecule medicine, and chief of the Beyster Center for Molecular Genomics of Neuropsychiatric Diseases at UC San Diego. “Our findings provide some insights into the underlying basis of autism—that, surprisingly, the genome is not shy about tinkering with its important genes” said Sebat. “To the contrary, disease-causing genes tend to be hypermutable.” Full Story
January 3, 2013
In Epigenomics, Location is Everything
In a novel use of gene knockout technology, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine tested the same gene inserted into 90 different locations in a yeast chromosome – and discovered that while the inserted gene never altered its surrounding chromatin landscape, differences in that immediate landscape measurably affected gene activity. The findings, published online in the Jan. 3 issue of Cell Reports, demonstrate that regulation of chromatin – the combination of DNA and proteins that comprise a cell’s nucleus – is not governed by a uniform “histone code” but by specific interactions between chromatin and genetic factors. “One of the main challenges of epigenetics has been to get a handle on how the position of a gene in chromatin affects its expression,” said senior author Trey Ideker, PhD, chief of the Division of Genetics in the School of Medicine and professor of bioengineering in UC San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering. Full Story
December 10, 2012
In vitro study finds digested formula, but not breast milk, is toxic to cells
Free fatty acids created during the digestion of infant formula cause cellular death that may contribute to necrotizing enterocolitis, a severe intestinal condition that is often fatal and occurs most commonly in premature infants, according to a study by University of California, San Diego bioengineers. Their report, which was based on in vitro tests comparing the digestion of fresh human breast milk and nine different infant formulas, was published online in the journal Pediatric Research. Full Story
December 7, 2012
New Biomaterial gets 'Sticky' with Stem Cells
Just like the bones that hold up your body, your cells have their own scaffolding that holds them up. This scaffolding, known as the extracellular matrix, or ECM, not only props up cells but also provides attachment sites, or “sticky spots,” to which cells can bind, just as bones hold muscles in place. A new study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego and the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom found these sticky spots are distributed randomly throughout the extracellular matrix in the body, an important discovery with implications for researchers trying to figure out how to grow stem cells in the lab in ways that most closely mimic biology. Full Story
November 29, 2012
Two Jacobs School Engineers Named AAAS Fellows
Two faculty members at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, better known as AAAS. Ratnesh Lal, in the Departments of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Bioengineering, and Victor Vianu, in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, join 700 other AAAS members who have been elected fellows—including 10 at UC San Diego—for their efforts to advance science and its applications. Full Story