Advancing Health Worldwide Content

Cheaper, Sustainable Plant Biomanufacturing on Earth and in Space

Andy Fell — September 15, 2025 - 3:31pm

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have been awarded a $3 million National Science Foundation grant to develop new technologies and workforce training programs to grow plants in low-resource environments both on Earth and in space.

Engineers Create Mini Microscope for Real-Time Brain Imaging

Andy Fell — September 12, 2025 - 2:21pm

UC Davis researchers have created a miniaturized microscope for real-time, high-resolution imaging of brain activity in mice. The device is a significant step toward revolutionizing how neuroscientists study behavior and perception in the brain.

Worms Reveal Just How Cramped Cells Really Are

Andy Fell — September 10, 2025 - 11:26am

In a new study published in Science Advances Sept. 10, a team of UC Davis researchers tracked the movement of fluorescent particles inside the cells of microscopic worms, providing unprecedented insights into cellular crowding in a multicellular animal. They found that the cytoplasm inside the worms was significantly more crowded and compartmentalized than in single-celled yeast or mammalian tissue culture cells, which are more commonly used to gauge internal cellular dynamics.

UC Davis Health’s IFM Fund Backs Delix Therapeutics in First Investment

Andy Fell — September 10, 2025 - 10:10am

UC Davis Health Ventures, part of the Innovation and Economic Development Office (IEDO) at the University of California, Davis, today announced the first investment from its Investing in the Future of Medicine (IFM) Fund, backing Delix Therapeutics. Delix, a UC Davis spinout, is developing non-hallucinogenic neuroplastogens for major depressive disorder (MDD) and other serious neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative conditions.

Total-Body PET Imaging Takes a Look at Long COVID

Andy Fell — August 28, 2025 - 9:59am

Using total-body PET imaging to get a better understanding of long COVID disease is the goal of a new project at the University of California, Davis, in collaboration with UC San Francisco. The project is funded by a grant of $3.2 million over four years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

New Cancer Drug Could Help Cats and People

Amy M Quinton — August 28, 2025 - 8:00am

A new cancer treatment for cats could help humans too. New UC Davis cat clinical trial using UCSF developed drug shows the disease was controlled in 35% of cats, with minimal side effects.

Chromium-6, Nanosilver Detected in LA Fire Cleanup Zones

Katherine E Kerlin — August 27, 2025 - 9:53am

Air quality scientists have detected elevated levels of hexavalent chromium and silver in air samples collected from the debris cleanup zones for the Eaton and Palisades wildfires, which occurred January 2025 in Los Angeles County.

This Snail’s Eyes Grow Back: Could They Help Humans do the Same?

Andy Fell — August 06, 2025 - 12:30pm

Human eyes are complex and irreparable, yet they are structurally like those of the freshwater apple snail, which can completely regenerate its eyes. Alice Accorsi, assistant professor of molecular and cellular biology at the University of California, Davis, studies how these snails regrow their eyes — with the goal of eventually helping to restore vision in people with eye injuries.

Psychedelics and Non-hallucinogenic Analogs Work Through the Same Receptor, Up to a Point

Andy Fell — August 04, 2025 - 2:00am

Understanding exactly how psychedelics promote new connections in the brain is critical to developing targeted, non-hallucinogenic therapeutics that can treat neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases. To achieve this, researchers are mapping the biochemical pathways involved in both neuroplasticity and hallucinations.

The Color Lab Uncovers the Soothing Effects of Light

Jocelyn C Anderson — July 28, 2025 - 9:15am

Veronica Then wore an electroencephalogram, or EEG, cap and stood in front of a black curtain with a white square placed behind her like a target. Studio lights beamed down from the ceiling as a panel of judges watched. The judges were anonymous, clad in white lab coats and white facemasks.