News Archive
April 13, 2017
Researchers develop new tools to optimize CHO cell lines for making biologic drugs
Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are the workhorses behind more than half of the top-selling biologics on the market today. Humira, Avastin and Rituxan are a few. Researchers at the UC San Diego CHO Systems Biology Center are developing new tools, such as genome-scale metabolic models, to optimize CHO cell production of biologic drugs in the hope of driving down their costs. Full Story
March 28, 2017
Discovery of a new regulatory protein provides new tool for stem cell engineering
Bioengineers at the University of California San Diego have discovered a protein that regulates the switch of embryonic stem cells from the least developed “naïve” state to the more developed “primed” state. This discovery sheds light on stem cell development at a molecular level. Full Story
March 27, 2017
UC San Diego bioengineers and physicians receive $2.8 million grant from California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Researchers led by Karen Christman, a bioengineering professor at the University of California San Diego, were awarded nearly $3.1 million by the governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine March 23. Full Story
March 23, 2017
Bioengineering Student Awarded Winston Churchill Scholarship
Fourth-year bioengineering-bioinformatics major and UC San Diego Medical Scholars Program student Angela Zou has been awarded the Winston Churchill Scholarship, one of the most prestigious awards in the world for students of science, mathematics, and engineering. Zou will receive a one-year scholarship to pursue a Master’s degree in biological sciences at Winston Churchill College at the University of Cambridge. She will also have the opportunity to work in a lab that applies computational biology approaches to studying immune responses. Zou is the third UC San Diego student to be awarded the scholarship since 1963. Full Story
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March 23, 2017
Gene Editing Technique Helps Find Cancer's Weak Spots
Genetic mutations that cause cancer also weaken cancer cells, creating an opportunity for researchers to develop drugs that will selectively kill them, while sparing normal cells. This concept is called “synthetic lethality” because the drug is only lethal to mutated (synthetic) cells. Researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine and Jacobs School of Engineering developed a new method to search for synthetic-lethal gene combinations. The technique, published March 20 in Nature Methods, uncovered 120 new opportunities for cancer drug development. Full Story
March 23, 2017
Students Propose Solutions to Critical Health Issues at Annual Hackathon
From virtual reality to crowdsourcing ideas, participants at UC Health Hack 2017 combined creativity and problem-solving to create projects addressing critical issues in health systems and global health. The 181 participants focused on one of two tracks: health care delivery or refugee health. UC Health Hack 2017, the third annual interdisciplinary health-focused two-day hackathon at UC San Diego, was a collaboration between UC San Diego Engineering World Health, UC San Diego Health, UC Irvine Health, and Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego. The competition featured more than 35 proposals, with support from 57 mentors and judges from interdisciplinary fields, and awarded $12,000 in prize money. Full Story
March 14, 2017
UC San Diego Spinout Genomatica is Helping Lead a Transition to More Sustainable Everyday Products
One of the chemicals that UC San Diego bioengineering spinout Genomatica is decoupling from fossil fuels, at an industrial scale, is BDO (1,4-butanediol). BDO is a widely used chemical essential in the manufacture of thousands of products from plastic packaging to coffee capsules to automotive parts. Full Story
March 13, 2017
New nano-implant could one day help restore sight
A team of engineers at the University of California San Diego and La Jolla-based startup Nanovision Biosciences Inc. have developed the nanotechnology and wireless electronics for a new type of retinal prosthesis that brings research a step closer to restoring the ability of neurons in the retina to respond to light. The researchers demonstrated this response to light in a rat retina interfacing with a prototype of the device in vitro. Full Story
March 6, 2017
New blood test could help detect and locate cancer early on
Bioengineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a new blood test that could detect cancer — and locate where in the body the tumor is growing. The study could provide a way to diagnose cancer early on without having to do invasive surgical procedures like biopsies. Full Story
February 28, 2017
Cell 'stickiness' could indicate metastatic potential
