Latest UCLA Stories
UCLA-launched partnership identifies genes that boost or lessen risk of brain atrophy, mental illness and Alzheimer’s disease In the world's largest brain study to date, a team of more than 200 scientists from 100 institutions worldwide collaborated to map the human genes that boost or sabotage the brain's resistance to a variety of mental illnesses and Alzheimer's disease. Published April 15 in the advance online edition of Nature Genetics, the study also uncovers new genes that may...
[ Watch the Video ] A team of researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) are building an advanced scientific instrument unlike any other ever built before, with the aim to study some of the oldest galaxies in the universe. The five-ton spectrometer, known as MOSFIRE (Multi-Object Spectrometer for Infra-Red Exploration), has been installed in the Keck I Telescope at the WM Keck Observatory in Hawaii where, once fully operational, it will receive infrared light that...
New research by UCLA life scientists could lead to predictions of which plant species will escape extinction from climate change. Droughts are worsening around the world, posing a great challenge to plants in all ecosystems, said Lawren Sack, a UCLA professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and senior author of the research. Scientists have debated for more than a century how to predict which species are most vulnerable. Sack and two members of his laboratory have made a fundamental...
New technique reveals another piece of spectrum's genetic architecture There is little argument among experts that autism spectrum disorders (ASD), complex developmental disabilities that vary widely in their severity, are caused by both genetic and environmental factors. Advances in genome sequencing now permit scientists to uncover specific mutations in DNA that are associated with ASD at unprecedented resolution. Such data are vital to understanding the genetic basis of the disorder....
LOS ANGELES, April 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- NeuroSigma, Inc., a Los Angeles-based medical device company, today announced its appointment of Christopher M. DeGiorgio, M.D., as Vice-President, Neurology. In this new role Dr. DeGiorgio, who was previously a Senior Medical Advisor to the Company, will lead NeuroSigma's development of Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation (TNS) for the treatment of neurological indications. "I am very excited to join NeuroSigma to help move TNS therapy forward...
Researchers at UCLA and New York University have developed a method to detect sequence differences in individual DNA molecules by taking nanoscopic pictures of the molecules themselves. The work is reported in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. Using the approach they call "Direct Molecular Recognition," the UCLA and NYU researchers used nanoparticles to turn the DNA molecules into a form of molecular braille that can be read in the scale of nanometers, or one billionth of a...
Individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) often undergo multiple courses of antidepressant treatment during their lives. This is because the disorder can recur despite treatment and because finding the right medication for a specific individual can take time. While the relationship between prior treatment and the brain's response to subsequent treatment is unknown, a new study by UCLA researchers suggests that how the brain responds to antidepressant medication may be influenced by...
Finding may help develop new treatments for infectious diseases, cancer UCLA researchers pinpointed a new mechanism that potently activates T-cells, the group of white blood cells that play a major role in fighting infections. Published March 25 online in Nature Medicine, the team specifically studied how dendritic cells, immune cells located at the site of infection, become more specialized to fight the leprosy pathogen known as Mycobacterium leprae. Dendritic cells, like scouts in the...
