
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.
Additional areas of expertise
Bioinformatics
Cancer and disease research
Computational biology
Nanoscience and nanotechnology
Sequencing technologies
Stem cells
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.

Powerful new analyses improve breast cancer risk assessment on a massive scale
UC Santa Cruz researchers, in collaboration with the BRCA Exchange, are transforming breast cancer risk assessment by integrating clinical, experimental, and computational data to evaluate thousands of gene variants linked to the disease.

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.
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