Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a biologic dressing derived from fish skin to enhance wound healing.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a way to introduce large genetic modifications in livestock species, in a high throughput manner.

Rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) is a method for quickly determining the most effective antibiotic therapy for patients with bacterial infections. These techniques enable the detection and quantification of antibiotic-resistant and susceptible bacteria metabolites at concentrations near or below ng/mL in complex media. Employing bacterial metabolites as a sensing platform, the system integrates machine learning data analysis processes to differentiate between antibiotic susceptibility and resistance in clinical infections within an hour. With the results, a clinician can prescribe appropriate medicine for the patient's bacterial infection.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have identified a genetic discovery associated with the physical conformation and gait performance in horses.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have developed a 3D-printed implant for dogs and cats for treating TMJ ankylosis. The device can accommodate any sized animal and is produced with biocompatible materials with high stress/strain resistance.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed agents made from terpenoids and salicylates that can be used as anesthetics in human and non-human animals, as well as environmentally friendly euthanasia agents in food-producing animals.

Freshwater is essential for drinking and agriculture, yet potable watersheds are increasingly impacted by the undesirable high-density growth of algae and/or cyanobacteria. Understanding, monitoring, and remediating harmful algal/cyanobacterial blooms (HABs/cyanoHABs) and their associated toxins are essential to reducing their societal impact. Recent scientific and technological advances continue to improve environmental cyanoHAB detection and prediction;  however, the vast cyanotoxin structural chemodiversity creates challenges in their comprehensive detection and quantification using standard analytical chemistry assays. In contrast, quantitative molecular biological detection of biosynthetic genes via PCR provides a multiplexable and cost-effective monitoring strategy to identify the toxic potential of blooms independent of active toxin synthesis. The biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) for important freshwater cyanotoxins like microcystin, cylindrospermopsin,  saxitoxin,  and anatoxin-a have been defined and applied toward detection over the past decades. However, the biosynthetic pathway and genes for guanitoxin, the only known natural organophosphate neurotoxin, have yet to be described.Previously known as anatoxin-a(s),  guanitoxin is an irreversible inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase, sharing an identical mechanism of action with organophosphates like the synthetic chemical warfare agent sarin and the banned pesticide parathion. Guanitoxin induces acute neurological toxicity that can lead to rapid death, showing comparable lethality (LD50 = 20 μg/kg i.p.) to saxitoxin, the most potent known cyanotoxin. Sporadic detection in the Americas, Europe, and Middle East coupled with bloom-related animal deaths consistent with guanitoxin exposure suggests that this toxin could be an under-recognized threat in global watersheds. 

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a system to assess, estimate and devise a comprehensive control and prevention plan for bovine respiratory disease in pre-weaned dairy calves.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed monoclonal antibodies with multiple applications relevant to canine PD-1 and PD-L1.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a program based on machine learning algorithms to aid in diagnosing hypoadrenocorticism.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a method of detecting canine left atrial enlargement as an early sign of mitral valve disease by applying machine learning techniques to thoracic radiograph images.

Techniques such as genome editing, gene therapy, and CRISPR-based gene expression require robust methods of delivering genetic information. The effectiveness of delivery depends on the amount of DNA or RNA that can be delivered.  In some cases there is a strict upper-limit on the amount of DNA or RNA that can be delivered.  For example, AAV vectors for mammalian gene delivery are limited to genetic cargos of < 5 kb.  In general, and irrespective of the delivery vector, larger DNA constructs are delivered less efficiently and so it is advantageous to use smaller constructs where possible. It is therefore advantageous to compress constructs. Methods of compression that do not require removal of genetic elements (“lossless compression”) are very desirable since size requirements can be met without compromising functionality.     In order to reduce the number of bases (DNA or RNA) required to encode larger constructs, UC Berkeley researchers have developed a method for compressing genetic information.   The method can be applied to two elements which be encoded in the same or different reading and can also be applied to a single genetic elements. 

The inventors have constructed conjugative plasmids for intra- and inter-species delivery and expression of RNA-guided CRISPR-Cas transposases for organism- and site-specific genome editing by targeted transposon insertion. This invention enables integration of large, customizable DNA segments (encoded within a transposon) into prokaryotic genomes at specific locations and with low rates of off-target integration.

