Advancing Health Worldwide Content

Federal Contract for up to $40 Million Fuels Research to Revolutionize Clean Indoor Air and Defend Against Next Pandemic

Andy Fell — October 16, 2025 - 2:05pm

When a public building catches fire, its built-in systems automatically respond: Smoke alarms blare, sprinklers kick on, and occupants quickly evacuate.

But what if the life-threatening danger isn’t fire but invisible airborne contaminants that can make occupants sick? Could a similar smart-building system monitor and improve the quality of the air indoors, where Americans spend 90 percent of their time?

Where's Our CRISPR? New Treatments Promise Hope for Rare Diseases, But Wait May be Long

Andy Fell — October 14, 2025 - 2:25pm

As the parent of a child with a rare genetic disease, Celena Lozano saw the hope that reports of a breakthrough treatment bring. As a graduate student in neuroscience at 51�ԹϺ�� Davis, she knows that the road to effective treatments, let alone 'cures' for most such diseases, will be long and frustrating. Clear and nuanced communication about what research and clinical studies actually mean for patients is needed, she writes in an article for STAT.

A Stretchy Protein Senses Forces in Cells

Andy Fell — October 10, 2025 - 11:20am

How does skin hold you in? How do heart cells beat together? Researchers at the University of California, Davis, Department of Biomedical Engineering, are exploring how structures called desmosomes, which stick cells together, function and react to mechanical stress.

New work from Professor Sanjeevi Sivasankar’s lab, published Oct. 10 in Nature Communications, shows how a desmosome protein can respond to mechanical stress and potentially send signals within the cell.

Computational Model Uses Language Theory to Predict DNA Shapes That Underlie Gene Expression and Disease

Andy Fell — October 03, 2025 - 11:19am

Your DNA contains the genetic blueprint necessary to not just build your body but to build the proteins and molecules that ensure your body’s functionality. DNA encodes RNA, RNA encodes proteins and voila, your body functions.

Newly Recognized Pathway Could Protect People with Diabetes from Hypoglycemia

Andy Fell — October 02, 2025 - 11:15am

A new study by the University of California, Davis, shows how cells work together to avoid a sudden drop in blood sugar. Understanding these feedback loops could improve the lives of people with diabetes and help them avoid dangerous hypoglycemia.

The work was published Sept. 16 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

51�ԹϺ�� Malaria Initiative Expands Acivities to Equatorial Guinea

Andy Fell — October 01, 2025 - 3:01pm

The University of California Malaria Initiative, which includes researchers at 51�ԹϺ�� Davis, will partner in the Republic of Equatorial Guinea’s Vision 2030 strategy to eliminate malaria from the Central African country. The plan, which also includes Oxford University, Tsinghua University and a MCD Global Health, was announced Sept. 24 during the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Psilocybin May Present Unique Risks During the Postpartum Period

Andy Fell — September 30, 2025 - 1:14pm

Magic mushrooms may not be the answer to postpartum depression, new research from the University of California, Davis, suggests.

Landmark Discovery Reveals How Chromosomes Are Passed From One Generation to the Next

Andy Fell — September 24, 2025 - 5:00pm

When a woman becomes pregnant, the outcome of that pregnancy depends on many things — including a crucial event that happened while she was still growing inside her own mother’s womb. It depends on the quality of the egg cells that were already forming inside her fetal ovaries. The DNA-containing chromosomes in those cells must be cut, spliced and sorted perfectly. In males, the same process produces sperm in the testes but occurs only after puberty.

Valley Fever Is Spreading Across the Arid West, Affecting People and Dogs

Jocelyn C Anderson — September 23, 2025 - 9:22am

A soil fungus fuels valley fever, now reaching beyond California and Arizona due to climate change. 51�ԹϺ�� Davis doctors and veterinarians trace the threat.

Federal Grants Support Research on AI-driven Protein Design

Andy Fell — September 19, 2025 - 10:26am

Two projects at the University of California, Davis, that use artificial intelligence to design and engineer proteins for industrial and health applications have been funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF).