COLUMNS
HUMOR
Writers look at brain functions of rodents and felines to explore cognitive evolution. » PAGE 5
Our resident funny person explores how sales reps say the darndest things. » PAGE 6
A game of cat and mouse
A barrel (or jug) full o’ laughs
IN THIS ISSUE
Calendar » PAGE 2 Puzzles » PAGE 6 Science » PAGE 7 Scoop » BACK PAGE
SynapseNewspaper
The UCSF Student
synapse.ucsf.edu | Thursday, December 11, 2014 | Volume 59, Number 5
Nationwide justice demonstrations for blacks spread to UC campuses
Berkeley Breaks Loose:
Students speak out on tuition increases
Anya Schultz/Daily Californian
Students at UC Berkeley were among those nationwide on Saturday protesting the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and Eric Garner in New York by police, as well as other recent incidents. Photos provided by Berkeley’s student newspaper, the Daily Californian, show demonstrators clashing with police, who used rubber bullets and tear gas to contain the crowd. Though the protests reportedly began peacefully, the night ended with looting, glass-breaking and several injuries to police and demonstrators, according to national media sources. At press time, students at UCSF were working with school officials to stage their own peaceful “die-in” demonstration this week. Visit synapse.ucsf.edu for updated coverage, and see page 4 for a retrospective look at student protests in the 1960s.
Severe weather watch Series honors forgotten Flooding and high winds were expected microbe hunter Meyer
to bring between 1 and 4 inches of rain to the Bay Area by Thursday night. The National Weather Service issued an alert calling for flooding in low-lying or poorly drained areas, as well as wind gusts up to 70 mph possible in areas near the coast and in the hills with the possibility of fallen trees and widespread power outages. The UCSF Police Department recommended that research facilities without emergency power take precautionary measures to prepare for protecting research samples and materials, animal health and safety. Departments should instruct staff to turn off all lights, computers and electronics if a power outage occurs to prevent or minimize power surges when power is restored. Lights and electronics may be turned on after power is restored.
By Andrea Villaroman Staff Writer
Medical historians like Dr. Mark Honigsbaum find great joy in exploring the depths of UCSF’s library. Testaments to that are Honigsbaum’s deliberate encounters with journal articles by and interviews with Karl Friedrich Meyer. UCSF Archives and Special Collections’ fourth lecture, on Dec. 5, featured Honigsbaum romping through the historical significance of this UCSF scientist. Honigsbaum recounted Meyer’s work with sick parakeets, horses, squirrels and fruit bats, and the profound impact his work had on ecological preservation and treating infection.
By Bryne Ulmschneider Staff Writer
Dr. Julius Schachter, Meyer’s final graduate student, said “he was [also] a platform lecturer of par excellence.” Having worked with Meyer for 14 years, Schachter remarked on Meyers’ gift to communicate and his propensity to double lecture time without anyone leaving the lecture hall. Future Archives lectures in the Parnassus Library will cover varied topic. The lectures are free and open to the public.
Courtesy of UCSF Archives and Special Collections Former UCSF professor Karl F. Meyer was known to keep students glued in their seats during lectures.
On Nov. 19, UC regents voted 7–2 to raise professional school supplemental tuition, over the vocal and visible protests of many UC students who said the tuition raises were unfair and unjustified. The proposal will raise general tuition 5 percent over the next five years and professional supplemental tuition (PST) 5 percent each year over the next five years. Nursing students in particular were singled out for a one-time 20 percent increase in PST. PST increases particularly affect programs in which graduates receive a professional license, which encompasses most of the professional programs at UCSF. These increases will go into effect only if the California state government fails to provide additional funds for the UC system. State legislators and UC President Janet Napolitano are currently discussing proposals. Some have criticized the UC Office of the President for using the tuition increases to leverage more state funding. Napolitano contends that these tuition increases are necessary for the long-term financial health and viability of the university. Student protestors argued that tuition increases place an undue financial burden on them, and that the administration is ignoring their concerns. Before the regents met, several hundred students from several UC campuses—including UC Berkeley,
TUITION » PAGE 10
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Calendar » Events HAPPY HOLIDAYS
Synapse will be on holiday till January. Enjoy your break!
SPORTS BASEMENT SHOPPING SPREE Thursday, December 11, 5-9 p.m. Sports Basement, 1590 Bryant St. Bring your Fitness & Recreation membership card or UCSF Student ID to the Potrero Hill Sports Basement and enjoy 15 percent off all purchases. First 100 shoppers get an additional $5 off for use during the event upon signing in.
MUSLIM FRIDAY PRAYER SERVICES: MISSION BAY
Are you on financial aid and running out of money? Student Financial Aid is hosting a lunch and learn workshop to help you understand how your aid dollars get distributed, provide budgeting tool to help you get through the year, and make a spending plan that really works. Lunch provided. Space is limited. RSVP: Carole Simpson
SONGS FOR THE SEASONS
Wednesday, December 17, noon-12:45 p.m., Cole Hall, Parnassus Join Campus Life Services Arts & Events for the annual holiday concert featuring San Francisco Opera Guild Singers. A treat not to be missed! Bring the whole family, everyone is welcome.
Friday, December 12, 1:30-2 p.m. Helen Diller, 160, Mission Bay The Muslim Community at UCSF holds regular Friday prayer services (Jum’a) every week. Come join your fellow brothers and sisters for prayer and socializing. All are welcome!
UCSF RUN CLUB
MUSLIM FRIDAY PRAYER SERVICES: PARNASSUS
IMN MIDWEEK MEDITATION HOUR
Friday, December 12, 1-1:30 p.m. Medical Sciences, 157, Parnassus The Muslim Community at UCSF holds regular Friday prayer services (Jum’a) every week. Come join your fellow brothers and sisters for prayer and socializing. All are welcome!
CAMPUS EVANGELISTIC FELLOWSHIP Friday, December 12, 7-10:30 p.m. Nursing, 517, Parnassus Join the Campus Evangelistic Fellowship for their weekly meeting with Bible study, hymn singing, and fellowship.
