In nature, organic molecules are either left- or right-handed, but synthesizing molecules with a specific handedness in a lab is hard to do. Make a drug or enzyme with the wrong “handedness” and it just won’t work. Now chemists at the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis are getting closer to mimicking nature’s chemical efficiency through computational modeling and physical experimentation.
We’ve all heard the advice, “Eat more fiber.”
But the reality behind that seemingly simple recommendation is much more complex when it comes to human health. As part of a $3.7 million National Institutes of Health-funded project, UC Davis scientists are building a library of biomarkers associated with specific fiber food sources as they pass through the gut. The goal is to build a comprehensive understanding of the structural diversity of fibers and how those structures influence digestive health.
Squire J. Booker, an esteemed biochemist from Pennsylvania State University, will visit UC Davis for a free, in-person event on Monday, May 15 at 4 p.m. in the ARC Ballroom. His presentation is titled “A Radical Approach to Antibiotic Resistance.”
Design2Data is a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) that teaches students an enzyme design-build-test workflow, allowing them to contribute knowledge to an open access database. Since its launch, the course has been rolled out to 25 institutions across the nation.
There’s no word in Bao Vue’s native language for “chemistry.” The science subject is not easily expressed in Hmong vocabulary. In fact, the same can be said for the concept of “science” itself. But when Vue was 9 years old, she and her family fled their home for safety.
Today, she's a chemistry doctoral candidate in UC Davis Professor of Chemistry Jacquelyn Gervay-Hague’s lab, which is focused on developing sustainable methods to produce antiviral and anticancer agents from natural products.
Evidence from human and animal testing suggests the brain-altering effects of psychedelics could be repurposed for treating addiction. Now, researchers at University of California, Davis, and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus plan to screen hundreds of compounds to discover new, non-hallucinogenic treatments for substance use disorders.
Marie Heffern, assistant professor of chemistry, was awarded a prestigious CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) this month. The NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program funds junior faculty who perform outstanding research, are excellent educators and include outreach in their work. Heffern is the third faculty member in the UC Davis Department of Chemistry to receive a CAREER award in 2021.
A genetically encoded fluorescent sensor to detect hallucinogenic compounds has been developed by researchers at the University of California, Davis. Named psychLight, the sensor could be used in discovering new treatments for mental illness, in neuroscience research and to detect drugs of abuse.
A natural brilliant blue coloring has been discovered by an international team of researchers including chemists at the University of California, Davis.
A non-hallucinogenic version of the psychedelic drug ibogaine, with potential for treating addiction, depression and other psychiatric disorders, has been developed by researchers at the University of California, Davis.
