Roughly 2 percent of Americans have some form of paralysis resulting from spinal cord injury, according to the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. It is impossible to restore function and movement lost in this sort of paralysis…or at least, it has been up until now. A bioresearch team at the University of California, Irvine has discovered the perfect concoction to cure such paralysis using, of all things, a protein transplant from salmon.
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Tags: 2014, CA, University of California Irvine, California, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Irvine, UCI, UC Irvine
The University of California, Irvine recently hosted a gala that raised $1.6 million in science research funding for the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, a part of UC Irvine Health. More than 500 people were in attendance at the event, which was held at Disney’s Grand California Hotel and Spa.
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Tags: 2014, CA, Southwest, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Irvine, UCI, UC Irvine, life science research grants, life science research funding
Research lab scientists at the University of California, Irvine receive millions of dollars in life science research funding from organizations such as the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation every year, often dwarfing the research budgets of lesser known schools. Did you know that graduate students at the University of California, Irvine receive a remarkable number of life science research grants as well?
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Tags: 2014, CA, University of California Irvine, California, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Irvine, UCI, UC Irvine, life science research grants, life science research funding
The botulism toxin is one of the most dangerous toxins known to us, with as little as one microgram having enough spores to be fatal to a human adult. These neurotoxins are produced from the bacteria Clostridium Botulinum and cause important communications between muscles and nerve cells to be corrupted. This bacterium causes the botulism illness by inducing paralysis and, in extreme cases, respiratory arrest by blocking these vital nerve functions.
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Tags: 2014, CA, 2013, botulism research, University of California Irvine, Southwest, California, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Irvine, UCI, UC Irvine
Are you a lab supplier who is looking to increase your presence or expand your influence at the top California Universities? Take advantage of these upcoming life science trade shows that will provide you with an effective way to network with leading California researchers:
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Tags: 2014, CA, 2013, University of Southern California, Southwest, USC, Los Angeles, LAVS, San Diego, SDVS, BioResearch Product Faire Event, UC San Diego, Biotechnology Vendor Showcase, Riverside, UC Riverside, Irvine, UCI, UC Irvine, UCR, UC Los Angeles
Your body's circadian clock is responsible for making sure you stay healthy, by regulating metabolism and carrying out internal housekeeping chores on a steady 24-hour schedule. About 15% of genes are controlled by your bodily clock, including some important ones in your intenstines that keep infectious bacteria like salmonella in check. Dr. Paolo Sassone-Corsi is a professor of biological chemistry at the UC Irvine School of Medicine and Director of UCI's Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism. Together with his colleague, microbiologist Manuela Raffatellu of UCI's Institute for Immunology, the Irvine bio research team has recently published an article in PNAS revealing how the immune system, specifically as it works in your intestinal track, is strongly directed by circadian rhythms. Upset that biological timing and you put yourself at greater risk of getting sick.
[Drs. Sassone-Corsi and RAffatellu, courtesy of Jocelyn Lee / University Communications at UCI]
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Tags: 2014, CA, 2013, University of California Irvine, Immunology, epigenetics, Southwest, California, University of California, Immune System, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Irvine, UCI, biological clock
Dr. Gary Michelson is a retired Los Angeles surgeon who made a lot of money ($1.35B) from a spinal surgical invention in 2005. Since then he's devoted himself and his considerable resources to philanthropy. One of his most passionate causes is reducing the rate of euthanasia for unwanted pets by promoting spaying and neutering, along with shelter adoption, training, and good vet care through the Los Angeles group Found Animals. Not content with the usual invasive practice of sterilizing pets, he also created the Michelson Prize and Grants to challenge research scientists to come up with a cheap, safe, and effective one-dose pill for cats and dogs to induce permanent infertility. The winner of the Michelson Prize in Reproductive Biology will take home $25M and the satisfaction of knowing that fewer pets will be put down because of overpopulation.
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Tags: 2014, CA, 2013, University of Arizona, Northeast, University of Pennsylvania, UPenn, University of Southern California, vet care, veterinary research challenge, Northwest, crowdsourcing, Southwest, USC, Los Angeles, National Jewish Health, animal science, AZ, LAVS, Philadelphia, UAZ, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Denver, Front Line event, PA, CO, Biotechnology Vendor Showcase, Tucson, Irvine, UCI, UC Irvine, Dr. Gary Michelso, pets, spaying and neutering, NJH, UC Los Angeles
One of the ways to measure how well a program or department at a university is doing is to look at their graduate programs. To be able to offer the PhD in a specialized area, you need qualified faculty willing and able to take on teaching and mentoring responsibilities; a strong reputation for excellence in the area; research opportunities (and RA funding) for those doctoral students; and equipment and laboratory facilities, to name just a few factors. So when you see an institution win a major grant to launch a PhD program, you know that's a hot area for research and facilities expansion as well.
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Tags: CA, biomedical research, Photonics, University of California Irvine, Southwest, California, 2012, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Funding, Irvine
In a recent round of new funding from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), two UC Irvine stem cell research labs and their collaborators at other California universities and private labs have been awarded some $37M, of which approximately $12M will go directly to UCI. The two funded projects involve translational research to develop eventual clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease, in the one study, and retinitis pigmentosa in the other. The new awards bring Irvine's total CIRM funding over the years to $96.25 million, most carried out at the Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center (right) which opened its cutting-edge facility on campus 2 years ago.
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Tags: CA, Stem cell research, University of California Irvine, Southwest, California, 2012, Neuroscience, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Funding, Irvine, CIRM, UC Irvine
Did you know you can be considered a "pot-head" without ever touching, let alone smoking, marijuana? When early neuroscientists went looking for the mental hardware that allowed the body to respond to the active ingredient in the cannabis sativa plant (called THC), they found much more than they were bargaining for. They did in fact identify a perfectly-shaped receptor in the brain. Puzzled at why it would exist (surely the human body was not designed with cannabis-intake in mind?), they went on to discover that the body itself makes a cannabis-like substance, called an endocannabinoid, and that it is part of a complex system regulating appetite, pain, pleasure, and immunity. So, technically, your brain is already wired for pot, and your body produces it all by itself.
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Tags: CA, Cannabinoids, University of California Irvine, Southwest, California, 2012, Neuroscience, Biotechnology Vendor Showcase, Irvine, UC Irvine