When a healthy cell turns cancerous a cascade of events enables the cancer to spread throughout the body. But its origin lies within a single progenitor cell.

“What goes wrong with that particular cell?” asked Assistant Professor Chang-il Hwang, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. “Something happens at the molecular level. One DNA molecule, or one protein molecule changes.”

 

In a study appearing in Genetics, BMCDB Graduate Group faculty chair Bruce Draper and UC Davis researchers relay new discoveries about the molecular mechanisms behind sexual determination. Using zebrafish, they highlighted the gene responsible for determining whether the fish will develop into a female or a male.

In a paper appearing in Cell Metabolism, Associate Professor Mark Huising, Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, and Biochemistry, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology graduate student Sharon Lee refute a previous study that claimed an antimalarial drug could be used to treat type 1 diabetes.

Associate Professor Aldrin Gomes, Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, studies the underpinnings of heart disease. He’s searching for molecular clues that will help medical professionals better manage heart disease.