GOSPEL CHOIR AT UCSF
Monday, December 15, 6 p.m., Millberry Union Conference Center, Parnassus Celebrate the holidays with the Gospel Choir at UCSF for their annual holiday concert. Bring one, bring all. All are welcome. Free admission. Reception to follow concert.
Wednesday, December 17, 5:30-6:30 p.m. Millberry Union Central Desk, Parnassus Please drop by and join UCSF Fit & Rec for a run! Each Wednesday night the Run Club runs various distances (3-6 miles) at a 9-11 minute per mile. Wednesday, December 17, 5:30-6:30 p.m. Library, CL221, Parnassus The Integrative Medicine Network invites everyone in the UCSF community to experience a weekly guided meditation. All are welcome, whether you are looking to combat day-to-day stress using meditation or you’d like to uncover subtle layers of your self by diving deep! No experience in meditation is necessary.
ENGLISH CORNER
Wednesday, December 17, 6-8:30 p.m. Medical Sciences, 159, Parnassus English Corner is an informal Conversational English Class given as a free community service and provided on a voluntary basis by both people born and raised in the United States as well as many people who have, at one time in their lives, experienced life as a new immigrant to the US.
FOOD TRUCK THURSDAYS AT MISSION BAY
Tuesday, December 16, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Health Sciences West Lobby, Parnassus Wednesday, December 17, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Genentech Hall Second Floor Atrium, Mission Bay SACNAS at UCSF is selling tamales just in time for the holiday season! To place an order, please contact sacnasatucsf@ gmail.com for more info. For those who ordered tamales, they can be picked up in the lobby by HSW 301 on Tuesday and in the Genentech Student Lounge on Wednesday.
Thursday, December 18, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Fourth Street & Nelson Rising Lane, Mission Bay Join the food truck lunch party every Thursday at Mission Bay and explore the tasty culinary options to break up your routine. Each week will feature two different vendors, so there will always be something new. Grab some friends, get some food, and take your lunch experience up a notch. Rumor has it: come early and don’t miss out! http://campuslifeservices.ucsf.edu/retail/ services/dine/food_trucks
PARNASSUS FARMERS’ MARKET
HANUKKAH PARTY
MISSION BAY FARMERS’ MARKET
MISSION BAY RIPS
HOLIDAY TAMALE SALE
Wednesday, December 17, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. ACC, 400 Parnassus Ave. Shop the Farmers’ Markets on Wednesdays to pick up locally grown produce and more. Sponsor: Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association Wednesday, December 17, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Gene Friend Way Plaza, Mission Bay Shop healthy, shop fresh, shop Californiagrown at the UCSF Farmers’ Market, every Wednesday (rain or shine). Sponsor: Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association
LIVING ON THE FINANCIAL AID BUDGET Wednesday, December 17, noon-1 p.m. RSVP for location
Thursday, December 18, 7:30-9 p.m. Nursing Mezzanine Lounge, Parnassus Join the Jewish Community at UCSF for a fun Hanukkah celebration with doughnuts, latkes, drinks and more! Spreading the light of Hanukkah together at UCSF! Friday, December 19, 4-5 p.m. Genentech Hall Auditorium, Mission Bay RIPS is a seminar series wherein one student and one postdoc present their current research. Talks are 15 minutes in length and are preceded by a 20-minute social. Snacks and beverages are provided.
GPSA MONTHLY MEETING
Monday, January 4, 5:30 p.m. Library, 220, Parnassus
Meet your assembly members at the monthly Graduate and Professional Student Association meeting and be a part of the discussion on topics relating to student priorities. The agenda will include student representation on committees, the annual formal, upcoming events and officer reports. Dinner provided with RSVP. https://orgsync.com/83019/ events/815272/occurrences/1713695
CARRY THE ONE RADIO WORKSHOP Tuesday, January 6, 5 -7 p.m., Mission Hall, 1107, Mission Bay Carry the One Radio is a UCSF-based science podcast. The show is run completely by a dedicated group of young scientists who want to share their enthusiasm for research with a wider audience. The group meets weekly to workshop various pieces. All are welcome, no radio experience needed.
ALPHA ETA CHAPTER MEMBERSHIP DRIVES
January 7 and January 14, noon-1 p.m. School of Nursing Mezzanine We will discuss application questions, find out more about Alpha Eta, and get to know some of our board members. Come learn about Sigma Theta Tau International and our Alpha Eta chapter. We celebrate excellence in nursing and offer our members support throughout their entire nursing career by offering continuing education, leadership development, and service activities. We connect nurses across specialty areas and workplaces, which strengthens the nursing community locally as well as globally. Minimum Academic Requirements For Nursing Student Applicants: MEPN: GPA 3.0 after completing half of the pre-licensure curriculum Graduate Students (MS & PhD): GPA 3.5 after completing 9 units
GLOBAL HEALTH SCIENCES MASTERS DEGREE PROGRAM INFORMATION SESSION
January 20, noon-1 pm UCSF Medical Sciences Building, Room 176, Parnassus Two opportunities to learn more about our program: Application deadline is February 15, 2015. http://globalhealthsciences.ucsf.edu/ education-training/masters-program/howto-apply
Tips »
BAGEL TUESDAY
Tuesday, February 3, 9 a.m., Student Lounge, Genentech Hall Second Floor Come enjoy some free bagels and coffee each month and learn about campus services and events. Have an event that you would like to submit? Please email to synapse@ucsf.edu.
Announcements ARE YOU A FIRST GENERATION TO COLLEGE STUDENT (FG2C)?
Register with the First Generation Support Services Office to give you access to all of the First Generation Support Services and help the office advocate for you. Register before April 15 to be entered to win one of three giveaways! http://bit.ly/ firstgenregister.
APPLY TO BE THE 2016-17 UC STUDENT REGENT!
