While much about Alzheimer’s disease remains a mystery, scientists do know that part of the disease’s progression involves a normal protein called tau, aggregating to form ropelike inclusions within brain cells that eventually strangle the neurons. Yet how this protein transitions from its soluble liquid state to solid fibers has remained unknown — until now. Discovering an unsuspected property of tau, UC Santa Barbara physical chemist Song-I Han and MCDB professor Kenneth S. Kosik have shed new light on the protein’s ability to morph from one state to another.

When a patient is prescribed the wrong antibiotic to treat a bacterial infection, it’s not necessarily the physician who is at fault.

Anyone who has experienced jet lag knows that changing time zones can wreak havoc on our circadian rhythms. Modulated by external cues such as sunlight and temperature, the roughly 24-hour cycles in our physiological processes are extremely sensitive. Humans aren’t the only creatures whose circadian rhythms are dictated by light. The tiny Drosophila melanogaster — known more commonly as the fruit fly — sets its regular day-and-night-activity cycles in response to light.

MCDB is sad to announce the passing of MCDB Emeritus Professor Robert Sinsheimer

Bob was one of the early pioneers of molecular biology, led the Biology division at Cal Tech for many years, served as Chancellor of U.C. Santa Cruz, and was a valued colleague and friend here at MCDB for several decades.