Molecular and Cell Biology

UC Merced Aerial Picture

Grants Fund Wide Variety of Climate Change Research Projects

UC Merced researchers will tackle climate changes in multiple ways through more than $4 million in grants recently awarded from within the university.

The Office of Research and Economic Development (ORED) issued nine awards totaling $4,096,197 for proposals that range from studying methane gas emissions to making electronic vehicles more accessible to people.

Award Supports Study of Fish Embryos to Understand Process that Affects Birth Defects

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has given Professor Stephanie Woo the CAREER award to help her delve into congenital birth defects by looking at the embryonic cells of zebrafish.

Woo is the 32nd researcher from UC Merced to earn a CAREER award.

Nishiguchi Joins California Academy of Sciences, Recognized for Contributions to Microbiology

Molecular and Cellular Biology Professor Michele “Nish” Nishiguchi has been inducted as a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences and was recently named president-elect for the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB).

She is one of 11 distinguished scientists inducted at the California Academy of Sciences’ Annual Fellows Gathering this year.

Undergrad Stem Cell Training Positions Students For Careers After Graduation

Rising juniors this fall will have an unprecedented opportunity for stem cell research training that could lead directly to careers in stem cell science after graduation.

Nobile Named Pew Innovation Fund Investigator

UC Merced Professor Clarissa J. Nobile has been named a 2022 Innovation Fund investigator by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Nobile and University of Missouri Professor David G. Mendoza-Cózatl have formed one of six interdisciplinary teams chosen for the prestigious award.

The duo is combining expertise from Nobile’s research in microbial communities and Mendoza-Cózatl’s work in plant biology to study how plants and microbes interact in the context of iron uptake and utilization.

UC Merced Lands $12.5M NSF Grant to Predict the Impact of Climate Change on Symbiotic Systems

UC Merced has received a $12.5 million grant funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop the Biology Integration Institute (BII): INSITE — the INstitute for Symbiotic Interactions, Training and Education — a research collaborative that aims to expand the fundamental knowledge of symbioses and inform immediate and long-term conservation strategies in the face of climate change.

New Bioinformatics Training Opportunity Opening for Undergraduates

Starting this fall, undergraduates interested in the biomedical sciences will have an opportunity to take part in a new and innovative training program that will give them strong foundations in computational biology, systems biology and big data analytics.

Symposium to Open Doors on Education Research in the Valley

For the first time, UC Merced has partnered with local higher education institutions for a two-day symposium dedicated to education research findings from the Central Valley.

Mucus Molecules can Thwart Fungal Infection, Researchers Discover

An international team of researchers, including Professor Clarissa Nobile from UC Merced, has discovered which component in mucus prevents a fungus most humans carry from turning destructive.

This research lays the foundation for a new class of antifungal medicines.