The student Regent is a voting member of The Regents of the University of California, attends all meetings of the Board and its Committees and serves for two years (one year as a designate and one year as a voting member) commencing July 1. All mandatory University fees and tuition are waived for the student Regent during the academic years in which he or she serves as a Regent-designate and as a member of the Board. Submit applications by Feb. 22 at 5 p.m.
CARMELINA’S TAQUERIA RENOVATION CLOSURE
To better serve you, Carmelina’s Taqueria at Millberry Union food court will be undergoing a renovation project and will be closed December 9-January 12. Please contact Retail Services for any questions. retail.services@ucsf.edu
GPSA FORMAL: TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Saturday, January 31, 9 p.m-1 a.m. Westin St. Francis Join the Graduate & Professional Student Association for the annual semi-formal All School Gala and enjoy a night filled with dancing, desserts and photobooths! All students who purchase tickets by January 14 will be entered to win a free night at the Westin St. Francis the evening of the formal! https://ucsfformal2015.eventbrite.com
Need to locate after-hour study space? Find the best burrito? Develop a study plan? Rent a car? Check out the Insider Tips archive to read the best about UCSF, Bay Area and beyond. http://bit.ly/SIGtiparchive.
Student Inside Guide events & programs health & wellness finances learning resources campus clubs
news, reviews & deals neighborhood guides transportation community outreach & more!
Get there with one website insideguide.ucsf.edu
synapse.ucsf.edu
| December 11, 2014 | 3
ST. TERESA OF AVILA CATHOLIC CHURCH YOUR INCLUSIVE CATHOLIC COMMUNITY FOR MISSION BAY, POTRERO HILL, DOGPATCH AND SOUTH BEACH SERVED BY THE CARMELITES
1490 19TH STREET (AT CONNECTICUT STREET)
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PARISH OFFICE (MAILING ADDRESS):
390 Missouri St, San Francisco, CA 94107 Phone: 415.285.5272
English Corner:
Friendship across cultures and around the world Rosa Chan Staff Writer
Many in the scientific world wish they could communicate better. For non-native English speakers at UCSF, language skills can be a particular challenge. English Corner, a conversational English class that meets every Wednesday from 6-8 p.m. in Clinical Sciences (521 Parnassus Ave S-159), helps participants to develop these skills while creating a fun
SUNDAY MASSES
and engaging environment. “English Corner has helped to improve my speaking English and listening comprehension,” said member Huixi Li.“It helps me when I want to find someone to talk to release my pressure from daily work in lab.” The group—founded in 2009 by applied linguistics educator Dr. Deborah Karres; UCSF nursing graduate Kathy Babcock; and Dr. Chunhua Ding, former president of the As-
Synapse
Jenny Qi | EDITOR IN CHIEF Angela Castanieto | ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sam Lee | ASSOCIATE EDITOR Yi Lu | ASSOCIATE EDITOR Taylor LaFlam | SCIENCE EDITOR Akshay Govind | STAFF WRITER Bryne Ulmschneider | STAFF WRITER Chris Foo | STAFF WRITER Hannah Patzke | STAFF WRITER Ilka Fensen | STAFF WRITER Theresa Poulos | STAFF WRITER Yarrow Madrona | STAFF WRITER Hanna Starobinets | WEB EDITOR
4:15 pm 8:30 am 10:00 am
Public Domain/Pixabay.com
9:00 AM
ADVENT WEEKDAY MASSES Tuesday & Friday Wednesday
sociation of Chinese Student Scholars—aims to be of service and build friendship across cultures and around the world. “We wanted to create [a club] where people would feel comfortable and open to express themselves and learn how to be in America in that little time that they are here,” said Karres. In addition to its founders, other volunteer facilitators include English teacher Shirley Marks, social worker Nicole Muller
8:30 am 6:15 pm
and UCSF pharmacy graduate Dr. Hoda Iraninezhad. All of the facilitators in English Corner are inspired by the Bahá’í community and follow its tenet that we should all live as a one world family. They do this through discussions that stray from the typical lab fodder into bigger human issues. “The topics make us always think deeply for some questions about life and friendship,” said member Yi Zheng. “The teachers are so friendly. We can feel like it is a big family, a home.” In addition, the group participates in traditional American activities, such as hiking and cooking classes, and members
ENGLISH CORNER » PAGE 10
500 Parnassus Avenue, Millberry Union 108W, San Francisco, CA 94143 tel: 476-2211 | fax: 502-4537 synapse@ucsf.edu | synapse.ucsf.edu
The UCSF Student Newspaper Staff
MASS (HOLY DAY OF OBLIGATION)
Saturday Vigil Sunday
Visit Our Website StTeresaSF.org
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About
Synapse is the UCSF student-run biweekly newspaper which runs on Thursdays during the academic year and publishes online in between print issues. Synapse seeks to serve as a forum for the campus community. Articles and columns represent the views of the authors and not necessarily those of the Board of Publications or the University of California.
Advertising
Paid advertisements do not necessarily reflect the views of Synapse. Synapse and its editorial board reserve the right to decline advertisements promoting false or misleading claims, known health risks, or content deemed by the editors to be antithetical to the interests of UCSF students or the UCSF community. Synapse does not accept advertisements from tobacco or alcohol manufacturers, or sexually oriented personal ads. Synapse reserves the right to run any ad Submissions Announcements and letters should be submitted with a disclaimer. seven days before publication. All submissions must be emailed to synapse@ucsf.edu. All material is Visit synapse.ucsf.edu to view the publication schedule and to submit an ad. subjected to editing.
