Molecular, Cell & Developmental Biology
-
UCSC biologist Harry Noller honored by Paul Ehrlich Foundation
The Paul Ehrlich Foundation of Germany has announced that it will award the 2007 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize to Harry Noller, Sinsheimer Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Ada Yonath of the Weizm
-
ARCS Foundation scholarships support ten UCSC graduate students
Ten UC Santa Cruz graduate students have received scholarships worth a total of $100,000 from the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Foundation for the 2006-07 academic year. The Northern California chapter of the ARCS Foundation is the most generous provider of annual private awards to the UCSC campus and has provided more than $1…
-
Newly discovered gene may hold clues to evolution of human brain capacity
Scientists have discovered a gene that has undergone accelerated evolutionary change in humans and is active during a critical stage in brain development. Although researchers have yet to determine the precise function of the gene, the evidence suggests that it may play a role in the development of the cerebral cortex and may even help…
-
Atomic-resolution structure of a ribozyme yields insights into RNA catalysis and the origins of life
Which came first, nucleic acids or proteins? This question is molecular biology’s version of the “chicken-or-the-egg” riddle. Genes made of nucleic acids (DNA or RNA) contain the instructions for making proteins, but enzymes made of proteins are needed to replicate genes. For those who try to understand how life originated, this once seemed an intractable…