How strongly tumor cells adhere to surrounding tissue could indicate how likely cancer will spread to other parts of the body, according to a new study led by bioengineers at the University of California San Diego. Using a spinning disc device, the researchers found that tumor cells that adhere weakly are more likely to migrate and invade other tissues compared with strongly adherent cells. Full Story
February 24, 2017
Decoding the genome's cryptic language
Bioengineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a new tool to identify interactions between RNA and DNA molecules. The tool, called MARGI (Mapping RNA Genome Interactions), is the first technology that’s capable of providing a full account of all the RNA molecules that interact with a segment of DNA, as well as the locations of all these interactions — in just a single experiment. Full Story
February 16, 2017
Engineering Undergraduates Use DNA Origami to Target Cancer
A team of engineering students has a cancer-fighting idea up its sleeve—and the sleeve is nanoscale. The idea is based on a new cutting-edge research tool called DNA origami in which scientists literally fold the molecules of life into two- and three-dimensional shapes. The UC San Diego team plans to compete in Harvard's BIOMOD 2017 competition—a molecular design competition for undergraduates. Full Story
February 9, 2017
Engineers in Innovation at IGNITE @ UC San Diego
On February 22, the University of California San Diego will host IGNITE @ UC San Diego, an event that brings together key members of the San Diego entrepreneurial ecosystem for a day focused on hands-on learning, competitions and mentoring for innovators, founders, and startup teams. Full Story
February 9, 2017
Innovators Wanted: UC Health Hack Seeks New Ideas to Solve Critical Health Problems
Think you have an idea that will change health care but need the means to bring your innovation to fruition? Register for UC Health Hack, a two-day interdisciplinary hackathon that will bring students, physicians, researchers, industry professionals and community members together to grapple with integrative medicine and global health issues in a fast-paced competition.UC San Diego Health, Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego, UC Irvine Health and the UC San Diego student-led chapter of Engineering World Health are partnering for the first time to host the hackathon March 4-5. Full Story
February 8, 2017
Human-machine interactions and Secure IoT among faculty talk topics at Research Expo 2017
UC San Diego professors from a wide range of industry-focused research centers will discuss advances in contextual robotics, human-machine interaction, secure IoT, and combined engineering and policy initiatives to fully decarbonize the global economy at Research Expo on April 20, 2017. Full Story
February 7, 2017
New method to identify bacteria in blood samples works in hours instead of days
Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a desktop diagnosis tool that detects the presence of harmful bacteria in a blood sample in a matter of hours instead of days. The breakthrough was made possible by a combination of proprietary chemistry, innovative electrical engineering and high-end imaging and analysis techniques powered by machine learning. The team details their work in Feb. 8 issue of Nature Scientific Reports. Full Story
December 20, 2016
Bert's Biomechanics
Bioengineering professor emeritus Dr. Yuan-Cheng (Y.C.) "Bert" Fung, now age 97, was a successful aeronautical engineering professor at Caltech when his mother developed acute glaucoma in 1958. He was on sabbatical in Germany that year and immersed himself in the glaucoma literature in a library near the aerodynamics research institute. He sent summaries of what he learned to his mother’s physician back in China. Full Story
December 15, 2016
Bioengineer receives NSF award to study cell migration in a 3D environment
The National Science Foundation has awarded a $1.1 million CAREER award to Stephanie Fraley, a bioengineering assistant professor at the University of California San Diego. The five-year award will allow Fraley and colleagues to continue developing a unique and innovative technology to study how cells migrate in a 3D environment. The work has applications for the study of cancers, wound healing and regenerative medicine. Full Story
December 13, 2016
Dennis Abremski appointed as Executive Director of the Institute for the Global Entrepreneur at UC San Diego
The UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering is pleased to announce the appointment of Dennis Abremski as the Executive Director of The Institute for the Global Entrepreneur (IGE). The Institute is a collaboration between the Jacobs School of Engineering and Rady School of Management, dedicated to training global technology leaders and translating university discoveries to market. Full Story
December 8, 2016
Creating Clinical Bioengineers
In a clinical bioengineering class, students observe physicians, identify problems in their clinical practices, and propose engineering-based solutions to bridge the gap between the bench and the bedside. In some cases, students have even obtained funding to turn their solutions into reality. Full Story