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A mother’s willingness to sacrifice her own health and safety for the sake of her children is a common narrative across cultures — and by no means unique to humans alone. Now an unexpected discovery at UCSF shows that even yeast “mothers” do it, giving all to their offspring — even at the cost of their own lives.
<p>Researchers at UCSF have identified the lynchpin that activates brown fat cells, which burn fat molecules instead of storing them, making them the focus of pharmaceutical research aimed at fighting obesity.</p>
<p>UCSF and its affiliates have been major players in the transformation of San Francisco as a leading center of innovation in health care and biosciences, according to a new report released Wednesday.</p>
Ronald Vale, PhD, of UCSF was one of three scientists awarded the 2012 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award for work that began more than three decades ago and has helped illuminate several critical aspects of life — how the heart beats and how cells transport material around internally.
A hidden and never before recognized layer of information in the genetic code has been uncovered by a team of scientists at UCSF, thanks to a technique developed at UCSF called ribosome profiling, which enables the measurement of gene activity inside living cells.
UCSF scientists have discovered the unexpected way in which a key cell of the immune system prepares for battle. The finding, they said, offers insight into the processes that take place within these cells and could lead to strategies for treating conditions from spinal cord injury to cancer.