Mental health is of utmost importance in academia, especially given one’s cumulative experiences and history. Coming from a unique background, Human Biology and Society student, Joseph Nguyen, brings to light the importance of mental health as he highlights the effects of intergenerational trauma within the Southeast Asian American community. “I discovered in my freshman year that these aren’t the only…
Most of us learned in high school biology that genetics can sometimes be incredibly simple. Some physical traits are the result of an easy equation containing a pair of parents’ genes. One trait—blue eyes, for example—results from recessive genes, but only if no dominant gene—the one to thank for brown eyes—shows up to take a stand. Parents each pass on two…
A UCLA research team led by Patrick Allard, assistant professor of society and genetics, has been awarded a $1.1 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation as part of the foundation’s funding efforts for research into genetics. The project’s co-leaders are Amander Clark, associate professor of molecular, cell and developmental biology, and Hannah Landecker, director of the UCLA Institute for Society and…
Scientists attending a recent meeting of the American Society for Microbiology reported they had uncovered a highly disturbing trend. They revealed that bacteria containing a gene known as mcr-1 – which confers resistance to the antibiotic colistin – had spread round the world at an alarming rate since its original discovery 18 months earlier. In one area of China, it…
Companies advertise BPA-free plastic as a safer version of products ranging from water bottles to sippy cups to toys. Many manufacturers stopped using bisphenol A, a chemical that is used to strengthen plastic, after studies linked it to early puberty and a rise in breast and prostate cancers. However, bisphenol S, or BPS, a common replacement for BPA in plastics,…
Dr. Eric Vilain, ISG Co-Director, and Dr. Christina Palmer, ISG Vice Chair of Academic Personnel, are featured in a UCLA Newsroom piece titled “UCLA opens new program to solve mystery genetic diseases.” A new UCLA program offers hope and potential answers for people who have undergone extensive medical testing that has failed to identify their illness. “Undiagnosed diseases take a…