Three UC Davis researchers, including Assistant Professor James Letts, will receive funding from the Early Career Research Program of the U.S. Department of Energy. They are among 83 researchers at U.S. universities and national laboratories funded by the program this year. The awards are of $150,000 for summer salary and research expenses each year and are intended to last for five years.
The laboratory of Richard McKenney, an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology has published new research on the role of the KIF1A motor protein in degenerative disorders in children.
We might one day be able to treat diseases or inherited disorders by rewriting parts of the genetic code in our own cells. The National Institutes of Health established the Somatic Cell Genome Editing consortium, with funding of $190 million over six years, to advance research in genome editing, develop tools and test them in animal models before advancing to human clinical trials.
Jodi Nunnari, a distinguished professor and chair in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, is one of four UC Davis professors who have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Founded in 1780 by John Adams, John Hancock and others, the academy honors excellence and includes leaders from every field of human endeavor including scientists, artists, performers, poets and political leaders.
In order to generate energy, our bodies transfer electrons from food—sugars, fats and proteins—to molecular oxygen, which allows our cells to respire and function. Performed by the mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC), this process creates ATP, the “molecular currency” for energy in the cell. In a Molecular Cell study, Assistant Professor James Letts, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, and colleagues reveal further nuances of the ETC.
Katherine Dahlhausen's microbial curiosity was inspired by a rare bacterial disease she contracted while traveling in South America. Today, she's a graduate student in Professor Jonathan Eisen's lab exploring things like koala poo, chlamydia and the microbiome.