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Student Life » GPSA Dec. 1 Meeting Summary Polina Pulyanina GPSA VP Diversity Affairs, Synapse Liaison Initiative to Eliminate Sugar-Sweetened Beverages from UCSF UCSF Student and Employee Wellness Program has put forth an initiative to eliminate sales of sugar-sweetened beverages, such as sodas, from all UCSF hospitals and campuses. This initiative is driven by UCSF mission of advancing health. Other UC campuses, such as UCLA have already implemented changes such as eliminating sale of sugared beverages and fried foods from the main hospital and campuses. GPSA voted to support the measure in order to improve the health of our patients, students, and employees. The anticipated opening of the new Mission Bay medical center will occur with the new policy in place. UCSF Mount Zion campus has also stopped selling sodas in the vending machines. Patients, students, and employees are welcome to bring sugar-sweetened beverages from home and consume them on campus. Improving Communication between Students and Administration The Dean of Graduate Division and Vice Chancellor of Student Academic Affairs, Liz Watkins, is working with students and administration to create a central consolidated calendar for aca-
demic events open to students of all UCSF programs. The goal of this project is to improve visibility and accessibility of events such as academic seminars, and interprofessional electives. The program is also looking for ways to improve collecting student input for policies implemented by UCSF administration. Please contact GPSA with ideas and feedback. UCSF Committee of Transportation – Looking for Student Representatives With the opening of the Mission Bay medical center in February, it is anticipated that shuttle transportation to the MB campus will become more impacted. This is an especially important year to voice student concerns about inter-campus transportation. The Committee of Transportation is seeking students participate in the committee, as well as student input and suggestions on how to improve transportation. UCSF Winter Events Winter Formal will take place on Jan. 15, 2015 at the Westin St. Francis. Expect dancing, photo booths, and desserts! If you have a novel idea for Winter Formal for the coming years, send your suggestions to GPSA. For more information on GPSA-sponsored events and GPSA monthly meetings please visit gpsa.ucsf.edu. If you would like to get involved in student government, or to participate with a committee, please email us at gpsa@ucsf.edu. Polina Pulyanina is a third-year Pharmacy student.
This Date In UCSF History »
By Taylor LaFlam Science Editor
From 50 Years Ago: Vol. 9, No. 7, Dec. 7, 1964 Today, a visitor to UC Berkeley can see a campus full of people recruiting, promoting, soliciting, tabling, proselytizing and otherwise communicating about political issues. Such political advocacy, however, was formerly banned on campus. The restriction was overturned in response to the Free Speech Movement, a series of student protests and negotiations with the administration in 1964–65. In early December 1964, as part of these protests, a large number of students occupied an administrative building, leading to the arrests of approximately 800 people. Not all UC students sided with the protestors. The front page of the Dec. 7 issue of the Synapse read, “Berkeley Academic Senate Meets Today: SF Campus Declares Allegiance to [then-UC President] Kerr.” The associated article quoted two written statements, one from a number of UCSF faculty and one from the student government of UCSF. “The Associated Students of the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, would like to express their confidence in you [Kerr] and Governor Edmund G. Brown; and support your actions in the restoration and maintenance of law and order,” said the student statement, written by Melvyn Matsushima, president of the Associated Students. The statement concluded, “when open dissension among various groups on a campus threatens the foundation of the University, the University is obligated to
restore order on the campus with strong enforcement of existing University regulations.” It is unclear what proportion of students at UCSF agreed with this statement. Indeed, the article quoting it was written by none other than Matsushima, who was also the editor of the Synapse. Interestingly, this issue contained a single letter to the editor: a note to Matsushima from UCSF Chancellor John Bertrand deCusance Morant Saunders, praising the quality of the Synapse since he became editor and congratulating him, “for doing an excellent job.” Taylor LaFlam is a sixth-year MSTP and fourth-year BMS student
Also from 50 Years Ago:
GSICEbreaker offers graduates exit strategies from academia
Thi Nguyen/OCPD
Social Networking: Students, alumni and friends of UCSF mingle at the GSICE networking event, which used color-coded nametags that enabled students to identify those in their fields of interest.
Bryne Ulmschneider Staff Writer Graduate Student Internships for Career Exploration’s biennial GSICEbreaker event on Nov. 12 brought together more than 200 graduate students and postdocs to meet with UCSF alumni and friends from a diverse array of career paths. The purpose of the event was to help facilitate networking between UCSF trainees and Ph.D. professionals, many of whom are UCSF alumni, in a wide range of careers outside of academia. GSICE sponsors a series of workshops on career and professional development with the goal of providing graduate students with resources and opportunities to do an internship somewhere outside of academia while in graduate school. As less than a quarter of all UCSF trainees end up in tenure-track faculty positions, according to data collected on both UCSF graduate students and postdocs, providing trainees with opportunities to talk to professionals about their jobs and how they transitioned out of academia is a critical need for the UCSF community. This event gave trainees an excellent opportunity to get in-depth information and develop further contacts with people whose careers they are interested in pursuing and exploring. The event featured a diverse range of Ph.D. professionals who were grouped into categories like industry research, data science, communication, policy, nonbench academic, intellectual property and
business-related careers. Each group was color-coded on attendees’ identification badges to allow people interested in a particular career track to find one another. One notable attendee was Dr. Vivian Siegel, director of education and outreach at the Broad Institute, who gave a keynote address that encouraged trainees to “follow their passion.” Other event attendees occupied diverse positions, including editors at PLOS, computational scientists in health care and the managing director of the STEM initiative at Teach for America. A few examples of companies represented at this event include Genentech, Morrison and Foerster, Novartis, and 23andMe. Overall, the event was a huge success. The atrium was full of bright minds connecting with other bright minds and realizing that a whole range of choices exists outside the academic bubble for UCSF trainees. In addition to this event, the UCSF Office of Career and Professional Development plans to continue to hold other smaller events to facilitate personal conversations around career developments and small group sessions. “This format seems to work well,” said Thi Nguyen, who works in the OCPD. Additionally, OCPD plans to expand its services to work more closely with Social, Population Science and Nursing Ph.D. students. Bryne Ulmschneider is a fourth-year graduate student in the Tetrad Program.
