Genetics Content

Cold Hands, Warm Heart — Researchers Solve Medical Mystery

Andy Fell — May 04, 2026 - 10:40am

The saying “cold hands, warm heart” is usually meant metaphorically — but new research from UC Davis School of Medicine and collaborating institutions suggests it has a striking biological parallel.

Identifying Genetic Causes of Blindness in People and Macaques

Andy Fell — April 28, 2026 - 3:25pm

An inherited form of blindness directly comparable to a common inherited optic nerve disease in humans has been discovered in rhesus macaques at the California National Primate Research Center at the University of California, Davis. The work, published April 15 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could lead to a better understanding of autosomal dominant optic atrophy, or ADOA, and potentially to new treatments.

Not All Clones Are Created Equal

Andy Fell — April 24, 2026 - 11:12am

Plant scientists use clones for their research, but they’re different from the kind people grow from cuttings. Scientists grow these clones in Petri dishes by the thousands, along with a potential headache: The resulting little plants can carry loads of mutations that must be culled out for research to continue.

Map of Genetic Regulation in Chickens Could Help Fight Against Bird Flu

Andy Fell — April 09, 2025 - 10:38am

An international team of researchers led by Professor Huaijun Zhou from the UC Davis Department of Animal Science has created the first-ever detailed map of how genes are regulated in chickens — a breakthrough that could help scientists breed birds that are more resistant to diseases like avian influenza.

Plant Biologist Venkatesan Sundaresan Wins 2024 Wolf Prize in Agriculture

Andy Fell — July 17, 2024 - 9:36am

Venkatesan Sundaresan, Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Plant Biology and Plant Sciences at the University of California, Davis, has been awarded a 2024 Wolf Prize in Agriculture for key discoveries on plant developmental biology of relevance to crop improvement.

Discovery Hints at Genetic Basis for the Most Challenging Symptoms of Schizophrenia

Andy Fell — March 19, 2024 - 10:25am

Our understanding of schizophrenia has increased greatly in recent years, as studies of large groups of people have identified a multitude of genetic variants that increase a person’s risk of the disease.

A Mixed Origin Made Maize Successful

Andy Fell — November 30, 2023 - 11:00am

Maize is one of the world’s most widely grown crops. It is used for both human and animal foods and holds great cultural significance, especially for Indigenous peoples in the Americas. Yet despite its importance, the origins of the grain have been hotly debated for more than a century. Now new research, published Dec. 1 in Science, shows that all modern maize descends from a hybrid created just over 5,000 years ago in central Mexico, thousands of years after the plant was first domesticated.

More Genes, Fewer Toes: Were Gene Copies the Key to an Evolutionary Leap for Horses?

Andy Fell — June 12, 2023 - 10:25am

Eighteen million years ago, a genetic duplication event coincided with the evolutionary split between horses and their four-toed, forest-browsing ancestors. A recent study, led by Professor Danika Bannasch, Department of Population Health and Reproduction in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, and graduate student Kevin Batcher investigated specific genetic duplications in horses, finding evidence of important roles for these elements and countering historical conventions that they have no f

Researchers Identify Genes Making Strawberries Resistant to Fusarium Wilt

Amy M Quinton — July 19, 2022 - 9:00am

UC Davis researchers discover genes that make strawberries resistant to the deadly disease Fusarium wilt.

Veterinary Genetics Lab Identifies Novel Mutation in Standardbred Horse

Andy Fell — June 08, 2022 - 2:16pm

The field of genetics has enabled us to predict susceptibility to heritable diseases and map the genome of many species. Now, modern genetics and the birth of a unique foal in New Zealand has provided a successful example of tracking a mutation at its origin.