CRISPR-Based Tool Maps Gene Function in Human Cells
UCSF scientists have used a high-throughput CRISPR-based technique to rapidly map the functions of nearly 500 genes in human cells, many of them never before studied in detail.
![gene sequencing results](/sites/default/files/styles/news_card__image/public/fields/field_insert_file/news/gene%20sequencing.jpg)
University of California San Francisco
Give to UCSFUCSF scientists have used a high-throughput CRISPR-based technique to rapidly map the functions of nearly 500 genes in human cells, many of them never before studied in detail.
Although CRISPR has made headlines as a powerful system for editing genes, it actually evolved as way for bacteria to defend themselves against infection by viruses.
In an achievement that has significant implications for research, medicine, and industry, UCSF scientists have genetically reprogrammed human immune cells without using viruses to insert DNA
Experiments using parasitic worms in the mouse gut have revealed a surprising new form of wound repair, a finding that could help scientists develop ways to enhance the body’s natural healing abilities.
A so-called “jumping gene” that researchers long considered either genetic junk or a pernicious parasite is actually a critical regulator of the first stages of embryonic development.
Scientists have used ultra-high-resolution cryo–electron microscopy to capture the most detailed portrait ever of an opioid drug triggering the biochemical signaling cascade that gives it its power.
The journey from discovering and developing effective, precise medications to using them correctly and safely in patients is hardly fast and easy. Nor is it a straight shot. Scientists in the UCSF School of Pharmacy are challenging the status quo every step of the way.
UCSF researchers have discovered that shark and skate electrosensory systems have distinct specializations that match how the animals use their electrical sense in the wild.
Researchers have demonstrated the ability to program groups of individual cells to self-organize into multi-layered structures reminiscent of simple organisms or the first stages of embryonic development.
A UCSF researcher is among scientists who discovered the specific bacterial enzyme found in the human gut that can render a common heart drug ineffective.
Study led by UCSF scientists shows that brain cells react differently to opioid substances created inside the body than they do to purely synthetic opioid drugs.
UC San Francisco researchers have discovered a promising new line of attack against lethal, treatment-resistant prostate cancer.
A new study finds that a common cancer-causing mutation in a GTPase called Gαs subverts the model for this type of growth switch in cancer.
UCSF researchers have shown that an experimental brain boosting drug, ISRIB, acts like a molecular staple, pinning together parts of a much larger protein involved in cellular stress.
UCSF scientists have invented a technique that lets them precisely and reversibly disrupt the action of specific cellular proteins at a microscopic scale by making them split apart when illuminated with blue light.
UCSF have taken the first step toward a comprehensive atlas of gene expression in cells across the developing human brain.
Peter Walter, PhD, professor of biochemistry and biophysics at UCSF, has been named winner of a 2018 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, for his research on a biological mechanism that normally protects cells, but can cause disease if not functioning properly.
UCSF researchers are leading several initiatives that aim to see how dozens of seemingly unrelated genes and proteins involved in a disease are in fact all part the same interconnected biological pathway.
UCSF has ranked in the top 10 for seven specialties in 2017 Best Global Universities rankings released Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report.
UCSF researchers have identified a molecular signature in tissue adjacent to tumors in eight of the most common cancers that suggests they are all using the same mechanism to remodel normal tissue and spread.
Newly developed microscopy techniques have allowed UC San Francisco researchers to observe white blood cells in action in unprecedented detail.
Research team led by University of California scientists has used a modified version of the gene-editing technique CRISPR to find enhancers by prompting them into action.
A new study by UCSF researchers raises a red flag against adding antibiotics when growing cells in labs, finding that it can induce unintentional genetic changes in the cells and distort test results.
UCSF neuroscientists answered questions about a molecule that reverses severe memory and learning impairments in mice with traumatic brain injury.
Scientists at UCSF have shown that cellular antennae called cilia, found on fat-forming cells interspersed in muscle, play a key role in this muscle-to-fat transformation.
UCSF scientists used an experimental drug to completely reverse severe learning and memory impairments caused by traumatic brain injury in mice.
Specialized cells in the gut sense potentially noxious chemicals and trigger electrical impulses in nearby nerve fibers, according to a new study led by UCSF scientists.
A new study by UCSF researchers revealed the intriguing possibility that HP1α binds to stretches of DNA and pulls it into droplets that shield the genetic material inside from the molecular machinery of the nucleus that reads and translates the genome.
UCSF researchers have drawn a link between genetic abnormalities in neurodegenerative diseases and the formation of RNA foci, work the scientists said may open avenues to the development of new drug treatments.
In a major advance for fundamental biological research, UCSF scientists have developed a tool capable of illuminating previously inscrutable cellular signaling networks.