College of Biological Sciences Content

Where's Our CRISPR? New Treatments Promise Hope for Rare Diseases, But Wait May be Long

Andy Fell — October 14, 2025 - 2:25pm

As the parent of a child with a rare genetic disease, Celena Lozano saw the hope that reports of a breakthrough treatment bring. As a graduate student in neuroscience at UC Davis, she knows that the road to effective treatments, let alone 'cures' for most such diseases, will be long and frustrating. Clear and nuanced communication about what research and clinical studies actually mean for patients is needed, she writes in an article for STAT.

Computational Model Uses Language Theory to Predict DNA Shapes That Underlie Gene Expression and Disease

Andy Fell — October 03, 2025 - 11:19am

Your DNA contains the genetic blueprint necessary to not just build your body but to build the proteins and molecules that ensure your body’s functionality. DNA encodes RNA, RNA encodes proteins and voila, your body functions.

Newly Recognized Pathway Could Protect People with Diabetes from Hypoglycemia

Andy Fell — October 02, 2025 - 11:15am

A new study by the University of California, Davis, shows how cells work together to avoid a sudden drop in blood sugar. Understanding these feedback loops could improve the lives of people with diabetes and help them avoid dangerous hypoglycemia.

The work was published Sept. 16 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Landmark Discovery Reveals How Chromosomes Are Passed From One Generation to the Next

Andy Fell — September 24, 2025 - 5:00pm

When a woman becomes pregnant, the outcome of that pregnancy depends on many things — including a crucial event that happened while she was still growing inside her own mother’s womb. It depends on the quality of the egg cells that were already forming inside her fetal ovaries. The DNA-containing chromosomes in those cells must be cut, spliced and sorted perfectly. In males, the same process produces sperm in the testes but occurs only after puberty.

Worms Reveal Just How Cramped Cells Really Are

Andy Fell — September 10, 2025 - 11:26am

In a new study published in Science Advances Sept. 10, a team of UC Davis researchers tracked the movement of fluorescent particles inside the cells of microscopic worms, providing unprecedented insights into cellular crowding in a multicellular animal. They found that the cytoplasm inside the worms was significantly more crowded and compartmentalized than in single-celled yeast or mammalian tissue culture cells, which are more commonly used to gauge internal cellular dynamics.

This Snail’s Eyes Grow Back: Could They Help Humans do the Same?

Andy Fell — August 06, 2025 - 12:30pm

Human eyes are complex and irreparable, yet they are structurally like those of the freshwater apple snail, which can completely regenerate its eyes. Alice Accorsi, assistant professor of molecular and cellular biology at the University of California, Davis, studies how these snails regrow their eyes — with the goal of eventually helping to restore vision in people with eye injuries.

Plants Seek Friendly Environments Rather Than Adapt

Andy Fell — July 01, 2025 - 9:33am

As jewelflowers spread into California from the desert Southwest over the past couple of million years, they settled in places that felt like home, according to a new study from the University of California, Davis. The work, published July 1 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that the ability of plants and animals to adapt to changing climates might be more limited than it appears.

Fish ‘Beauty Salons’ Offer Insight into How Microbes Move Within Reefs

Katherine E Kerlin — June 05, 2025 - 9:05am

Where do you go when you’re a fish and you need a skincare treatment? Coral reefs contain natural “beauty salons,” lively social hubs of activity where fish “clients” swim up and wait to be serviced by smaller fish cleaners. The little cleaners dart under and around their much bigger clients — even entering their mouths — cleaning their scales of bacteria and parasites like a team of car washers servicing a Buick. Sometimes cleaners even rub against their clients, providing a soothing massage.

New Book Details the Good, Bad and Unexpected of Ibuprofen

Andy Fell — June 03, 2025 - 9:22am

What you don’t know about ibuprofen, one of the world’s most popular painkillers, could well fill a book — and that book has just been published, authored by Professor Aldrin Gomes and 36 of his current and former students at the University of California, Davis.

“Ibuprofen is an affordable and widely used medication that has transformed pain management for millions worldwide,” said Gomes, who teaches in the Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior. “However, its story serves as a powerful reminder of the delicate balance between benefit and risk.”

City-Dwelling Monarch Butterflies Stay Put

Andy Fell — May 28, 2025 - 10:00am

Monarch butterflies are famous for their annual migrations, but not all migrate. In recent years, more and more monarchs have been living and breeding year-round in California’s Bay Area, thanks in part to the growing presence of non-native milkweeds in urban gardens.