synapse.ucsf.edu
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[Exit, Pursued by Science] »
Journal Club »
Of mice and men in neocortex By Taylor LaFlam Science Editor
NEUROSCIENCE: Radial glia required PDGFD-PDGFRβ signaling in human but not mouse neocortex. Lui, J.H., et al. (Oldham). 2014. 515(7526):264-268. How did humans evolve their particular mental abilities? What genetic changes make us distinct from other animals? A recent paper by Lui and colleagues provides a small step toward the answers to those questions. Humans have a relatively much larger neocortex than mice. This larger neocortex has been hypothesized to be due to more proliferation by radial glia. Here, the authors compared the gene expression of radial glia in human and mouse and found production of the growth factor PDGFD only in human. In follow-up experiments, they found expression of the receptor for PDGFD in parts of the human neocortex. They also demonstrated that inhibition of this signaling in human slice culture prevents normal proliferation of radial glia, and that adding PDGFD to developing mice neocortex increases the number of radial glia. BIOCHEMISTRY: Enhancer interaction networks as a means for singular olfactory receptor expression. Markenscoff-Papadimitriou, E., et al. (Lomvardas). Cell. 2014. 159(3):543-557. The sense of smell relies on expression of olfactory receptors by a select population of neurons. Each of these neurons expresses only one out of a few thousand possible olfactory receptor (OR). Previous research has demonstrated much of the feedback loop that maintains expression of a particular OR and prevents transcription of others. In this article, the Lomvardas group provide insight into how transcription of a particular OR gets started in the first place. They used epigenetic analysis to identify putative OR enhancers and gain- and loss-of-function experiments to demonstrate activity by 11 of them. Additional experiments showed that although a single OR is important in establishing open chromatin at a particular OR, convergence of multiple OR enhancers, including ones on other chromosomes, occurs at an OR gene that is being expressed.
IMMUNOLOGY: Antigen-specific expansion and differentiation of natural killer cells by alloantigen stimulation. Nabekura, T. and Lanier, L.L. J Exp Med. 2014. 211(12):2455-2465. Natural killer cells are a type of white blood cell that combat viral infections and can play a role in transplant rejection. Recent research has shown that natural killer (NK) cells can differentiate into long-lived memory NK cells after stimulation. The only existing mouse model for memory T cells so far has been MCMV infection. Here, Nabekura and Lanier demonstrate memory NK cells can also be generated in response to foreign mouse cells. Some NK cells from the B6 strain of mice recognize a protein found in the Balb/c strain of mice. In an inflammatory setting, NK cells with an activating receptor recognizing this protein proliferated and could differentiate into memory cells. Interestingly, a subset of NK cells with this activating receptor also had an inhibitory receptor that recognized the same protein and could prevent proliferation. DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY: Excessive vascular sprouting underlies cerebral hemorrhage in mice lacking αVβ8-TGFβ signaling in the brain. Arnold, T.D., et al. Development. 2014. 141(23):4489-4499. The blood vessels in the brain are particularly tight, restricting in what can get in and out, in what is called the blood–brain barrier. Previous research on brain vascular development has focused on factors that promote blood vessel formation but not so on role of factors that suppress it. In this paper, the authors researched the effect of loss of the integrin αVβ8 on brain blood vessel development. They found that this integrin normally activates TGFβ gradients that inhibit new vessel formation and loss of this integrin leads to cerebral hemorrhage. By comparing these mice to another mutant mouse that also has problems with its CNS vasculature, they concluded that it was the abnormal vessel sprouting itself, and not the blood-brain barrier disruption that followed, that led to the hemorrhage. Taylor LaFlam is a sixth-year MSTP / fourth-year BMS student.
Public Domain/Pixabay
Correction
In the article “SiteOne Uses Natural Toxins to Alleviate Debilitating Pain” in the Nov. 20 issue, the building in which SiteOne is housed is an independent venture of the business QB3 Incubator Partners and is not run by UCSF.
Write for Synapse synapse@ucsf.edu
Keith Kissel/Creative Commons
Claws for Debate: Why do housecats often seem so aloof? It could be their natural instinct.
Genetics studies have shown that what makes some cats sociable is simlpy the ability to learn and remember.
Is your cat only tolerating you?
By Hanna Starobinets Web Editor
So, you’re back from Thanksgiving, and it’s only a few weeks until the winter holidays. Now that you’ve exhausted your arsenal of conversation starters with all that Thanksgiving socializing, you’ll need to restock before you go back for round two. [Enter Messenger].
Phylogenomics of the housecat
My winter holidays involve sitting next to a woodstove with a cat in my lap, watching snow coming down on the backyard. Cats have been part of the human household since about 9,500 years ago in the Middle East, where they were attracted to the rodent-infested grain stores of early farming societies. The cats with more social and less aggressive dispositions were accepted and incorporated into the human lifestyle, ultimately resulting in their “selfdomestication,” or the selection for more domesticated varieties based on mutual benefit rather than selective breeding. However, “little is known about the genetic changes that distinguish domestic cat populations from their wild progenitors,” wrote M.J. Montague, G. Li et al., in the November issue of PNAS (Early Edition). Conducting a comparative analysis of 22 housecat and four wildcat genomes, they found selection for genes involved in neural crest formation, learning and memory—including multiple glutamate receptors and the netrin receptor. In mouse models, genetic knockouts of these genes result in impaired reward response learning, supporting the idea that improved learning capacity was a selected trait during cat domestication. The authors also identified alterations in lipid metabolic pathways that likely allowed cats to adapt to a “hypercarnivorous diet.” In the July 2014 issue of Genetics, A.S. Wilkins, R.W. Wrangham and W.T. Fitch proposed the hypothesis that mild impairments in neural crest development could explain the various traits observed repeatedly across different domesticated animals—something that originally puzzled Charles Darwin. For example, slower neural crest migration results in decreased size and function of neural crest-derived organs.
