For his contributions to cell biology knowledge and the scientific community, Mark Winey was named a fellow of the American Society for Cell Biology. The ASCB cohort of fellows was formally recognized at the joint meeting with the European Molecular Biology Organization.

In a new study appearing in Nature Cell Biology, UC Davis researchers found that tau molecules can congregate together in a novel, reversible way, which appears to be distinct from the irreversible tangle formation observed in neurodegenerative diseases.

Microtubule fibers are hollow rods made of much smaller tubulin subunits that spontaneously assemble at one end of the rod, but exactly how they do this inside the crowded environment of living cells has been a mystery. UC Davis researchers have uncovered the mechanism that puts these blocks in place, illustrated in a new animation.

Pew Charitable Trusts has announced Kassandra Ori-McKenney as a 2018 Pew Biomedical Scholar, one of the most prestigious honors of its kind. With a four-year grant totaling $300,000, Ori-McKenney will investigate the role of a protein called tau in the development of neurodegenerative disease related to traumatic brain injury.

After a long day of teaching and research, biochemists Richard McKenney and Kassandra Ori-McKenney usually find themselves on their patio discussing topics like the cytoskeleton and motor proteins. It’s shop talk for the couple, both assistant professors in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology.

Founded in 2015 by Distinguished Professor Pamela Ronald, Plant Pathology and the Genome Center, Science Says started as a project funded by the UC Davis Institute for Food and Agricultural Literacy to combat misinformation in food science. Since then, it’s grown into a campus-wide student group.

In a new study appearing in Developmental Cell, Ruensern Tan, a biochemistry, molecular, cellular and developmental biology graduate student, and Assistant Professor Richard McKenney, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, provide a new molecular model to describe the role of motor proteins in restructuring the cytoskeleton for cell division.

During its annual meeting on Dec. 2, the American Society for Cell Biology named Distinguished Professor Jodi Nunnari and Distinguished Professor Emeritus Jonathan Scholey as ASBC Fellows.

On August 1, Mark Winey began his appointment as dean for the College of Biological Sciences. Winey comes to UC Davis after 25 years at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is a distinguished biologist, an experienced administrator and a strong advocate of biology education at every level.

When they think about how cells put together the molecules that make life work, biologists have tended to think of assembly lines: Add A to B, tack on C, and so on. But the reality might be more like a molecular version of a 3-D printer, where a single mechanism assembles the molecule in one go.