The most exciting and powerful scientific puzzle of our time is coming together right now. Discoveries in genomics are rippling across fields—generating new insights, tools, and methods, and establishing new connections across disciplines. The potential impact of genomics research on human health and Earth’s biodiversity is limitless.
Human pangenome reference will enable more complete and equitable understanding of genomic diversity
UC Santa Cruz scientists, along with a consortium of researchers, have released a draft of the first human pangenome—a new, usable reference for genomics that combines the genetic information of 47 individuals from different ancestral backgrounds to allow for a deeper, more accurate understanding of worldwide genomic diversity.
Research in action
Scientists release the first complete sequence of a human Y chromosome
For decades, the Y chromosome – one of the two human sex chromosomes – has been notoriously challenging for the genomics community to sequence due to the complexity of its structure. Now, this elusive area of the genome has been fully sequenced, a feat that finally completes the set of end-to-end human chromosomes and adds 30 million new bases to the human genome reference, mostly from challenging-to-sequence satellite DNA.
Researchers to investigate genetic roots of autism, look for new treatments
A new award from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) will support a team of UC Santa Cruz researchers in exploring the genetic underpinnings of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and investigating possible treatments, in collaboration with teams at UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley.
UCSC scholars join researchers statewide on a massive genomic study of California’s biodiversity
The state-funded genomics project aims to be a lasting resource for shaping conservation policy.
Scientists find that small regions of the brain can take micro-naps while the rest of the brain is awake and vice versa
For the first time, scientists have found that sleep can be detected by patterns of neuronal activity just milliseconds long, 1000 times shorter than a second, revealing a new way to study and understand the basic brain wave patterns that govern consciousness.
New blood test for noncoding RNA significantly improves cancer detection
A novel liquid biopsy technology developed by Assistant Professor of Biomolecular Engineering Daniel Kim’s lab leverages RNA “dark matter” to enhance cancer diagnosis.
The team behind a tree of 10 million Covid sequences
10 million sequences of COVID-19’s genomic code have now been organized into a phylogenetic tree in the UC Santa Cruz SARS-CoV-2 Browser, which is the largest tree of genomic sequences of a single species ever assembled.
BE experts
Mark Akeson
Phillip Berman
David Bernick
Angela Brooks
Melissa Cline
Russell Corbett-Detig
David Deamer
Rebecca DuBois
Jason Eshraghian
Camilla Forsberg
Richard “Ed” Green
Max Haeussler
David Haussler
Alex Ioannidis
Vanessa Jönsson
Kevin Karplus
Daniel Kim
Sri Kurniawan
Darrell Long
Todd Lowe
Razvan Marinescu
Ann McCartney
Karen Miga
Benedict Paten
Nader Pourmand
Mohammed Mostajo Radji
Marco Rolandi
Shelbi Russell
Holger Schmidt
Tal Sharf
Ali Shariati
Jouni Siren
Josh Stuart
Mircea Teodorescu
Christopher Vollmers
Andy (Hsien-Wei) Yeh
Yuyin Zhou
Jingchun Zhu
For media inquiries contact: Emily Cerf, Engineering Writer and Media Relations Specialist: ecerf@ucsc.edu
First complete, gapless sequence of a human genome reveals hidden regions
The first truly complete sequence of a human genome, important for understanding genetic diseases, human diversity, and evolution, is now accessible to study through the UCSC Genome Browser.
Genomics at UCSC
In 2000, UC Santa Cruz made history with the Human Genome Project. Today, we are focusing the power of genomics – collaboratively, openly and ethically – for the benefit of both the individual and the planet.