News
November 12, 2013
Single-Cell Genome Sequencing Gets Better
Researchers led by bioengineers at the University of California, San Diego have generated the most complete genome sequences from single E. coli cells and individual neurons from the human brain. The breakthrough comes from a new single-cell genome sequencing technique that confines genome amplification to fluid-filled wells with a volume of just 12 nanoliters. Full Story
October 30, 2013
Genomatica Among 100 Companies Highlighted for Economic Boost of Research
Two innovative UC San Diego spinoffs are among the 100 companies cited by The Science Coalition in a new report touting the positive economic payoff of federally funded university research. Genomatica, a biotechnology company that grew from research conducted in Bernhard Palsson’s laboratory at UC San Diego; and Senomyx, a provider of flavor ingredients for the food and beverage industries that arose from research conducted by Charles Zuker at UC San Diego, help demonstrate how support of basic and applied research at American universities pays strong economic dividends. Full Story
October 22, 2013
Bioinformatics Breakthrough: High Quality Transcriptome from as Few as Fifty Cells
Bioengineers from the University of California, San Diego have created a new method for analyzing RNA transcripts from samples of 50 to 100 cells. The approach could be used to develop inexpensive and rapid methods for diagnosing cancers at early stages, as well as better tools for forensics, drug discovery and developmental biology. Full Story
October 17, 2013
Bioengineers Team with High School Students to Study Age-Related Heart Disease
Bioengineering professor Adam Engler recently launched a six-week fruit fly experiment with a group of 11th grade biology students in a study of age-related heart disease. The question driving the project is whether genetic mutations in the heart, mutations that are common in humans as we age and that are correlated with poor heart function, also contribute to a shortened lifespan? Full Story
October 8, 2013
Bioengineers uncover cause, treatment for insulin resistance in shock patients
Bioengineers at the University of California, San Diego have discovered that insulin resistance in shock patients is caused by the leakage of powerful digestive enzymes from the small intestine that eat away and destroy the insulin receptor in cells. Reporting in the journal Shock, the team has also found a way to stop these enzymes’ destructive path by blocking them in the intestine, where they are normally used to digest food. The research team includes Frank DeLano, lead investigator, and co-investigator Geert Schmid-Schönbein, professor and chair of bioengineering at UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. Doctors have long known that trauma patients going into shock are at risk of developing acute insulin resistance, leading to hyperglycemia. The pancreas releases insulin to deliver glucose to cells to convert into energy for the body. When cells are unable to process insulin properly, a condition known as insulin resistance, blood sugars rise and the pancreas releases more insulin, compounding the problem. Until now, doctors have not known what mechanism causes insulin resistance to develop in shock patients or how to treat it. Full Story
October 1, 2013
Computer Scientists Develop New Approach to Sort Cells Up to 38 Times Faster
A team of engineers led by computer scientists at the University of California, San Diego, has developed a new approach that marries computer vision and hardware optimization to sort cells up to 38 times faster than is currently possible. The approach could be used for clinical diagnostics, stem cell characterization and other applications. Full Story
September 18, 2013
'Wildly Heterogeneous Genes'
Cancer tumors almost never share the exact same genetic mutations, a fact that has confounded scientific efforts to better categorize cancer types and develop more targeted, effective treatments. In a paper published in the September 15 advanced online edition of Nature Methods, researchers at the University of California, San Diego propose a new approach called network-based stratification (NBS), which identifies cancer subtypes not by the singular mutations of individual patients, but by how those mutations affect shared genetic networks or systems. Full Story
September 17, 2013
Bioengineers Researching Smart Cameras and Sensors that Mimic, Exceed Human Capability
University of California, San Diego bioengineering professor Gert Cauwenberghs has been selected by the National Science Foundation to take part in a five-year, multi-institutional, $10 million research project to develop a computer vision system that will approach or exceed the capabilities and efficiencies of human vision. Full Story
September 4, 2013
UC San Diego Bioengineering and IEM Programmer Named 2013 Presidential Innovation Fellow
Justin Grevich, a web developer and systems administrator in bioengineering and the Institute of Engineering in Medicine, has been named a 2013 Presidential Innovation Fellow. Full Story
August 12, 2013
New electron beam writer enables next-gen biomedical and information technologies
The new electron beam writer housed in the Nano3 cleanroom facility at the Qualcomm Institute is important for electrical engineering professor Shadi Dayeh’s two major areas of research. He is developing next-generation, nanoscale transistors for integrated electronics; and he is developing neural probes that have the capacity to extract electrical signals from individual brain cells and transmit the information to a prosthetic device or computer. Achieving this level of signal extraction or manipulation requires tiny sensors spaced very closely together for the highest resolution and signal acquisition. Enter the new electron beam writer. Full Story