Astronauts might one day grow and eat genetically modified plants to ward off disease associated with long spaceflights. Researchers at the College of Engineering have developed a transgenic, or genetically modified, lettuce producing a drug to protect against bone density loss in microgravity. Kevin Yates, a graduate student working with Professor Karen McDonald and Adjunct Professor Somen Nandi at the UC Davis Department of Chemical Engineering, developed the lettuce that expresses a fusion protein combining PTH with part of a human antibody protein. The fusion protein is designed to be stable in the bloodstream and to allow astronauts to potentially purify the drug from plant extracts, Nandi said.
Dr. David Block, Ernest Gallo Endowed Chair of Viticulture and Enology and Professor of Chemical Engineering at University of California, Davis, speaks with The Sweaty Penguin, a PBS-sponsored podcast about climate change. The episode, titled "Lab-Grown Meat: Future Climate Solution or Icky Science Experiment?" explores how lab-grown meat is made, what the barriers are, and how the industry could overcome them.
Alternatives to meat have recently become a hot area in food research, with major fast-food brands marketing burgers made from plant proteins that attempt to reproduce the texture and flavor of ground beef patties. But beyond these “impossible” products is another prospect: actual flesh grown under lab conditions instead of being harvested from an animal or fish.
Can we optimize how we cool our buildings without compromising campus comfort?
This question, the focus of a long-standing partnership between UC Davis Facilities Management and UC Davis Chemical Engineering (Process Systems Engineering), has resulted in savings, greener energy use and published research.
The UC Davis Coffee Center is the world's first academic research center focused on coffee, aiming to do for coffee what UC Davis has done for beer and wine. Through its research, teaching and mentorship, the center plans to train the next generation of coffee professionals while improving the entire industry and making it more sustainable.
With the launch of the new National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded UC Davis/Berkeley Center for Rational Catalysis Synthesis, or CeRCaS, UC Davis is poised to become a leader in the field of catalysis. CeRCaS will bring together the resources and expertise of academia, industry and national laboratories to transform the way catalysts are designed and produced and to train students as the next generation of leaders in the field.
A new paper from associate professor Jiandi Wan’s group published in Science Advances proposes a potential solution to dendrite growth in rechargeable lithium metal batteries using microfluidics. In the paper, the group proved that flowing ions near the cathode can potentially expand the safety and lifespans of these next-generation rechargeable batteries.
UC Davis will play an important role in a new $274.5 million multi-institution center to develop reliable, sustainable and large-scale bioindustrial manufacturing and technology. The Bioindustrial Manufacturing and Design Ecosystem (BioMADE) was awarded $87.5 million over 7 years by the Department of Defense (DoD), along with $187 million in additional funding from the 80+ companies, universities and organizations involved.
Laboratory tests of surgical and N95 masks by researchers at the University of California, Davis, show that they do cut down the amount of aerosolized particles emitted during breathing, talking and coughing. Tests of homemade cloth face coverings, however, show that the fabric itself releases a large amount of fibers into the air, underscoring the importance of washing them. The work is published Sept. 24 in Scientific Reports.
Is cultivated meat — essentially, animal protein grown under lab conditions — a nourishing prospect to help feed the world, or is it more sizzle than steak? A consortium of researchers at the University of California, Davis, aims to explore the long-term sustainability of cultivated meat, supported by a new grant of up to $3.55 million from the National Science Foundation Growing Convergence program, in addition to previous support from the Good Food Institute and New Harvest.
Influenza viruses can spread through the air on dust, fibers and other microscopic particles, according to new research from the University of California, Davis, and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The findings, with obvious implications for coronavirus transmission as well as influenza, are published Aug. 18 in Nature Communications.
Though viruses are known for causing diseases like COVID-19, UC Davis chemical engineers Karen McDonald and Priya Shah think they can be as beneficial as they are destructive. From producing and purifying drugs for humans in space to inspiring new tools for biotechnology, viruses are being re-engineered to help humans who are suffering from injuries or diseases.
Chemical engineering assistant professor Jiandi Wan has developed a new approach to 3D printing using microfluidics, which was outlined in a new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States (PNAS).
Normal speech by individuals who are asymptomatic but infected with coronavirus may produce enough aerosolized particles to transmit the infection, according to aerosol scientists at the University of California, Davis. Although it’s not yet known how important this is to the spread of COVID-19, it underscores the need for strict social distancing measures.
