Science & Technology

By the end of the 1960s, lethal infectious disease was well under control in developed countries. Due to the advancement of vaccines and antibiotic medication, microbes that once caused mass epidemics rarely caused problems to those with full-functioning immune systems. It seemed, at the turn of the decade, that infectious disease no longer posed a major threat to those living in countries with progressive medicine.

President Obama announced earlier this month that Berni Alder, professor emeritus of applied physics, will receive the National Medal of Science for a lifetime of research with molecular dynamics. Alder, 84, is a retired physicist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, LLNL, and a cofounder of the UC Davis Applied Science Department. He will be awarded the medal on Oct. 7 in a White House ceremony with eight other eminent scientists and researchers.

The search for more efficient nuclear reactor fuels has been propelled by a $1.2 million grant issued by the Department of Energy to UC Davis researcher Sergey Sarasov.

Sarasov is a professor in the physics department at UC Davis and has been working alongside researchers Kristian Haule and Gabriel Kotliar from Rutgers University in New Jersey for 10 years. The purpose of their research is mainly to address the shortcomings of uranium dioxide and in turn find more efficient sources of fuel.

Over the last several months, the contentious healthcare debate has prompted many questions - some political, some ethical and some economic. Still, they remain unsettled. And until the debate among politicians is resolved, the ultimate impact of reform on the country will be unclear and questions will persist unanswered.

Over 300 researchers, health care professionals, students and Davis residents gathered at UC Davis' Center for Comparative Medicine on Sunday to commemorate more than a quarter-century of headway made in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

The free public event titled "The Discovery of AIDS and HIV: Contributions of California to the Early Years of AIDS Research," included presentations by over two dozen California researchers.

Researchers have successfully used adult human stem cells to coax new blood vessel growth and restore blood flow in mice with artery damage to their legs.

The study provides important clues behind the therapeutic properties of these cells, which have already shown promise in early human trials for treating peripheral arterial disease (PAD), a debilitating condition that can require amputation of affected limbs.

Eggs produced in a study led by researchers at UC Davis and Michigan State University will supply McDonald's U.S.A. by 2011. The commercial-scale study will include tens of thousands of hens to examine the sustainability impacts of various housing alternatives for egg-laying hens in the U.S. These impacts include animal welfare, environmental, food safety and economic factors.

A new stem cell lab opened May 18 at the UC Davis veterinary school, providing revolutionary improvements in treating horses with extensive injuries, including bone fractures and damage to ligaments, tendons and joints.

The lab, which serves solely as a treatment facility, injects healthy stem cells into the damaged tissue of an injured horse, thereby healing even the most traumatic of injuries.

Recent research from the UC Davis Center for Healthcare Policy and Research has found that women who have previously been treated for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), also known as cervical dysplasia, are more prone to contracting the disease a second time or developing invasive cervical cancer.

Study finds that some animals feel regret

Animals have feelings too - or so a recent study at Duke University says.

The first study tested both chimpanzees and monkeys who traded tokens for cucumbers. The primates that noticed one of their peers was receiving a tastier treat in exchange for his tokens and reacted negatively.

UC Davis researchers have received a two year $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to pioneer the world's first electron microscope capable of recording biological processes in real time.

The revolutionary technology will allow scientists to image living specimens at greater resolutions that could reveal nano-scale details underlying many cellular mechanisms.

Summertime means barbeques with the gang, picnics at the park and day parties by the pool. But don't let the weekend meal sabotage your favorite swimsuit. With all the taste, but none of the guilt, here is a healthy twist on a traditional summertime meal as prescribed by Professor Francene M. Steinberg, Dr. Emily Cena and Dr. Liz Applegate of the UC Davis department of nutrition.

One in every 2,000 infants is born with skull abnormalities that can lead to sutures in their skulls fusing together prematurely. UC Davis researcher Kent Leach received a $300,000 grant from the Hartwell Foundation to work on creating a synthetic bone matrix that could facilitate corrective surgery.

The occurrence of skull fusion could mean an abnormally shaped head or brain damage.

Researchers discover 47-million-year-old fossil

A remarkably complete 47-million-year-old skeleton of a creature the size of a small cat found in Germany was unveiled yesterday at New York's Museum of Natural History.

Isaac Kinney is a UC Davis senior Native American studies major and Yurok Tribal member; Hailey Chevelle Ferroni is a sophomore psychology major and of the Pomo people; Jeremy Little Fox Bill is a sophomore English and Native American studies double major and Mono, Waksachi and Tachi California Native.