UCLA undergraduate students proudly hosted the 2012 UCLA InnoWorks Academy program from July 30 -­ Aug 3, 2012 in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. This scientific workshop, entitled “Making Sense of the Senses,” was organized by the talented UCLA InnoWorks student members and their faculty advisor, Professor Neil Garg. The students served as mentors […]

High resolution Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) shows cooperative binding of drebrin to single actin filaments and reveals the resulting change in their structure. The observed nanoscale structural changes modify the binding of other actin binding proteins and contribute to the unique properties of neuronal cytoskeletons. The discovery will help researchers to further analyze the role […]

Xiangfeng Duan was awarded the 2012 Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship for his contributions to the field of materials chemistry. This Lectureship is an annual award that honors a younger scientist who has made a significant contribution to the field. Information about the JMC Lectureship is available at this site. In addition, Xiangfeng is one […]

Alexandrova Lab has published a VIP paper in Angewandte Chemie where they report on their discovery of a photo-driven molecular Wankel motor, B13+. This cluster has the dual-ring structure. The motor is driven by circularly-polarized infrared electromagnetic radiation. Calculations show that this illumination leads to a guided unidirectional rotation of the outer ring, which is […]

Ken Houk’s new work on the dynamics of Diels-Alder reactions has appeared in his inaugural PNAS article after Ken’s election to the National Academy of Sciences. The work is featured on the UCLA newsroom with links to the movies showing the progress of Diels-Alder reactions. .

Sabeeha Merchant has been awarded the 2012 Darbaker Prize in Phycology for meritorious work in the study of microscopic algae by the Botanical Society of America. Sabeeha has been instrumental in developing the genetics and genomics of Chlamydomonas as a model organism. Her work has elucidated the role of metabolic cofactors and iron and copper […]

The Feigon laboratory has determined the structure of a key protein-RNA complex in telomerase, an enzyme that maintains the DNA at the ends of chromosomes. Telomerase activity is important in both aging and most cancers. Using a combination of X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy they determined the structure of Tetrahymena thermophila telomerase holoenzyme protein, p65, […]

Xiangfeng Duan has won the inaugural International Union of Materials Research Societies (IUMRS) and the Materials Research Society (MRS) “IUMRS – MRS Singapore Young Researcher Award”. Xiangfeng was selected from among 89 nominatees for this prestigious award which will be presented to him in Singapore at the International Conference of Young Researchers on Advanced Materials […]