The adrenal gland, which is responsible for the fight-or-flight hormone response, is smaller in domesticated animals. Decreased fear and stress responses allow domesticated animals to learn to live alongside humans. What’s the major difference between cats and dogs? Cat domestication is both more recent and less intense. Humans have been domesticating dogs for 30,000 years, while cats entered our lives only 9,500 years ago. For all you dog people out there, that’s more than 20,000 years of breeding to catch up on—cut the cat some slack. References: PNAS, Science News, Genetics
Parasite ecology
I recently had the pleasure of attending the UCSF “Women in Life Sciences” seminar, in which Kelly Weinersmith spoke about her dissertation work on fish parasites at UC Davis. When we think of ecological systems, we typically think of the “food web” relationships we first learned about in elementary school science class. Organisms sharing a habitat can be linked not only by eating each other, but also by symbiotic and parasitic relationships. In some cases, parasites can even alter their host’s behavior patterns, which can shift the other relationships in the ecological system. In an article in the November issue of Conservation Biology (Early View), environmental historian Dolly Jørgensen discusses the importance of remembering parasites when working to preserve biodiversity. When animals were lost from their natural environments and bred in captivity for the purpose of re-introduction in the early 20th century, handling procedures did not include parasite removal. Parasites such as the Beaver Beetle, Chewing Louse and Skin Mite were thus maintained in captivity and subsequently re-introduced in Europe along with their hosts, the beaver and bison. Today, breeding animals in captivity involves much cleaner handling procedures. When the California Condor became endangered, conservation ecologists bred them in captivity, removing a species of louse found only on these birds.
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| synapse.ucsf.edu
Crossword » The Crossword
ACROSS 1 Letter opener? 5 Throw in the towel 9 Like many a wrestler 14 Scottish lake 15 Emphatic agreement 16 Aerie builder 17 Mark's replacement 18 Leeway 20 Concert venue 22 Half of a Charlie Brown exclamation 23 Actor's prompt 24 Contest participant 26 Frond-bearing plant 27 Hole in one 30 A, for one 31 Trash holder 32 Penitent 34 One way to break bad news 37 Part of ATM 38 Tropical malady 39 Meditation instruction 40 Devil-may-care 41 Vague amount 42 "People" newsmaker 43 Cow's chow 44 Tony Shalhoub series 46 Makeshift ballfield 48 Leaf lifter 49 Desert feature
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HOW TO SOLVE:
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Edited by Margie E. Burke
Difficulty : Easy
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Sudoku »
(Answer appears elsewhere in this issue)
Copyright 2014 by The Puzzle Syndicate
SOLUTIONS » PAGE 10
Copyright 2014 by The Puzzle Syndicate
50 Fingerprint part 54 What some brides keep 57 Blue-green hue 58 Subtraction sign 59 Declare 60 Pentax part 61 Specialized lingo 62 Sweat spot 63 Advantage
7 Put down 8 Gas guzzler 9 Complaint, slangily 10 Bud holder? 11 Self-absorbed 12 Gravy ingredient 13 Mideast nation 19 Give the go-ahead 21 With fury DOWN 25 Astrological 1 Pet peeve? aspect 2 Sullen look 26 Important test 3 160 square rods 27 High point 4 It may be 28 Gently persuade 29 Captivating cradled 5 Crow's cry 31 Dwell on 6 Leave home, in 33 Part of TGIF a way
34 Auctioneer's aid 35 In ___ of (instead of) 36 Football unit 38 Seagoer's woe 40 Peso part 42 Short snooze 44 "____ mia!" 45 Where the elated walk 46 Early riser? 47 Boxer's quest 49 Second to none 51 Monopoly card 52 Turf roamers 53 Choice word 55 Hall & Oates, e.g. 56 Before, poetically
Humor »
Sales representative assures customers that his company’s lab products are superior
Alan Ripwell, salesman for Divine Biological Inc., has assured several lab managers at UCSF that his company’s lab products are far superior to those offered by competitors. According to Alan, no other company can offer pipette tips with the same glowin-the-dark properties as Divine Biological’s, nor can others provide buffers that change colors with the seasons and give off a minty fresh fragrance when mixed with Divine Biological’s reagent grade 10x PBS (currently on sale if bought in bulk, see Alan for details). While many lab managers cringed at the 1000 percent markup for perks that would have no influence on experimental outcomes, Alan was quick to point out that perks boost morale, morale leads to Nature papers and Nature papers lead to tenured professorships. When asked what his best-selling product was, Ripwell was eager to mention Divine Biological’s 100 percent ethanol He added that his ethanol is the strongest hooch this side of the Appalachian Mountains and could be offered at discounted prices because his friend has connections with moonshiners in Oregon. Said Alan, “It can be mixed with cocktail juices to celebrate a
birthday in the lab, chilled and consumed in shots after getting scooped by your competitor over at Harvard, or even for productive things like science.”
Gospel Choir at UCSF
Solution to Sudoku
“Joy to the World” Monday December 15, 2014 pm 6:00 Millberry Union Event and Meeting Center 500 Parnassus Avenue San Francisco Donations Accepted $2.00 Parking Validation Reception to follow performance
Join the Gospel Choir at UCSF and special guests, for their annual holiday concert
For more information, call 476-2675 or visit
Maggie Wincher, Director
www.campuslifeservices.ucsf.edu Sponsored in part by the Performing Arts Fund & Campus Life Services Arts & Events
San Francisco Opera Guild presents
Songs for the Season Wednesday, December 17, 2014 • 12:10 - 1:00 pm Cole Hall Auditorium 513 Parnassus Avenue • San Francisco Join San Francisco Opera Guild Singers for a holiday treat of music, laughter and fun This performance is free and open to the public. Complimentary egg nog, hot cider and cookies (first come, first served) www.campuslifeservies.ucsf.edu/artsevents
Public Domain/Pixabay
synapse.ucsf.edu
| December 11, 2014 | 7
Saturday and Sunday
Come and see the future of biomedical research at the Free Exhibition
BiOS EXPO
BiOS TECHNICAL CONFERENCE
Saturday and Sunday, 7–8 February 2015 The Moscone Center · San Francisco, California, USA
BiOS EXPO
TECHNICAL CONFERENCE
EXHIBITION IS FREE
2,200 PRESENTATIONS Registration fees vary
The world’s largest biomedical optics and biophotonics exhibition. See the latest devices, components, and instrumentation for diagnostics and therapeutics. Find solutions for your lab or company.
