Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have developed a novel approach to treat hearing-related disorders with a new type of psychoplastogen that can increase the synapse density in the ear, correlating with hearing ability.

Lipids play crucial roles in many biological processes under physiological and pathological conditions. Mapping spatial distribution and examining metabolic dynamics of different lipids in cells and tissues in situ are critical for understanding aging and diseases. Commonly used imaging methods, including mass spectrometry-based technologies or labeled imaging techniques, tend to disrupt the native environment of cells/tissues and have limited spatial or spectral resolution, while traditional optical imaging techniques still lack the capacity to distinguish chemical differences between lipid subtypes.

Unlike traditionally-mapped Raman imaging, stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) imaging achieved the capability of imaging metabolic dynamics and a greatly improved signal-noise-ratio. However, its spatial resolution is still limited by the numerical aperture or scattering cross-section.

Professor Matthew Conley from the University of California, Riverside has developed heterogeneous ruthenium catalysts for olefin metathesis. These catalysts have higher activity than state-of-the-art homogeneous catalysts in metathesis of terminal olefins.  They are combined with state-of-the-art anion capped materials that anchor positively charged Grubbs catalyst to the surface to form active heterogeneous olefin metathesis catalyst. This technology has the potential to produce heterogeneous catalysts that are less expensive, more efficient, and faster than the available homogenous ruthenium catalysts for olefin metathesis. Fig 1: Chemical structure of UCR’s heterogneous Grubb’s catalyst supported on functionalized silica for olefin metathesis.  

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a method to stop bacterial growth while maintaining desirable metabolic functions for therapeutic and biotechnological applications.

Pathogenic transmission of dental aerosol created by ultrasonic scaling is considered a major concern during dental procedures. Researchers at UC Irvine have developed a novel tool/method to address this concern by removing the created aerosol at the source.

Researchers at the University of California Davis have developed a rapid growth platform that aims to decrease crop production time, allow for tunable sensory attributes, and decrease carbon emissions.

Recently, teixobactin was investigated to treat antibiotic-resistant pathogens, but the drug has yet to reach clinical trial due to its tendency to form gels which prevents accurate dosing. To address this, researchers at the University of California, Irvine have invented a new library of teixobactin related prodrugs which show improved solubility and efficacy versus teixobactin.