Rice is a staple food crop for more than half the world’s population, but most farmers don’t grow high-yielding varieties because the seeds are too expensive. Researchers from the University of California’s Davis and Berkeley campuses have identified a potential solution: activating two genes in rice egg cells that trigger their development into embryos without the need for fertilization, which would efficiently create high-yielding clonal strains of rice and other crops.

The work of 12 early-career faculty members will get a boost as this year’s class of Hellman Fellows. They will receive grants ranging from $16,000 to $49,000, for a total of $330,000 awarded.

Their work covers a wide range of topics, from the educational experiences of Venezuelan immigrants to a wireless device that monitors for seizures.

New research suggests that it could be possible to separate treatment from hallucinations when developing new drugs based on psychedelics. The anti-anxiety and hallucination-inducing qualities of psychedelic drugs work through different neural circuits, according to research using a mouse model. The work is published Nov. 15 in Science.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that this fall has seen a great many things come to pass. Whether events on the national stage, or advances in the life sciences, you’ve no doubt had a lot to watch.

If you’ve ever walked by tables of College of Biological Sciences apparel, including soft hoodies, baseball caps, t-shirts, and quarter-zips, chances are you’ve just passed by BioBoosters. The longstanding and popular student club responsible for pop-up swag sales of CBS apparel is back for the 2024-25 year with a slate of student activities, including, of course, more swag sales.