The latest information on biomedical optics, diagnostics and therapeutics, biophotonics, molecular imaging, optical microscopy, optical coherence tomography, and optogenetics is presented and discussed.
SATURDAY HOT TOPICS · 7:00 to 9:00 pm Symposium Chairs
James Fujimoto
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA)
Part of
SPIE Photonics West 2015 7–12 February 2015 SPIE Photonics West is the most influential conference for biomedical optics, biophotonics, translational research, industrial lasers, 3D printing, optoelectronics, microfabrication, MOEMS-MEMS, displays, and more.
www.spie.org/biosexpo
R. Rox Anderson, M.D. Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard School of Medicine (USA)
· 20,000 attendees · 2 free exhibitions · 1,250 exhibiting companies · 4,700 technical presentations · 20 plenary presentations (Including recent Nobel Prize Winners) · 40 technical and networking events · 65 courses, and more
8 | December 11, 2014
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Science »
’Tis the season for sharing
... your data
Public Domain/Pixabay
Researchers increasingly called upon to upload information By Megan Laurance Contributing Writer Welcome to the second installment of the UCSF Library column on scientific publishing (that means data too!). Last month, Anneliese Taylor provided a great introduction to open-access publishing. Today, I’ll be focusing on the natural extension of open-access publishing: the open data movement, broadly defined as the effort to make research data more publicly accessible. Attitudes and policies are shifting dramatically in favor of open data, as funders, publishers and researchers alike acknowledge that the benefits data sharing brings to science and biomedical discovery far outweigh the risks. I’ll provide a basic introduction to data sharing benefits and policies, and the resources available here at UCSF to support data sharing. So, why share your data? Well, it’s good for science. Data sharing supports data reuse, which can accelerate the pace of scientific discovery. From a funder’s perspective, data reuse increases the impact of their investment. Reanalysis of publicly available data helps confirm original results and helps researchers gain confidence in their novel discoveries. Publicly available datasets help train the next generation of researchers by enabling them to get their feet wet in an experimental or data analysis method that may be new to them. Public datasets are also key assets in the development of novel data analysis algorithms and software. Open data sharing also supports research reproducibility and discourages fraud. In the field of genomics, basic and
translational researchers are reaping huge benefits from the reuse of publicly available datasets in the form of discovery of novel disease biomarkers, drug targets and identification of genes mechanistically associated with a particular phenotype. For example, a recent Cell publication, co-authored by several UCSF researchers, reported that reanalysis of publicly available datasets from The Cancer Genome Atlas resulted in identification of novel genomic signatures for cancer diagnosis (Cell. 2014. 158:929–944). Making data publicly available helps facilitate collaboration, and there is growing evidence that research articles that provide public access to the underlying data are cited at a higher rate than those that do not. (PeerJ 1: e175, http://dx.doi. org/10.7717/peerj.175). Datasets and dataset citations are also being tracked by tools such as the Data Citation Index (Thomson Reuters). Why share data? Well, sometimes you have to. Funders and publishers alike, motivated by many of the benefits highlighted above, are aligning their data sharing policies in favor of more open access to research datasets. NIH policy reflects this by directing that any grant with more than $500,000 in direct costs in a single year must include a data sharing plan. In the past, these data sharing plans did not come under much scrutiny, but attitudes have shifted, and the quality and execution of those data sharing plans has begun to impact the grant review and renewal process. The NIH has also recently updated its Genomic Data Sharing Policy (http://gds.nih. gov/03policy2.html) to strike a balance between encouraging sharing data broadly
and protecting patient confidentiality Changes in publishers’ data sharing policies are having an even stronger and more immediate effect, and are driving more and more data into the public arena. For example, when PLOS released its new “show us the data” data sharing policy in early 2014, there were swift and strong reactions from the research community both in favor and in opposition to the change. The controversy surrounding this policy change directly reflects the immediate effect publisher data sharing policy has on researchers. In spite of some voices in opposition to data sharing, publishers remain firm in their movement toward more open data. Nature’s data sharing policy is not uncommon, stating, “A condition of publication in a Nature journal is that authors are required to make materials, data, code and associated protocols promptly available to readers without undue qualifications. Supporting data must be made available to editors and peer-reviewers at the time of submission for the purposes of evaluating the manuscript. The preferred way to share large data sets is via public repositories.” All signs from funders and publishers point toward more open data in the future. How do I make my data publicly available? There are a number of open data repositories available to help meet researchers’ data sharing needs. There are field-specific repositories such as the Neuroscience Information Framework that accept different types of datasets, as long as they are related to the field. There are datatype-specific repositories such as the Gene Expression Omnibus that accept datasets from many different fields, as long as
they are generated from a gene expression platform. And there are catch-all repositories that accept almost any type of data—a good solution for datasets that don’t have a “natural” home. One example of such a catch-all repository is our own UCSF DataShare (datashare.ucsf.edu), which is available to all researchers at UCSF. DataShare enables researchers to upload, describe and submit data using data sharing best practices. How do I figure out which data repository to use? Often a publisher or funder policy will mandate that certain types of data go to particular repositories; for example, gene expression data go to the Gene Expression Omnibus. If this is not the case, databib. org and re3data.org are great resources for finding the right place to deposit your data. Generally speaking, look for a data repository that follows best practices in data sharing and data management. Make sure the repository issues a doi (digital object identifier) for your dataset to support data citation. The data repository should also follow metadata standards for describing data in a way that supports discovery and reuse. I encourage you take advantage of one of our upcoming workshops or pop-up events on data sharing, data management, and data reuse. Check the library’s class schedule (calendars.library.ucsf.edu/classes) or contact me at megan.laurance@ucsf. edu. I would be happy to help with any data sharing needs or questions you have. Megan Laurance is a research informationist at the UCSF Library
