Chemistry Content

Exploring the Psychedelics Within Us

Andy Fell — October 21, 2024 - 3:00pm

Our bodies are pharmaceutical factories. From the hormones that regulate our blood sugar to the neurotransmitters that act as the body’s natural painkillers, these endogenous — produced within the body — chemicals ensure our functionality and survival.

But did you know that our bodies also naturally produce psychedelics?

In the 1950s, researchers found chemical signatures of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in mammalian bodies, including in humans.

Researchers Step Closer to Mimicking Nature’s Mastery of Chemistry

Andy Fell — January 10, 2024 - 8:45am

In nature, organic molecules are either left- or right-handed, but synthesizing molecules with a specific “handedness” in a lab is hard to do. Make a drug or enzyme with the wrong “handedness,” and it just won’t work. Now chemists at the University of California, Davis, are getting closer to mimicking nature’s chemical efficiency through computational modeling and physical experimentation.

�ٺ��Ƶ, Mars Researchers Discover Scalable Production Technique for Low-Calorie Sugar Substitute

Andy Fell — October 24, 2023 - 9:30am

Scientists at the University of California, Davis, in partnership with the Mars Advanced Research Institute, have announced a significant breakthrough in the production of low-calorie sugar substitutes, such as allulose. This discovery could help address one of the primary obstacles to the widespread adoption of these alternatives: production costs.

The Dark Matter of Food: Uncovering the Structures of Carbohydrates

Andy Fell — May 16, 2023 - 1:56pm

We’ve all heard the advice: “Eat more fiber.”

But the reality behind that seemingly simple recommendation is much more complex when it comes to human health. While consumption of dietary fiber has been associated with decreased risks of obesity, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and certain gastrointestinal disorders, honing in on how specific fibers — or more broadly, carbohydrates — from different foods affect the gut microbiome and thus human health remains a black box.

Receptor Location Matters for Psychedelic Drug Effects

Andy Fell — February 16, 2023 - 11:00am

A new study reveals receptor location impacts psychedelic drug effects. Learn how �ٺ��Ƶ researchers are exploring implications for mental health treatment.

How to Make Chemistry a Gateway — Not a Gatekeeper — to STEM?

Karen Michele Nikos — June 08, 2022 - 5:10pm

A chemistry course bolsters both academic and social-emotional learning.

EPA Presents Green Chemistry Challenge Award to Chemistry Professor

Andy Fell — June 07, 2022 - 3:00pm

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded one of five Green Chemistry Challenge Awards to Mark Mascal, professor of chemistry at the University of California, Davis, together with Origin Materials Inc. and its co-CEO John Bissel.

$2.7M Grant to �ٺ��Ƶ to Find New Addiction Treatments Related to Psychedelics

Andy Fell — May 23, 2022 - 2:30pm

Evidence from human and animal testing suggests the brain-altering effects of psychedelics could be repurposed for treating addiction.

Now, researchers at the University of California, Davis, and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus plan to screen hundreds of compounds to discover new, nonhallucinogenic treatments for substance use disorders. The research is funded by a $2.7 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health.

How Bacteria Makes Copper into Antibiotic

Andy Fell — November 17, 2021 - 11:26am

Copper in small quantities is an essential nutrient but can also be toxic. Human immune cells use copper to fight invading pathogens. Some microorganisms, in turn, have evolved ways to take up copper and incorporate it into biological molecules, either as a way to absorb copper for nutrition or to neutralize its toxic effects.

Chemist Named Jefferson Science Fellow

Andy Fell — November 16, 2021 - 12:12pm

Mark Mascal, professor of chemistry in the �ٺ��Ƶ College of Letters and Science, will spend a year in Washington, D.C., as a Jefferson Science Fellow advising the U.S. Department of State on matters of sustainability.