News

Discovery of new biomarker in blood could lead to early test for Alzheimer's disease

March 31, 2020

Discovery of new biomarker in blood could lead to early test for Alzheimer's disease

UC San Diego researchers discovered that high blood levels of RNA produced by the PHGDH gene could serve as a biomarker for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. The work could lead to the development of a blood test to identify individuals who will develop the disease years before they show symptoms. Full Story


UC San Diego Engineers and Doctors Team Up to Retrofit and Build Ventilators

March 26, 2020

UC San Diego Engineers and Doctors Team Up to Retrofit and Build Ventilators

Even as university campuses close across the nation in an effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, a team of engineers and physicians at the University of California San Diego is rapidly developing simple, ready-to-use ventilators to be deployed if the need arises.The project kick-started several weeks ago when news started to trickle in that communities in Northern Italy with widespread COVID-19 were in dire straits.“One of the biggest things we heard was that there weren’t enough ventilators to treat all of the patients coming into the hospitals,” said James Friend, a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Department of Surgery at UC San Diego. “It’s clear that if we’re not careful, we might end up in the same situation.” Full Story


Making cell modeling more realistic

March 17, 2020

Making cell modeling more realistic

UC San Diego researchers have developed a computational tool that makes modeling and simulation of complex cellular processes more true to life. The tool, dubbed GAMer 2, simplifies the process of using realistic cell geometries in mathematical models. Full Story