Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Professors Yilin Hu and Markus Ribbe have been delving deep into the field of bacterial nitrogenase and related systems. In a recent study published in Science, the researchers report new structural and mechanistic insights into the nitrogenase reaction.

Using a modified natural substance along with current approaches could improve colon cancer treatment, according to findings by University of California, Irvine biologists. The discovery comes from their research into the role of an amino acid in tumor development and a potential method for reversing the process

With drug resistance a major challenge in the fight against cancer, a discovery by University of California, Irvine biologists could offer new approaches to overcoming the obstacle. Their research reveals that a mechanism enabling the diseased cells to scavenge dead cell debris for nourishment holds a pivotal role.

Identifying and developing effective new medicines is time-consuming and expensive. This may change thanks to Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Chair and Professor Christopher C.W. Hughes. At the 2019 Winter BioSci Dean’s Distinguished Lecture, Professor Hughes presented data on his quest to create “Body-on-a-Chip” technology, with the hope of ushering in a new age of drug discovery.

Professor Leslie M. Thompson, Neurobiology & Behavior and Psychiatry & Human Behavior, has been awarded the title of Donald Bren Professor. The Bren Fellows Program was established to enhance faculty scholarship, research, and creative achievement at UCI. This appointment follows a series of previous honors from the university that included selections as a Chancellor’s Fellow in 2014 and Chancellor’s Professor in 2018.

Congratulations to the 18 MSP undergraduate students who recently received best poster awards for their research at the 2019 Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) in Anaheim. Presentations were given by over 5,000 participants from more than 700 institutions at one of the nation’s largest conferences for underrepresented students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Christopher C.W. Hughes, Ph.D., is getting the scientific community’s blood pumping.

Hughes, a professor of molecular biology and biochemistry in the School of Biological Sciences and a professor in biomedical engineering at the Henry Samueli School of Engineering, is working with collaborators to develop new technologies aimed at improving anti-cancer drug screening and precision medicine.

Developmental and Cell Biology Assistant Professor Scott Atwood was recently awarded a 2019 Hellman Fellowship Award for his research investigating the immune system’s suppression of tumor growth. He joins an elite group of 58 fellows who have received the award since the inaugural year in 2013.