We accelerate microbiome research
and develop new methods for manipulating microbiomes
to improve human health and benefit the environment.
UC San Diego is a world-leader in microbiome research, biomedical engineering, quantitative measurements and modeling, cellular and chemical imaging, drug discovery, "omics" sciences and much more. We draw interdisciplinary teams of these researchers together to push the boundaries of human understanding of microbiomes — the distinct constellations of bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms that live within and around humans, other species and the environment.
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Finding Worth in Waste: How Wastewater Monitoring Helps Reduce the Spread of SARS-CoV-2 at UC San Diego
December 10, 2020
Early detection is one of the keys to reducing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 - the virus that causes COVID-19 - and a wastewater monitoring system developed by the UC San Diego Center for Microbiome Innovation (CMI) is proving to be an invaluable tool. Full Story

When Strains of E.coli Play Rock-Paper-Scissors, It's Not the Strongest That Survives
December 9, 2020
Bacteria is all around us—not just in bathrooms or kitchen counters, but also inside our bodies, including in tumors, where microbiota often flourish. These “small ecologies” can hold the key to cancer drug therapies and learning more about them can help development new life-saving treatments. Full Story

10 Jacobs School Faculty Named in 2020 List of Highly Cited Researchers
December 8, 2020
Ten professors at the University of California San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering are among the world’s most influential researchers in their fields, according to a new research citation report from the Web of Science Group. The professors, Ludmil Alexandrov, Trey Ideker, Rob Knight, Nathan E. Lewis, Prashant Mali, Ying Shirley Meng, Bernhard O. Palsson, Joseph Wang, Kun Zhang and Liangfang Zhang, are amone 52 professors and researchers at UC San Diego named in the prestigious list of Highly Cited Researchers in 2020. Full Story

The UC San Diego Center for Microbiome Celebrates 14 Researchers on Highly Cited Researchers 2020 List
December 3, 2020
The UC San Diego Center for Microbiome (CMI) is proud to announce that 14 of our academics have been named on the annual Highly Cited Researchers™ 2020 list from making up 27% of the 52 names listed from UC San Diego. Full Story

Infection by Confection: COVID-19 and the Risk of Trick-or-Treating
October 30, 2020
Like a specter, the question looms: How risky is trick-or-treating with SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in the air — and possibly on the candy? In a study published Oct. 30, 2020 in the journal mSystems, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and San Diego State University analyzed the viral load on Halloween candy handled by patients with COVID-19. Full Story