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UC Merced Gets Into the ‘Act’

July 9, 2018
Shakespeare wrote “the play’s the thing.” Of course, he was referring to using a play to catch a murderer, but in Shakespeare’s day, people believed the theater had the power to elicit deep emotion — even move the guilty to give themselves away. Bobcats are catching on to the power of theater in...

Campus Lands $1M Howard Hughes Grant to Make STEM More Inclusive

July 3, 2018
UC Merced’s efforts to make science education more inclusive were recently given a huge boost after the campus was awarded its first Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) grant, an impressive mark of distinction that reflects the strong upward trajectory of the campus’s research and teaching...

News and Notes: UC Launches Million Light Bulb Challenge, Upcoming Ally Trainings Offered

July 3, 2018
Let There Be Energy-Efficient Light The University of California is spearheading a statewide effort to advance the purchase of 1 million high-quality, energy-efficient light bulbs for campus buildings and residences across the state. Under the Community Buy Program, all UC students, staff, faculty...

Cancer Systems Biology Identifies Master Regulators and New Drug Targets in Therapy-Resistant Cancer

July 2, 2018
New research published today in the Nature Partner journal npj Systems Biology and Applications establishes how genome-wide data in combination with systems biology analyses can identify master regulators and new drug targets in therapy-resistant cancers. The new discovery explains how cancer...

Soil Can Sequester Planet-Warming Carbon. The Merced River is Helping Scientists Understand How.

July 2, 2018
Soils are carbon sinks, storing more planet-warming carbon than the atmosphere and all animal and plant life combined. But they can also release massive amounts of stored carbon into the atmosphere. Given carbon’s central role in climate change, understanding the forces that govern how soils absorb...

Merced River Helps Explain How Soils Capture and Store Planet-Warming Carbon

July 2, 2018
Soils are carbon sinks, storing more planet-warming carbon than the atmosphere and all animal and plant life combined. But they can also release massive amounts of stored carbon into the atmosphere. Given carbon’s central role in climate change, understanding the forces that govern how soils absorb...

Misbehaving “Killer” Cells Accelerate Progress of Autoimmune Disease

June 29, 2018
In 1998, scientists studying rheumatoid arthritis observed a population of immune cells that weren’t behaving the way they were supposed to. Immunologists noted the strange phenomenon, but decided not to pursue the subject further, and the cells were soon forgotten. But interest in these cells has...

Sifuentez Appointed to Head Center for Humanities

June 28, 2018
As new director of the Center for the Humanities, Professor Mario Sifuentez ’ sights are set on a fuller understanding of rural communities and how best to help them. He’s got a multi-pronged plan for work that will be done through the center during his three-year-term. He wants to focus on...

Drawing Graphic Lessons: Comics Teach, Evaluate Difficult Concepts

June 20, 2018
Though illustrations have been used to convey ideas and information since before language existed, after Benjamin Franklin published the world’s first editorial cartoon in 1754, comics emerged a distinct avenue for visual storytelling. Now, comic art has come into classrooms at UC Merced and abroad...

Following a Devastating Pandemic, California’s Sea Stars are Evolving

June 19, 2018
In 2012, Environmental Systems graduate student Lauren Schiebelhut was collecting DNA from ochre sea stars living along the Northern California coast — part of an effort to study genetic diversity in various marine species that serve as indicators of habitat health. She had no idea that just one...

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