Genetic traffic signal orchestrates early embryonic development

You are the product of metamorphosis. During the third week of your embryonic existence, fateful genetic choices were made that began to transform a tiny ball of identical stem cells into a complex organism of flesh and blood, ...

Researchers create cellular 'ORACLs' to aid drug discovery

A team of researchers at UC San Francisco has devised a new approach for early stage drug discovery that uses techniques from the world of computer vision in combination with a powerful new tool: a lineage of genetically ...

Sensory illusion causes cells to self-destruct

Magic tricks work because they take advantage of the brain's sensory assumptions, tricking audiences into seeing phantoms or overlooking sleights of hand. Now a team of UC San Francisco researchers has discovered that even ...

Human gene prevents regeneration in zebrafish

Regenerative medicine could one day allow physicians to correct congenital deformities, regrow damaged fingers, or even mend a broken heart. But to do it, they will have to reckon with the body's own anti-cancer security ...

Portable, rapid DNA test can detect Ebola and other pathogens

Using technical advances not yet developed when the 2014 Ebola outbreak began, UC San Francisco-led scientists completed a proof-of-principle study on a real-time blood test based on DNA sequencing that can be used to rapidly ...

Shouldering the burden of evolution

As early humans increasingly left forests and utilized tools, they took an evolutionary step away from apes. But what this last common ancestor with apes looked like has remained unclear. A new study led by researchers at ...

Researchers unveil DNA-guided 3-D printing of human tissue

A UCSF-led team has developed a technique to build tiny models of human tissues, called organoids, more precisely than ever before using a process that turns human cells into a biological equivalent of LEGO bricks. These ...

Researchers control embryonic stem cells with light

UC San Francisco researchers have for the first time developed a method to precisely control embryonic stem cell differentiation with beams of light, enabling them to be transformed into neurons in response to a precise external ...

How the finch changes its tune

Like top musicians, songbirds train from a young age to weed out errors and trim variability from their songs, ultimately becoming consistent and reliable performers. But as with human musicians, even the best are not machines. ...

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