biological sciences

UCLA scientists have recently partnered with the Sandia National Laboratory to develop special screening libraries based on a gene-editing technology called CRISPR.

Mutations in mitochondrial DNA can cause devastating diseases that mainly affect tissues and cells with high-energy demands, like the brain and muscles.

The latest research on the impact of microbes inside our bodies on brain development, function and behavior, from UCLA scientist and Sloan Foundation 'rising star' Elaine Hsaio.

The Dolly Green Professor of Ophthalmology was recognized for improving medical understanding of macular degeneration, which damages vision in an estimated 11 million Americans.

UCLA biologists write that the findings should help guide how endangered species are treated.

The researchers discovered good news as well: An omega-3 fatty acid known as docosahexaenoic acid seems to reverse the harmful changes.

Students are taught about extinction in classrooms, but it’s their direct experience with nature that is rapidly disappearing, warns Peter Kareiva, director of the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.

UCLA biochemists have devised a way to convert sugar into a variety of useful chemical compounds without using cells and that could lead to the production of biofuels and pharmaceuticals.

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block and UCLA psychologist Patricia Greenfield were part of a panel discussing the downside of the digital revolution at a Zócalo/UCLA event at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

The animals, which are related to spiders and scorpions, “look terrifying, but are actually delicate, timid and afraid of you,” says UCLA doctoral candidate Kenneth Chapin.

Discovery provides scientists with critical information on the best way to create stem cells for purposes such as cell transplantation or organ regeneration.

These changes could potentially lead to various developmental disorders and other health risks.

Discovery could aid in the creation of vaccines and drug treatments for bluetongue disease.

Logic would suggest that millions of years of evolution would have perfected spatial localization in humans. A new UCLA study helps explain why that’s not the case.

The $1.75 million grant will be used to create a toolkit to analyze genomics data, allowing researchers to understand how threatened populations respond to changes in habitats and climate.

Technique allows researchers to test many different small molecules at once.

The analysis is one of a series of studies led by Daniel Blumstein that address questions about wild animals’ fear responses to humans.

Archaeologist Matthew Curtis was part of a team that recently discovered a skeleton that yielded the first complete ancient genome ever found in Africa.

Nanoparticle system delivers the antibiotic moxifloxacin directly to infected cells, greatly improving treatment of pneumonic tularemia.

UCLA research reveals the three-dimensional atomic structure of a double-stranded RNA virus and the biological nano-switch that turns on transcription.

The findings are particularly alarming for birds with smaller populations, which can’t rebound like a large population can, the researchers say.

Life scientists from UCLA and other universities in the U.S. and England argue that predatory animals helped keep the population of large herbivores in check.

“There is so much potential for treating disease if we understand deeply how telomerase works,” said UCLA professor Juli Feigon, a senior author of the study.

New research indicates that some dinosaurs, at least, had the capacity to elevate their body temperature using heat sources in the environment, such as the sun.

Study by UCLA-led international team restores consensus after controversial 2014 paper questioned direct effects of climate change.