UCLA researchers in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering have developed a highly sensitive, wearable hormone monitoring platform.

Mutated versions of Cas12a that remove its non-specific ssDNA cleavage activity without affecting site-specific double-stranded DNA cutting activity. These mutant proteins, in which a short amino acid sequence is deleted or changed, provide improved genome editing tools that will avoid potential off-target editing due to random ssDNA nicking.

A novel class of hHv1 polypeptide modulators designed for selective modulation of hHv1 voltage gated channels, offering new avenues in medical treatment.

The ability to properly estimate the age of dogs would be quite useful in a variety of ways. For example, proper age estimation is important because age often plays a significant role when making medical decisions for pets. Currently, the accepted method to estimate age in dogs is based on the quality of teeth as well as ocular features. Estimating age based on tooth-wear (the commonly used metric in shelters) is very inaccurate after the teeth have fully erupted, generally by 6-7 months of age in dogs. Unfortunately, these methods have an accuracy of ~50% at best for domesticated pets and is error-prone for dogs between 2-8 years, encompassing a large portion of a dog’s adult life. Thus, shelters commonly underestimate the ages of these dogs to increase the likelihood of dogs being adopted, as people generally have a preference for younger pets. 

Metagenomic analysis of microbial DNA from groundwater samples revealed a new protein, CasX, that prevented bacterial transformation by plasmid DNA when expressed with cognate crRNAs targeting the plasmid8. Sequence analysis of CasXrevealed no similarity to other CRISPR-Cas enzymes, except for the presence of a RuvC nuclease domain similar to that found in both Cas9 and Cas12a enzyme families as well as transposases and recombinases. The evolutionary ambiguity of CasX hinted at a distinct structure and mechanism for DNA targeting, but without reconstitution of a functional CasX enzyme it was not possible to determine its mechanism of plasmid interference.   UC Berkeley inventors found variant CasX polypeptides that induce programmable, site-specific genome repression in E. coli and genome editing in human cells, distinct from Cas9 and Cas12a, which establishes this enzyme family as a third CRISPR-Cas system for genetic manipulation.

Effective and easily accepted system of oral delivery of therapeutic drugs.

96 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} The CRISPR-Cas system is now understood to confer bacteria and archaea with acquired immunity against phage and viruses. CRISPR-Cas systems consist of Cas proteins, which are involved in acquisition, targeting and cleavage of foreign DNA or RNA, and a CRISPR array, which includes direct repeats flanking short spacer sequences that guide Cas proteins to their targets.  Class 2 CRISPR-Cas systems are streamlined versions in which a single Cas protein bound to RNA is responsible for binding to and cleavage of a targeted sequence. The programmable nature of these minimal systems has facilitated their use as a versatile technology that is revolutionizing the field of genome manipulation, so there is a need in the art for additional Class 2 CRISPR/Cas systems (e.g., Cas protein plus guide RNA combinations).   Researchers have shown that Class 2 CRISPR Cas protein and their variants can be used in a complex for specific binding and cleavage of DNA. The Class 2 CRISPR Cas complex utilizes a novel RNA and a guide RNA to perform double stranded cleavage of DNA and the complex is expected to have a wide variety of applications in genome editing and nucleic acid manipulation. 

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} The CRISPR-Cas system is now understood to confer bacteria and archaea with acquired immunity against phage and viruses. CRISPR-Cas systems consist of Cas proteins, which are involved in acquisition, targeting and cleavage of foreign DNA or RNA, and a CRISPR array, which includes direct repeats flanking short spacer sequences that guide Cas proteins to their targets.  Class 2 CRISPR-Cas systems are streamlined versions in which a single Cas protein bound to RNA is responsible for binding to and cleavage of a targeted sequence. The programmable nature of these minimal systems has facilitated their use as a versatile technology that is revolutionizing the field of genome manipulation, so there is a need in the art for additional Class 2 CRISPR/Cas systems (e.g., Cas protein plus guide RNA combinations).   UC Berkeley researchers discovered a new type of Cas protein, CasZ.  (CasZ) is short compared to previously identified CRISPR-Cas endonucleases, and thus use of this protein as an alternative provides the advantage that the nucleotide sequence encoding the protein is relatively short.  The researchers have shown that the CRISPR CasZ protein and its variants can be used in a complex for specific binding and cleavage of DNA. The CRISPR CasZ complex utilizes a novel RNA and a guide RNA to perform double stranded cleavage of DNA and the complex is expected to have a wide variety of applications in genome editing and nucleic acid manipulation. 

