News & Media

Prof Waite Discovers a Metal-based Biological Strategy for Hard Flexible Coatings

April 23, 2010

The extensible byssal threads of marine mussels are shielded from abrasion in wave-swept habitats by an outer cuticle that is largely proteinaceous and approximately fivefold harder than the thread core. Threads from several species exhibit granular cuticles containing a protein that is rich in the catecholic amino acid 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (dopa) as well as inorganic ions, notably Fe3+. Granular cuticles exhibit a remarkable combination of high hardness and high extensibility.

Science

UCSB Alumna Carol W. Greider Shares Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

October 05, 2009

Carol W. Greider, a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, has been awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Greider shares the Nobel with Elizabeth H. Blackburn and Jack W. Szostak. The three were honored for the discovery of "how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase."

UCSB Press Release

Federal Stimulus Grants Support Diverse Research at UCSB

September 28, 2009

With funds made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), more than 40 grants already have been awarded to research projects at UC Santa Barbara. In addition, 79 proposals are currently under review by their respective federal granting agencies. Also known as the economic stimulus package, the ARRA was passed by Congress in February.

UCSB Press Release

UCSB Researchers Develop Drug Delivery System Using Nanoparticles and Lasers

September 09, 2009

Researchers at UC Santa Barbara have developed a new way to deliver drugs into cancer cells by exposing them briefly to a non-harmful laser. Their results are published in a recent article in ACS NANO, a journal of the American Chemical Society.

UCSB Press Release

The Invasive Green Mussel May Inspire New Forms of Wet Adhesion

August 27, 2009

The green mussel is known for being a notoriously invasive fouling species, but scientists have just discovered that it also has a very powerful form of adhesion in its foot, according to a recent article in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. The stickiness of the mussel's foot could possibly be copied to form new man-made adhesives.

UCSB Press Release

Pages