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Plenty of probiotic yogurts, pickles and kombuchas claim to boost our digestive health with armies of microbes, but some scientists have more ambitious therapeutic plans for the “bugs” that colonize us. They hope to leverage these microbes as living therapeutics for a range of health conditions, including ulcerative colitis, multiple sclerosis, eczema and asthma.
Researchers at UC San Francisco have found that extreme caloric restriction diets alter the microbiome in ways that could help with weight loss but might also result in an increased population of Clostridioides difficile, a pathogenic bacterium that can lead to severe diarrhea and colitis.
Individuals with HIV are more than twice as likely to die from sudden cardiac death (SCD) compared to the general population, and more likely to have hearts compromised by fibrosis, a factor that may play a role in increasing their susceptibility to SCD, according to new findings from a UCSF study.
T cells – immune cells that patrol our bodies in search of trouble – have become a central focus for UC San Francisco scientists working on living cell therapies, an approach that views cells
The B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant—also known as Alpha—may be more infectious because it contains mutations that make it better adapted to foil the innate immune system, at least for long enough to allow the virus to replicate and potentially find new hosts, according to a new study.
Image For older adults, participating in social activities can protect against physical and mental signs of aging, but it may also pose risks,
An elderly man had symptoms no one could explain – until Amy Berger, MD, PhD, and her team investigated.
Can dieting help you live longer? Do microbes control your immune system? Can studying snakes help stop the next pandemic? UCSF microbiologist Peter Turnbaugh, PhD, interviews famous scientists and rising stars about research quests that span the spectrum of health.
Hidden autoimmunity may explain how the coronavirus wreaks such widespread and unpredictable harm.
Insomnia is miserable, and lost sleep can harm our health. Now, researchers are seeing the promise of solutions in our genes.
Leading scientists share some of the tools and strategies that could help us better confront and contain future outbreaks.
UCSF School of Nursing alum Quinn Grundy, PhD ’15, RN, shines a light on how sales reps from pharmaceutical and other health care companies skirt scrutiny, and get their products used in hospitals and doctors’ offices, by forging relationships with nurses.
Cognitive behaviorial therapy for insomnia, the gold-standard intervention, also suggests benefits for well-being.
The viruses that cause polio and COVID-19 mutate, but treatments for the diseases don’t. For over 20 years, UCSF and Gladstone Institutes scientist Leor Weinberger, PhD, has been thinking of ways to make vaccines work more efficiently by being adaptive, rather than static.
Cronutt was one sick sea lion before undergoing a groundbreaking surgery last fall. Today he's seizure-free and doing well.
UCSF researchers wanted to see if simple tweaks, like avoiding nighttime interruptions to promote sleep, nixing certain prescription drugs, and promoting exercise and social engagement, could decrease delirium in hospitalized older adults.
Scientists now have shown that the weakening of an astronaut’s immune system during space travel is likely due in part to abnormal activation of immune cells called T regulator cells.
Researchers from the UCSF School of Nursing have joined a newly launched national collaborative to study the impacts of COVID-19 on members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities.
A multifaceted collaboration between researchers at UCSF, Gladstone Institutes, and other organizations across California provides a comprehensive portrait of the variant—including its interaction with the immune system and its potential to spread.
UCSF researchers have found a way to double doctors’ accuracy in detecting the vast majority of complex fetal heart defects in utero.
Sophie Dumont, winner of the 2021 Byers Award for Basic Science, focuses on finding out how, as well whether therapeutic targets exist to ensure equal – and healthy – division of chromosomes.
UCSF researchers have created a CRISPR technique to study how turning on or off single genes affects the function of different cell types and how these changes play a role in disease.
What kills most people who die from cancer is not the initial tumor. It’s the intolerable disease burden on the body that arises when tumor cells continually expand their numbers after spreading to different organs.
New research by UCSF scientists shows retinal scans can detect key changes in blood vessels that may provide an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease.
