Advancing Health Worldwide Content

‘Enchanted Broomstick’ Protein Walks on Two Stubby Legs to Keep Our Nerve Cells Alive

Katherine E Kerlin — July 15, 2026 - 10:59am

A nerve cell resembles a vast tree with branches that communicate with thousands of other cells. To function, it depends on a motor protein that walks on two legs, hauling urgent cargo from the center of the cell to the faraway tips of every branch. Scientists have unveiled a new structure of this walking protein, showing how cells control it.

51�ԹϺ�� Davis to Set Standard for Measuring Airborne Nanoplastic Health Risks

Katherine E Kerlin — July 01, 2026 - 9:00am

51�ԹϺ�� Davis researchers have received a nearly $4 million grant NIEH to develop the world’s first standardized method for measuring and describing the neurotoxicity of airborne nanoplastics.

Media Experts on New World Screwworm

Amy M Quinton — June 26, 2026 - 10:44am

The U.S Department of Agriculture has now confirmed cases of New World screwworm in calves, sheep and goats in Texas and in a dog in New Mexico. New World screwworm is a serious parasitic fly that can affect livestock, pets, wildlife, and less commonly, people and birds. Adult screwworm flies are about the size of a common housefly or slightly larger. Their larvae feed on the living tissue of warm-blooded animals.

Researchers Find Carcinogenic Chromium-6 in Palisades, Altadena Fire Cleanup Zones

Katherine E Kerlin — June 01, 2026 - 9:52am

A carcinogen with potentially serious impacts on human health was found in neighborhoods in the months after the 2025 Los Angeles County wildfires and may have spread to communities as far as six to nine miles downwind from the fire zones, according to newly published work by University of California researchers.

Dog Daycare Leptospirosis Outbreak in Los Angeles Reveals Broader Public Health Risks

Amy M Quinton — May 26, 2026 - 9:00am

A Los Angeles leptospirosis outbreak in dogs reveals vaccination gaps and broader public health risks, according to 51�ԹϺ�� Davis research.

A DNA-Organizing Protein Offers New Insight into Infertility, IVF and Generational Health

Andy Fell — May 19, 2026 - 2:08pm

The causes of male infertility can be hard to diagnose, with many tests failing to detect genetic defects. Sometimes, infertility doesn’t even involve the genes themselves. It can arise from improper folding of the father’s DNA in the sperm. If a couple conceives, this mispackaged DNA can damage the lifelong health of the child.

Children with Rare, Debilitating Brain Diseases Suffer From Mutations in a Little-Known Protein Complex

Andy Fell — May 08, 2026 - 9:40am

Thousands of times per year, a family’s moment of joy turns to unexpected grief. A seemingly healthy infant stops smiling or making eye contact. Their limbs grow weak. The tiny child suffers seizures and breathing problems.

Jawdat Al-Bassam, an associate professor of molecular and cellular biology at the University of California, Davis, often hears from these families. “I’ve gotten emails from folks all over the world,” he said.

Cold Hands, Warm Heart — Researchers Solve Medical Mystery

Andy Fell — May 04, 2026 - 10:40am

The saying “cold hands, warm heart” is usually meant metaphorically — but new research from 51�ԹϺ�� Davis School of Medicine and collaborating institutions suggests it has a striking biological parallel.

Climate Change Increases Spillover Risk of Rodent-Borne Arenaviruses

Katherine E Kerlin — May 04, 2026 - 9:00am

Climate change is likely to drive rodent-borne arenaviruses into parts of South America that have never faced these diseases, putting new communities of people at risk, finds a study from the University of California, Davis.

For the study, published in the journal npj Viruses, scientists incorporated climate projections, shifting rodent populations and the risks of human infection into a model to offer an early risk projection for arenaviruses and other diseases in the next 20 to 40 years.

Identifying Genetic Causes of Blindness in People and Macaques

Andy Fell — April 28, 2026 - 3:25pm

An inherited form of blindness directly comparable to a common inherited optic nerve disease in humans has been discovered in rhesus macaques at the California National Primate Research Center at the University of California, Davis. The work, published April 15 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could lead to a better understanding of autosomal dominant optic atrophy, or ADOA, and potentially to new treatments.