News

Mapping RNA-Protein 'Chats' Could Uncover New Treatments for Cancer and Brain Disease

October 2, 2025

A technology that maps entire networks of RNA-protein interactions inside human cells could offer new strategies for treating diseases ranging from cancer to Alzheimer's. Full Story

New faculty join the Jacobs School

September 30, 2025

The UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering is welcoming six new faculty to its ranks in fall 2025. Full Story

Four undergraduate programs ranked in nation’s Top 10

September 23, 2025

Four undergraduate programs at UC San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering have been ranked in the nation’s Top 10 in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best Colleges ranking Full Story

UC San Diego's New Bioengineering Labs Open Doors for Student Innovation

September 22, 2025

When UC San Diego bioengineering students step into their newly renovated instructional labs this fall, they'll find themselves in cutting-edge spaces designed not just for hands-on learning, but with the specific needs of bioengineers in mind. Full Story

Making Electronics More Resilient to Radiation

September 18, 2025

Researchers at UC San Diego are part of a multi-institution team that received a $17 million award from the National Nuclear Security Administration Predictive Science Alliance Program to create a new research center focused on making electronics more resilient to radiation. Full Story

Press Clips

Why Are More Young People Getting Cancer?

The New York Times | October 1, 2025

In the last decade, more than a dozen types of cancer have risen among people under 50. Scientists don't have all of the answers, but research is starting to offer clues. Studies of cancer genomes have also shown that a pattern of mutations associated with a bacterial toxin called colibactin are more common in early-onset colorectal cancer patients than in older patients. Ludmil Alexandrov, a professor of bioengineering at the University of California, San Diego, said his data suggest the cancer-causing bacterial infection typically occurs in the first two to three years of life. Full Story

13 Bizarre Deep Sea Animals That Are Stranger (and Cooler) Than Science Fiction

ZME Science | September 3, 2025

The deep sea has a reputation for producing "monsters." These animals aren't curiosities from a horror show; they are masterworks of evolution, honed by millions of years to endure a realm where few others could. For example, recent research has found that deep sea dragonfish camouflage their teeth, making them transparent -- and they do this by using nanocrystals. Full Story

Many Lung Cancers Are Now in Nonsmokers. Scientists Want to Know Why.

The New York Times | July 22, 2025

Scientists are starting to see that the biology of cancer in nonsmokers differs from cancers seen in people with a smoking history--and may require different strategies for prevention and detection. One large study led by the National Cancer Institute and the University of California San Diego is looking at the mutational signatures, or patterns of mutations across the cancer genomes, of 871 nonsmokers with lung cancer from around the world. Their latest findings showed that certain mutations were much more common in people who lived in areas with high amounts of air pollution. Full Story

Here's how air pollution may trigger lung cancer

Science News | July 21, 2025

Air pollution may steer lung cells toward cancer -- even in people who've never smoked a cigarette. People living in high pollution areas may rack up DNA glitches that trigger lung cancer, scientists suggest July 2 in Nature. Those glitches can include mutations that hobble the very genes that protect cells from tumor development, says Ludmil Alexandrov, a cancer geneticist at the University of California, San Diego. Full Story

First earthquake, then fire: UC San Diego researchers test steel building

KPBS | July 17, 2025

Smoke billowed out of a steel-framed building off Pomerado Road Thursday morning. It was part of research by UC San Diego and California Polytechnic State University on how fire spreads through earthquake-damaged steel buildings. Full Story