School of Natural Sciences

Researchers Rebuild Microscopic Circadian Clock That Can Control Genes

February 10, 2026

Blue-green algae in flasks are used by researchers at UC Merced and UC San Diego to further the understanding of circadian clocks. Image courtesy of UC San Diego.

Our circadian clocks play a crucial role in our health and well-being, keeping our 24-hour biological cycles in sync with light and dark exposure. Disruptions in the rhythms of these clocks, as with jet lag and daylight saving time, can throw our daily rhythms out of whack. But a group of...

B Cell Study Indicates Promising Direction for Anti-parasitic Vaccines

Creating vaccines to train the immune system against parasites is particularly challenging. They are also highly specialized masters of immune evasion. Some parasites can secrete proteins that...

NSF Award Goes to Research into Brain Formation and What Leads to Developmental Disorders

Professor Xuecai Ge, a developmental neurobiologist, has received a CAREER award for research to gain insight into the molecular mechanisms that direct brain formation, and how errors in cell...

Professor Goyal, front, with several of his students.

Mechanical Engineer Receives Prestigious CAREER Award

Mechanical engineering Professor Sachin Goyal has received a CAREER award for his research into how the arrangements of atoms and interatomic bonds affect the deformability of biological...

Grad Student Awarded 2022 UC-National Lab Fee Research Program Fellowship

Gopinathan Chosen for Leadership Role in American Physical Society

Professor Ajay Gopinathan has been elected the next vice-chair of the Division of Biological Physics (DBIO) of the American Physical Society (APS), the world's largest organization of physicists...

Ph.D. Student Goes from Former Inmate to Teaching Prisoners

In his early 20s, Cory Mccullough battled addiction and stole to support his habits. The Dos Palos native spent several stints in prison as early as 2011 for commercial burglary. Education was the...

New NSF Grant to support Asian American and Pacific Islander students in Geoscience

A team of eight scientists from around the country is organizing a new project to foster belonging and participation among Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students in the geosciences...

UC Merced Leaps Up in Nature Index’s Young University Rankings

UC Merced has earned the distinction of ranking No. 20 among the world's Rising Young Universities, according to the just-released Nature Index 2021 Young Universities — the only U.S...

Microorganisms Consume Last Bits of Oxygen from Low-oxygen Ocean Zones, Study Shows

Even the tiniest organisms have a surprisingly huge effect on life in the oceans, eating up the last bits of oxygen in certain areas, preventing larger marine life from surviving there, a new study...