Salk Institute for Biological Studies • June 18th, 2024

Unveiling Telo-seq: A breakthrough in telomere research on aging and cancer

Salk scientists debut a method for determining the length and sequence of telomeres on individual chromosomes, revealing new insights into their dynamics in health and disease

Salk Institute for Biological Studies • April 18th, 2024

Salk Professor Satchin Panda named 2023 AAAS Fellow

Salk Institute Professor Satchidananda Panda has been named a 2023 AAAS Fellow for his contributions to the field of chronobiology.

Salk Institute for Biological Studies • March 6th, 2024

A step towards clinic-ready patient-derived organoids

Salk scientists test whether different commercial cell culture products affect organoid development and response to pancreatic cancer drugs

Salk Institute for Biological Studies • March 4th, 2024

Modeling the origins of life: New evidence for an “RNA World”

Salk scientists unveil RNA capabilities that enable Darwinian evolution at a molecular scale, and bring researchers closer to producing autonomous RNA life in the laboratory

Salk Institute for Biological Studies • February 20th, 2024

Salk scientists discover new target for reversible, non-hormonal male birth control

Oral administration of HDAC inhibitor blocked sperm production and fertility in mice without affecting libido

UC San Diego • October 2nd, 2023

UC San Diego Human Milk Institute Names its Executive Director

Mitra Hooshmand, PhD, will lead strategy and operations at the innovative research institute

UC San Diego • August 9th, 2023

Stem Cell Therapy Rescues Symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease

In the ongoing search for a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, a burgeoning branch of medicine is bringing new hope. Stem cell therapies are already being used to treat various cancers and disorders of the blood and immune system. In a new proof-of-concept study, scientists at University of California San Diego show stem cell transplants may also be a promising therapeutic against Alzheimer’s. In the study, published August 8, 2023 in Cell Reports, the researchers demonstrate that transplanting hemat

UC San Diego • August 2nd, 2023

Can Field Sobriety Tests Identify Drivers Under the Influence of Cannabis?

UC San Diego scientists evaluate how accurate law-enforcement administered field sobriety tests are at measuring cannabis exposure and impairment

La Jolla Institute for Immunology • July 28th, 2023

Asymptomatic infections may underlie recent rise in whooping cough

In a new study published in Cell Host & Microbe, scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) compared the immune response of individuals who received older versus newer versions of the whooping cough vaccine. The unexpected findings may help explain the recent rise in whooping cough cases and point to potential targets for the next generation of vaccines.

UC San Diego • July 27th, 2023

New Resource Harmonizes 16S and Shotgun Sequencing Data for Microbiome Research

UC San Diego scientists debut Greengenes2, a massive reference database that could be used to reconcile years of microbiome studies

UC San Diego • July 12th, 2023

Gulf War Illness Caused by Mitochondrial Dysfunction, Not Inflammation

UC San Diego scientists contest longstanding hypothesis about mysterious illness affecting Gulf War veterans, providing first direct evidence that symptoms are driven by impaired mitochondria

UC San Diego • June 28th, 2023

One-Two Punch: Novel Drug Pairing Could Beat Pancreatic Cancer

UC San Diego researchers find a combination of drugs outperformed other treatments in human and mouse models of pancreatic cancer; now urge clinical trial

UC San Diego • June 15th, 2023

Tethering of Shattered Chromosomal Fragments Paves Way for New Cancer Therapies

UC San Diego scientists discover shattered chromosomal fragments are tethered together during cell division before being rearranged; destroying the tether may help prevent cancerous mutations

La Jolla Institute for Immunology • May 25th, 2023

Can sugar and fat influence immune cell responses?

In a new study, published in Nature Cell Biology, scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) explored the location, function, gene expression, and metabolism of MAIT cells in the mouse lung.

UC San Diego • May 22nd, 2023

UC San Diego First to Test Cancer Drugs in Space Using Private Astronaut Mission

The latest space experiments will explore leukemia, breast cancer and colorectal cancer, and also monitor astronauts’ stem cell health over time.

UC San Diego • May 8th, 2023

T Cells Can Activate Themselves to Fight Tumors

When you need a bit of motivation, it often has to come from within. New research suggests cancer-fighting immune cells have found a way to do just that.

UC San Diego • April 12th, 2023

New Study Flips the Script on Liver Cancer

UC San Diego scientists find protein associated with liver cancer may actually be key to protecting against it. The findings also suggest ferroptosis is the form of cell death that most contributes to liver cancer.

UC San Diego • March 23rd, 2023

Autism Rates Continue to Rise in California

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows the rates and demographics of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are changing in the United States.

UC San Diego • March 21st, 2023

To Ward Off Aging, Stem Cells Must Take Out the Trash

UC San Diego scientists find stem cells’ unique way of discarding misfolded proteins could be the key to maintaining long-term health and preventing disease

UC San Diego • February 8th, 2023

Toddlers’ Attention to ‘Motherese’ Speech May Be Used to Diagnose Autism

We all do it: that high-pitched, sing-songy voice that spills out of your mouth whenever a baby is around. Caregivers have long used this playful, emotional, exaggerated form of speech — called “motherese” — to capture their children’s attention. Now, scientists may be able to use it to diagnose autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

UC San Diego • January 31st, 2023

Artificial Intelligence Aids Discovery of Super Tight-Binding Antibodies

Scientists at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-based strategy for discovering high-affinity antibody drugs.

In the study, published January 28, 2023 in Nature Communications, researchers used the approach to identify a new antibody that binds a major cancer target 17-fold tighter than an existing antibody drug. The authors say the pipeline could accelerate the discovery of novel drugs against cancer and other diseases such as C

La Jolla Institute for Immunology • January 30th, 2023

LJI scientists uncover the structure and function of Inmazeb, the first FDA-approved drug for Ebola virus infection

In the cover story of the latest issue of Cell Host & Microbe, LJI researchers present a high-resolution, 3D structure of the three antibodies as they bind to the Ebola virus glycoprotein (the viral protein that launches Ebola virus infection). The model reveals new information about both the drug and the virus, and how their interaction fights infection and protects against future viral mutations.

UC San Diego • January 17th, 2023

Stress-Tolerant Cells Drive Tumor Initiation in Pancreatic Cancer

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have discovered a molecular pathway critical to the initiation of pancreatic tumors. The mechanism could also contribute to the disease’s high resistance to chemotherapy and its propensity for metastasis. The study, published on January 16, 2022 in Nature Cell Biology, found that pancreatic tumor-initiating cells must first overcome local ‘isolation stress’ by creating their own tumor-promoting microenvironment, and then recrui

UC San Diego • December 28th, 2022

Tissue-Specific Immunity May Be the Future, if We Can First Learn its Rules

After experiencing an infection, the immune system leaves behind memory T cells, which maintain a long-lasting molecular memory of the pathogen and are ready to sound the alarm if it ever returns. While some memory T cells are designed to circulate through the bloodstream and provide whole-body protection, others reside in specific organs and are specialized to fight the pathogens that target that part of the body. These T cells can provide life-long immunity at the target tissue, but can also c