Scientists are closer to gaining the upper hand on Huanglongbing, a disease that has wiped out citrus orchards across the globe. New models of the bacterium linked to the disease reveal control methods that were previously unavailable.
It’s likely that billions of people are unaware they have been infected with parasitic worms. A UC Riverside scientist has won $1.8 million to try and understand why. The National Institutes of Health granted an Outstanding Investigator Award to Adler Dillman, an assistant professor of parasitology, so he can shed...
Blood-feeding livestock mites can be detected with wearable sensor technology nicknamed “Fitbits for chickens.” To help farmers detect mite infestations, a team of entomologists, computer scientists, and biologists led by UC Riverside entomologist Amy Murillo has created a new insect detection system. The team’s work is detailed in the journal...
UC Riverside scientists have found the first substance capable of controlling Citrus Greening Disease, which has devastated citrus farms in Florida and also threatens California. The new treatment effectively kills the bacterium causing the disease with a naturally occurring molecule found in wild citrus relatives. This molecule, an antimicrobial peptide...
Many parts of the world are in the midst of a deadly pandemic of cholera, an extreme form of watery diarrhea. UC Riverside scientists have discovered specific gut bacteria make some people resistant to it — a finding that could save lives.
When cells don’t divide into proper copies of themselves, living things fail to grow as they should. For the first time, scientists now understand how a protein called TANGLED1 can lead to accurate cell division in plants. Inside cells are structures called microtubules, which act like highways for moving proteins...
A new film made of gold nanoparticles changes color in response to any type of movement. Its unprecedented qualities could allow robots to mimic chameleons and octopi — among other futuristic applications. Unlike other materials that try to emulate nature’s color changers, this one can respond to any type of...
UC Riverside’s herbarium, established over 60 years ago, is an irreplaceable library of plant specimens. Now, a $900,000 bequest from its founder Frank Vasek and his wife Maxine will ensure the resource remains available to many generations of future plant scientists, and that it receives needed repairs and reorganization. Vasek...
Sean Harper is the first person to admit he wasn’t the most disciplined student when he came to UC Riverside as a biomedical sciences student four decades ago. “I was still 17 for my first few weeks at UCR,” Harper said. “I knew that I wanted to study medicine but...
World Bee Day is May 20. To mark the occasion, we gathered some of UC Riverside’s top bee experts to answer questions submitted on our Instagram page. The response created, for lack of a better term, quite a buzz! We got so many questions — hundreds — that we could...
UC Riverside scientists have solved a 20-year-old genetics puzzle that could result in ways to protect wheat, barley, and other crops from a devastating infection. Ayala Rao, professor of plant pathology and microbiology, has been studying Brome Mosaic virus for decades. Unlike some viruses, the genetic material of this virus...
Though “murder hornets” are dominating recent headlines, there are no Asian Giant Hornets currently known to be living in the U.S. or Canada, according to UC Riverside Entomology Research Museum Senior Scientist Doug Yanega.
Native bees that boost food crops are in decline but changing fire management policies could help them. Most flowering plant farms employ honeybees, a non-native species originally imported from Europe and managed by beekeepers. However, research shows that farms surrounded by natural bee habitat have higher crop yields. UC Riverside...
Though no proven treatment for COVID-19 currently exists, UC Riverside virologist Juliet Morrison feels there’s a good chance one will emerge. Morrison, an assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology & Plant Pathology, investigates the science behind promising avenues for new antiviral therapies. She explains what those are and weighs...
Last week, UCR’s Healthy Campus group released tips for staying physically and mentally healthy while social distancing and working from home. But for many faculty and staff members with young children, a number of these recommendations might seem difficult — if not impossible — to follow. Being forced indoors with...
A new UC Riverside study concludes the longer your commute, the more you're exposed to a chemical flame retardant that is a known carcinogen, phased out of furniture use because it required a Proposition 65 warning label in California.
Excess selenium from fertilizers and other natural sources can create air pollution that could lead to lung cancer, asthma, and Type 2 diabetes, according to new UC Riverside research.
New research from UC Riverside shows, contrary to previous scientific belief, a hormone required for sexual maturity in insects cannot travel across the blood-brain barrier unless aided by a transporter protein. The finding may soon allow scientists to prevent disease-spreading mosquitoes from maturing, or to boost reproduction in beneficial bumblebees.
New UC Riverside research shows soybean oil not only leads to obesity and diabetes, but could also affect neurological conditions like autism, Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, and depression.
New research from UC Riverside identifies a protein that controls plant growth — good news for an era in which crops can get crushed by climate change.
