Press Releases and News Items

2020

Evolution May Be to Blame for High Risk of Advanced Cancers in Humans
UC San Diego Health News | December 2020

2019

Strip Steak: Bacterial Enzyme Removes Inflammation-Causing Meat Carbohydrates
UC San Diego Health News | September 2019

Evolutionary Gene Loss May Help Explain Why Only Humans are Prone to Heart Attacks
UC San Diego News Center | July 2019

How an ancient mutation may predispose humans to heart disease
Medical News Today | July 2019

Gene Mutation Could Explain Humans' High Risk of Heart Attack
The Scientist | July 2019

Evolutionary gene loss may help explain why only humans are prone to heart attacks
Science Daily | July 2019

How Gonorrhea "Tricks" the Human Immune System - and How We Might Stop It
UC San Diego Health News | January 2019

Research suggests how gonorrhea 'tricks' immune system
U Mass Med Now | January 2019

2018

New National Training Program Aims to Mainstream Glycosciences
National Institutes of Health awards $20 million to train the next generation of researchers in glycosciences — the study of complex carbohydrate molecules and their roles in human development and health. | August 2018

Why Humans Get Diarrhea and Other Mammals Don't
UC San Diego Health News | July 2018

2017

Landmark Glycobiology textbook now available in print and online
The book's innovative content and publishing models are the result of an ongoing collaboration between CSHLP, the book's Consortium of Glycobiology Editors led by Dr. Ajit Varki, University of California at San Diego, CSHLP, and NCBI. | September 2017

Ancient Sugar Molecule Could Timestamp Human Evolution
In animal fossils dating back millions of years, researchers detect traces of a glycan once synthesized by ancestral human lineages. | September 2017

When Ancient Fossil DNA Isn't Available, Ancient Glycans May Help Trace Human Evolution
Researchers at UC San Diego and Turkana Basin Institute in Kenya have discovered a new kind of glycan that survives under conditions where ancient DNA does not. | September 2017
Refers to publication A251

New clues to making an effective HIV vaccine found by Scripps Research scientists
San Diego Union Tribune | September 2017

Glycobiology: Sweet Success
Nature | July 2017

Switching Sugars in the Brain
Why don’t humans display Neu5Gc on our cell surfaces like other mammals do? | January 2017

2016

Many animals seem to kill themselves, but it is not suicide
Do dogs, whales, horses and other animals intend to end their lives? | July 2016

2015

Newly Evolved, Uniquely Human Gene Variants Protect Older Adults from Cognitive Decline
Humans evolved unique gene variants that protect older adults from neurodegenerative disease, thus preserving their valuable contributions and delaying dependency. | November 2015
Refers to publication A236

More Anti-inflammatory Genes Mean Longer Lifespans for Mammals
Mammal species with higher copy numbers of siglec receptor genes have longer maximum lifespans | April 2015
Refers to Publication A231

2014

Sugar Molecule Links Red Meat Consumption and Elevated Cancer Risk in Mice
Neu5Gc, a sugar found in red meat, promotes inflammation and cancer progression in rodents | December 2014
Refers to publication A229

Typhoid Mary, Not Typhoid Mouse
Lack of enzyme explains why typhoid fever is a human-specific disease | December 2014
Refers to publication A227

Cancer and the Immune System: A Double-Edged Sword
Cell surface sugars can promote or inhibit cancer depending upon stage | September 2014
Refers to publication A225

For Good and Ill, Immune Response to Cancer Cuts Both Ways
UCSD Newsroom | April 2014

Scientists learn how pathogens hack our immune systems to go undetected
Researchers describe how pathogens target or take advantage of key molecules on the surfaces of cells to evade detection or boost infection. Sugar receptors on immune cells evolve rapidly in response to even more rapidly evolving pathogens, leading to a never-ending evolutionary arms race. | March 2014

The "Red Queen Effect"
UCSD Newsroom | March 2014
Refers to publication A218

2012

How Infectious Disease May Have Shaped Human Origins
Inactivation of two genes may have allowed escape from bacterial pathogens | July 2012
Refers to publication A201

2011

Sexual Selection by Sugar Molecule Helped Determine Human Origins
UCSD Newsroom | October 2011
Refers to publication A197

Glycans Enter Mainstream of Biomedical Science
UC San Diego leads new national program to further develop the science of glycobiology | July 2011

A Cancer Treatment and Marker in One?
UC San Diego Researchers Finds Promise in Non-Human Sialic Acid Antibodies | April 2011
Refers to publication A191

Missing Sugar Molecule Raises Diabetes Risk in Humans
UCSD Newsroom | February 2011

2010

Non-human Sugar in Biotech Drugs Causes Inflammation
UCSD Newsroom | July 2010

Cutting to the Bone Of Human Origins
Computed tomography scans of a large collection of skeletons from closely monitored captive chimpanzees will soon become part of the growing "anthropogeny" database at the University of California, San Diego. Science, Vol. 328. No. 5974, pg. 43 | April 2010