96 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} The CRISPR-Cas system is now understood to confer bacteria and archaea with acquired immunity against phage and viruses. CRISPR-Cas systems consist of Cas proteins, which are involved in acquisition, targeting and cleavage of foreign DNA or RNA, and a CRISPR array, which includes direct repeats flanking short spacer sequences that guide Cas proteins to their targets.  Class 2 CRISPR-Cas systems are streamlined versions in which a single Cas protein bound to RNA is responsible for binding to and cleavage of a targeted sequence. The programmable nature of these minimal systems has facilitated their use as a versatile technology that is revolutionizing the field of genome manipulation, so there is a need in the art for additional Class 2 CRISPR/Cas systems (e.g., Cas protein plus guide RNA combinations).   Previously UC Berkeley researchers discovered a new type of Cas protein, CasY (also referred to as Cas 12d protein).  CasY is short compared to previously identified CRISPR-Cas endonucleases, and thus use of this protein as an alternative provides the advantage that the nucleotide sequence encoding the protein is relatively short.  CasY utilizes a guide RNA to perform double stranded cleavage of DNA. The researchers introduced CRISPR-CasY into E. coli, finding that they could block genetic material introduced into the cell.  Further research results indicated that CRISPR-CasY operates in a manner analogous to CRISPR-Cas9, but utilizing an entirely distinct protein architecture containing different catalytic domains.   CasY is also expected to function under different conditions (e.g., temperature) given the environment of the organisms that CasY was expressed in.  Similar to CRISPR Cas9, CasY enzymes are expected to have a wide variety of applications in genome editing and nucleic acid manipulation. Recent studies have shown that the CasY complex utilizes a novel RNA, in addition to the guide RNA, to perform double stranded cleavage of DNA. Similar to CRISPR Cas9, CasY enzymes are expected to have a wide variety of applications in genome editing and nucleic acid manipulation.   

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a new and simple, label-free method to detect milligram levels of RNase activity in undiluted biological samples that is selective, accurate and scalable.

96 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} The CRISPR-Cas system is now understood to confer bacteria and archaea with acquired immunity against phage and viruses. CRISPR-Cas systems consist of Cas proteins, which are involved in acquisition, targeting and cleavage of foreign DNA or RNA, and a CRISPR array, which includes direct repeats flanking short spacer sequences that guide Cas proteins to their targets.  Class 2 CRISPR-Cas are streamlined versions in which a single Cas protein bound to RNA is responsible for binding to and cleavage of a targeted sequence. The programmable nature of these minimal systems has facilitated their use as a versatile technology that is revolutionizing the field of genome manipulation.  Current CRISPR Cas technologies are based on systems from cultured bacteria, leaving untapped the vast majority of organisms that have not been isolated.  There is a need in the art for additional Class 2 CRISPR/Cas systems (e.g., Cas protein plus guide RNA combinations).   UC Berkeley researchers discovered a new type of Cas protein, CasX, from groundwater samples. CasX is short compared to previously identified CRISPR-Cas endonucleases, and thus use of this protein as an alternative provides the advantage that the nucleotide sequence encoding the protein is relatively short.  CasX utilizes a tracrRNA and a guide RNA to perform double stranded cleavage of DNA. The researchers introduced CRISPR-CasX into E. coli, finding that they could block genetic material introduced into the cell.  Further research results indicated that CRISPR-CasX operates in a manner analogous to CRISPR-Cas9, but utilizing an entirely distinct protein architecture containing different catalytic domains.   CasX is also expected to function under different conditions (e.g., temperature) given the environment of the organisms that CasX was expressed in.  Similar to CRISPR Cas9, CasX enzymes are expected to have a wide variety of applications in genome editing and nucleic acid manipulation. 

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have designed a fractal shaped RF coil for magnetic resonance (MR) image acquisition that effectively reduces interference commonly associated with coil loops (such as the birdcage coil) that are in close proximity. Limiting coil interference enables an increase in the flexibility of phased array design and reduces the need for additional system components to cancel out signal noise.