News Archive
March 1, 2011
Mutations Found In Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Ordinary human cells reprogrammed as induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) may ultimately revolutionize personalized medicine by creating new and diverse therapies unique to individual patients, but important and unanswered questions have persisted about the safety of these cells, in particular whether their genetic material is altered during the reprogramming process. Full Story
February 23, 2011
Nanoparticles Increase Survival after Blood Loss
In anadvance that could improve battlefield and trauma care, scientists at University of California San Diego and Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have used tiny particles called nanoparticles to improve survival after life-threatening blood loss. Nanoparticles containing nitric oxide (NO) were infused into the bloodstream of hamsters, where they helped maintain blood circulation and protect vital organs. The research was reported in the February 21 online edition of the journal Resuscitation. Full Story
January 28, 2011
Bioengineers among UC San Diego Researchers Awarded CIRM Grants in Support of Innovative Technologies
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has awarded three grants totaling nearly $5.8 million to researchers at the University of California, San Diego – including bioengineering professors Shu Chien and Shyni Varghese -- for development of innovative technologies designed to advance translational stem cell research. Full Story
January 18, 2011
Bioengineers 'Pump' Life Into Post-Heart Attack Therapies
Bioengineers at UC San Diego are one step closer to improving therapies for heart attack victims.A paper recently published in Biomaterials called “Hydrogels with time-dependent material properties enhance cardiomyocyte differentiation in vitro,” describes how the researchers measured the increase in stiffness that occurs in heart muscle as it develops and then mimicked that change in a modified version of a biological material called hyaluronic acid. Full Story
January 13, 2011
Eight UC San Diego Professors Named New AAAS Fellows
Bioengineering professor Bernhard Palsson and NanoEngineering professor Shaochen Chen are the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering professors named AAAS Fellows in 2011. Full Story
December 6, 2010
Metabolism Models may Explain Why Alzheimer's Disease Kills Some Neuron Types First
Bioengineers from the University of California, San Diego developed an explanation for why some types of neurons die sooner than others in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. These insights, published in the journal Nature Biotechnology on November 21, come from detailed models of brain energy metabolism developed in the Department of Bioengineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. Full Story
November 29, 2010
Genomic Fault Zones Come and Go
The fragile regions in mammalian genomes that are thought to play a key role in evolution go through a "birth and death" process, according to new bioinformatics research performed at the University of California, San Diego. The new work, published in the journal Genome Biology on November 30, could help researchers identify the current fragile regions in the human genome – information that may reveal how the human genome will evolve in the future. Full Story
November 16, 2010
Bioengineers Provide Adult Stem Cells with Friendly Environment: Simultaneous Chemical, Electrical and Mechanical Cues
Bioengineers from the University of California, San Diego have achieved the “Triple Crown” of stem cell culture – they created an artificial environment for stem cells that simultaneously provides the chemical, mechanical and electrical cues necessary for stem cell growth and differentiation. Full Story
November 8, 2010
Bioengineering Major among Four UC San Diego Undergraduates Recognized For Their Stellar Library Research Skills
Bioengineering major J.R. Bachman is among the four undergraduate students at the University of California, San Diego to receive the 2010 Undergraduate Library Research Prize in recognition of their stellar research skills. Full Story
October 21, 2010
How Does Your Blood Go from your Toes to your Heart?
If gravity always pulls things down, how does blood go from your toes to your heart? Bioengineering students from the University of California, San Diego will be busy helping kids discover the answer to this question at the USA Science & Engineering Festival Grand Finale Expo, on October 23 and 24, 2010 on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Full Story
September 28, 2010
Bioengineering Doctoral Program at UC San Diego Ranked First in Nation in Prestigious NRC Study
The campus ranked 2nd compared to all public institutions in the nation, and 11th compared to all public and private institutions in the National Research Council assessment Full Story
September 20, 2010
Researchers Map Thousands of MAPK Protein Interactions
Investigators, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, have mapped a huge network of protein interactions involving Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) pathways. Their study will be published in the advanced online edition of Nature Methods on September 19. Full Story
July 28, 2010
Implanted Glucose Sensor Works for More than One Year
Bioengineers at the University of California, San Diego and GlySens Incorporated have developed an implantable glucose sensor and wireless telemetry system that continuously monitors tissue glucose and transmits the information to an external receiver. The paper, published in the July 28, 2010 issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine, describes the use of this glucose-sensing device as an implant in animals for over one year. After human clinical trials and FDA approval, the device may be useful to people with diabetes as an alternative to finger sticking and short-term, needle-like glucose sensors that have to be replaced every three to seven days. Full Story
June 30, 2010
UC San Diego Engineering Students 'Ring' in Another Successful Year
More than 360 graduating seniors from the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering participated in the annual Ring Ceremony on June 12. Full Story
June 17, 2010
UC San Diego Undergraduates Team Up with National Geographic to Co-Innovate New Technologies
Jacobs School undergraduates team up with National Geographic to co-innovate new technologies. Full Story
June 16, 2010
NanoEngineers Print and Test Chemical Sensors on Elastic Waistbands of Underwear
Chemical sensors printed directly on elastic underwear waistbands retained their sensing abilities even after engineers stretched, folded and pulled at the chemical-sensing printable electrodes – sensors that could one day be incorporated into intelligent “hospital-on-a-chip” systems. This work, funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research, is led by professor Joseph Wang, from the Department of NanoEngineering at the University of California, San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. Full Story
June 7, 2010
Wireless Sensor Startup Wins UC San Diego $80K Entrepreneur Challenge
Wireless sensors that monitor your heart even though they do not actually touch your skin are at the center of UC San Diego electrical engineering PhD student Yu Mike Chi’s dissertation. This technology – and the plan for commercializing it – earned Chi and his Cognionics team the top spot in the UC San Diego Entrepreneurship Challenge. The prize includes $25K in cash for the startup and $15K in legal services. Full Story
June 3, 2010
TIES Honored, UC San Diego Named to Presidential Community Service Honor Roll
The University of California, San Diego has been named to the 2009 President's Community Service Honor Roll with distinction for the contributions UC San Diego’s students make to local, national and global communities on issues ranging from poverty to homelessness and environmental justice. This is the first year the university is on the Distinction List. Full Story
May 28, 2010
UCSD Fuels Clean Tech Cluster Through Innovation Challenge
Thirteen San Diego professors, students and research scientists who are developing technologies that will fuel the continued growth of the region’s “clean tech cluster” presented their new ideas over two days to a panel of eighteen high-tech reviewers. Full Story
May 28, 2010
Wireless Sensor Startup in $80K UC San Diego Entrepreneurship Challenge Finals
Wireless sensors that monitoring your heart or your brain even though they do not actually touch your skin are at the center of UC San Diego electrical engineering PhD student Yu Mike Chi’s dissertation. This technology – and the plan for commercializing it – earned Chi and his Cognionics team one of just five spots in the finals of the UC San Diego Entrepreneurship Challenge. On Wednesday June 2, 2010, Chi will present the Cognionics business plan at the final stage of the entrepreneurship challenge. At stake: $80,000 in cash and services for the UC San Diego startups. Full Story