You might expect the barrage of brilliant lab-on-a-cell-phone inventions that come out of the Ozcan Nano/Bio Photonics Lab at the University of California Los Angeles to eventually dwindle, or perhaps only leave us moderately impressed after a while, but that's not the case. Less than three weeks into 2013, the Ozcan Research Group published on their development of a new optical microscopy platform which uses liquid nanolenses that self-assemble around tiny objects (in the sub–100-nanometer range), allowing it to detect viruses and nanoparticles. That paper was published online in the journal Nature Photonics and was the subject of a recent UCLA research news release. Also this month, the Royal Society of Chemistry published the paper Cost-effective and Rapid Blood Analysis on a Cell-phone. And the international society for optics and photonics, SPIE, announced a new annual award for 2013: the Biophotonics Technology Innovator Award. One guess who its first recipient is? Not a shabby way to start the new year at all.
Tags: 2014, CA, University of California Los Angeles, 2013, Photonics, Ozcan Nano/Bio Photonics Lab, Microscopy, Lab-on-a-chip Technology, Southwest, California, University of California, Los Angeles, LAVS, UCLA, Biotechnology Vendor Showcase
2012 was a big year for the science of snipping DNA to introduce genetic changes into a cell, also known as genome editing. Though Science magazine hailed two new techniques for selectively cutting and pasting DNA in the field of genome engineering as together constituting one of the Top 10 scientific breakthroughs of the year, those methods may already have been surpassed by researchers at the University of California Berkeley using RNA and a single protein. Faster, simpler, and cheaper, the UCB team led by Dr. Jennifer Doudna published initial results of their work genetically modifying bacteria using the RNA-based DNA cleavage technique last summer. The response from the the life science community was extremely positive, with reviews calling it a "tour de force" and a "a real hit," according to the latest press release. Now three more papers are coming out based on the work of the Doudna Lab showing that the RNA programming technique using a bacterial enzyme known as Cas9 is equally effective in making alterations to human genes.
Tags: 2014, CA, 2013, University of California Berkeley, AIDS Research, Molecular Engineering, gene therapy, Southwest, California, University of California, genetic engineering, Berkeley, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Harvard, genomics research, UC Berkeley, UCBerk
An historic collaboration between the University of California Davis and China's BGI, the world’s largest genomics organization, has dramatically increased the University's genome sequencing capabilities and promises to open up altogether new research opportunities in the life sciences community with genomic studies of plants, animals, humans and microbes. The new joint endeavor is called BGI@UC Davis and will benefit both UCD and China's first citizen-managed, non-profit research institution.
Tags: 2014, University of California Davis Medical Center, 2013, University of California Davis, New research facilities, Southwest, California, University of California, UCDMC, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Genomics, genomics research, Sacramento, Davis, Sacramento Campus, UCD
The University of California system has five biomedical campuses currently: San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Irvine, and Davis/Sacramento. While each campus maintains a certain autonomy, the advantage to being part of a unified, statewide system is especially apparent when it comes to sharing resources such as biospecimens. In research studies that require data from large numbers of human blood or tissue samples, for instance, scientists rely on biobanks: an organized collection of human biological material and associated information stored for one or more research purposes.
Tags: CA, University of California Los Angeles, University of California San Francisco, Bioscience research, Bioresearch, Translational Research, Southwest, California, University of California, 2012, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Biotechnology Vendor Showcase
If you’ve heard of the University of California’s QB3 organization, you probably already know that their goal is to offer support to researchers in the biosciences and help them commercialize their work. What you may not know is just how successful the organization has been in its six years of existence. QB3, or the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, hit its six year mark in March. Since its beginning, QB3 and its partners have been integral in the inception of 65 new bioscience companies in an expanding network of incubators at UCSF Mission Bay, UC Santa Cruz and UC Berkeley. Together, these companies have earned over $230 million in capital.
Tags: University of California, QB3, UCSF Mission Bay, UC Berkley
The 29th Semiannual Los Angeles Biotechnology Vendor Showase™ Event (BVS) at UCLA on April 5th, 2012 was a success with close to 600 researchers looking at a wide variety of new products. Attendees had the opportunity to investigate the latest technology, enjoy a free catered lunch, and take fun Science Ninja photos!
Tags: CA, University of California Los Angeles, vendor shows, Southwest, California, University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA, Biotechnology Vendor Fair, Ucla Connection Opportunity, Biotechnology, California Research Conference, california research seminar, life science researcher event, Life Science Technology, laboratory sales
If you watch the evening news in Northern California, it's not unusual to hear the results of studies being done at Sacramento's UC Davis Medical Center campus, especially if those results are raising eyebrows. But an autism study out of the M.I.N.D. Institute at UCDMC has gone national recently, appearing on dozens of media outlets, as well as in Monday's issue of the journal Pediatrics. The news? Research study results showing a corellation between a mother's obesity during pregnancy and increased risk for autism in her child. More specifically, women with metabolic diseases like obesity, diabetes, and hypertension were 1.6 times more likely to have children with autism spectrum disorders than healthy women.
Tags: University of California Davis, Diabetes, Southwest, California, University of California, Autism, BioResearch Product Faire Event, BRPF, Sacramento Campus
The 33rd Semiannual San Diego Biotechnology Vendor Showase™ Event (BVS) at UCSD on February 9th was a success with close to 700 attendees looking at a wide variety of new products. But new products weren't the only thing new at this event, Biotechnology Calendar, Inc. had their very first photo booth available for free fun photo strips to take home!
Tags: CA, University of California San Diego, California, University of California, San Diego, Life science marketing opportunity, UCSD research, UCSD, UC San Diego, California Research Conference, california research seminar, life science researcher event, bioscience event, Biotechnology Vendor Showcase, San Diego Biotechnology, BVS
Los Angeles scientists will have the opportunity to investigate the latest technology in less than 8 weeks at one of the year’s best UCLA laboratory science marketing events. This year the Biotechnology Vendor Showcase™ Event in Los Angeles is expected to attract over 600 university science researchers actively seeking new products and services for life science research.
Tags: CA, University of California Los Angeles, vendor shows, Southwest, California, University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA, Biotechnology Vendor Fair, Ucla Connection Opportunity, Biotechnology, California Research Conference, california research seminar, life science researcher event, Life Science Technology, laboratory sales
Waste is an inevitable bi-product of human life, industry, and agriculture. One of the scientific challenges we face as a society is managing that waste and minimizing its deleterious effects on the environment that we depend upon for current and future sustenance. This ecosystem management increasingly involves the utilization of life science processes whereby good bacteria eat the unwanted effluent and render it neutral or even beneficial through an organically bioactive treatment system. This process is called bioremediation, in contrast to chemical sterilization systems (e.g. chlorination) that can cause problems downstream.
Tags: Midwest, Bioresearch, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Southwest, California, University of California, University of California Santa Barbara, Illinois, Ecology