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| December 11, 2014 | 9
Science »
Social Histories: Physician–storytellers share experiences of mortality in medicine By Angela Broad
“Can stories teach us how to let go?” Dr. Joseph Pace queried the standingroom-only audience at “Social Histories,” an event bringing together physician–storytellers from around the Bay Area to contemplate the nature of mortality in medicine. Each of the six speakers at the Faculty Alumni House on the evening of Nov. 10 offered a reflection on mortality and illustrated it through a patient story, anonymized to protect confidentiality. Inspired by Atul Gawande’s recent book “Being Mortal” and sponsored by Primary Care Leadership Academy and Primary Care Progress, the event made a powerful case for the role of the narrative in medicine. In his book, Gawande asserts that, “our most cruel failure in how we treat the sick and the aged is the failure to recognize that they have priorities beyond merely being safe and living longer; that the chance to shape one’s story is essential to
sustaining meaning in life.” Kevin Grumbach, chair of the Family and Community Medicine Department at UCSF, echoed this sentiment by shar-
ees in the audience to strive to “hear the poem in every patient” and to know when prolonging life is no longer a desirable aim. He noted that seeing patients through
ing his experience with an 86-year-old Cambodian patient. Though her health had been declining and she had signed Do Not Resuscitate/Do Not Intubate orders, she nevertheless ended up on a ventilator in the ICU. Grumbach exhorted clinicians and train-
their final weeks, days and hours is “the most honorable part of being a doctor.” Dr. Hali Hammer, director of primary care for the SF Health Network, explored mortality from the viewpoint of a family doctor, intimately intertwined in the lives of her patients. One particular family and their cycles
GPSA Presents: A semi formal all school gala
January 31, 2015 @ 9 p.m. westin st. francis
The Annual
UCSF Formal Dancing Desserts Photo Booths No host bar 21 & over $28 per ticket until 1/14 $35 per ticket after 1/14 2 Tickets Per Student I.D. ucsfformal2015.eventbrite.com
of successes and struggles played “a huge starring role in my understanding of what it means to be a family doctor,” said Hammer. She shared the poignant tale about bearing witness to a devastating late-term pregnancy loss and the subsequent birth and “blessing” of a healthy baby boy. Reflecting on the human aspect of the word mortality, Dr. Carol Miller, medical director of the Well Newborn Nursery at UCSF, injected some levity by quoting a patient: “I am not a cow.” Miller recalled having reached an impasse in counseling a new mother on the merits of breastfeeding. She was incredulous when, decades later, the same patient sternly advised her own daughter to breastfeed her newborn child. Sometimes, quipped Miller, “it takes more than one generation to get your point across.” In “Being Mortal,” Gawande says, “I learned a lot of things in medical school. Mortality wasn’t one of them.” The Social Histories event was a step toward addressing this shortcoming, giving UCSF clinicians and trainees alike the chance to wrestle with the inevitability of mortality through human stories. Angela Broad is a second-year medical student.
10 | December 11, 2014
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Continued » Tuition
» FROM FRONT PAGE
Nurses argue PST rate hike unfair to them
UC Davis and UCSF—gathered at UCSF’s Mission Bay campus to protest. At one point in the rally, students attempted to block the regents from entering the building where their meeting was going to be held chanting “Hey hey, ho, ho, the regents have got to go,” while holding signed declaring, “Education is a right not a privilege,” and “Don’t crush my American Dream!” Kate Mitchell, a first-year student in the Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner/Midwifery program, and the vice president of external affairs for the Graduate and Professional Students Association said the atmosphere at the rally was tense but nonviolent. Mitchell said she has additional motivation to object to these tuition increases because of the extra tuition increases proposed for nursing students. These increases “unfairly and disproportionately affect nursing students,”
she said, because this tuition increase would come on the heels of an 8.5 percent increase last year. Should these additional increases go into effect, the entering class of 2012 would end up having a total tuition increase Napolitano of 31.5 percent over the course of obtaining their degree. “Nursing students are angry,” Mitchell said. “I don’t think we should have to take out additional loans to cover ever increasing fees, and these tuition increases will put an extra financial burden on students that are already struggling with San Francisco’s exorbitant cost of living.” The university argues that these tuition fees are necessary since nursing tuition was kept artificially lower at the request of former Gov. Arnold Schwarzengger to combat the shortage of nurses in California, and that nursing tuition should be more in line with dentistry and pharmacy programs. While general tuition is the same for all professional programs, in the 2014–2015 school year, supplemental tuition for the School of Nursing is $8,358 compared with $27,576 for the School of Dentistry and
Puzzle Solutions » Solution to Crossword: F L E A
L O U R
A C R E
A C M E
C O A X
M A M M A
O N A I R
E N C H A N T I N G
P C A H O W N A E N T G R T R I H I N A L E N Y K S B U D E N U S O T
E M I G R A T E C A T N A P
D E G R A D E C E N T A V O
E B E E N E A G G L E R O I E F C N T F E E B I N G E N T M A L A R A V A L I L E B C D L O T E R I D T E M E E R L E R E E D
F L O U R
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Solution to Sudoku
Crossword Sudoku $19,638 for the School of Pharmacy, according the UCSF Office of the Registrar. UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood said that because the quality of the nursing programs at UCSF are comparable to other elite institutions like Harvard and Yale, their tuitions should also be more comparable. On the other hand, Mitchell said, UCSF policy states that tuition increase over 6 percent should be accompanied by additional scholarships being made available to students. She added that UCSF policy also states tuition increase shouldn’t adversely affect diversity within the school. “I wish that the administration had more accountability to
the students. It’s unclear to me that the university is going to comply with their own policies. I don’t think that there’s anyone enforcing these policies either.” Mitchell said she is planning on meeting with David Vlahov, dean of the School of Nursing, to discuss whether or not these tuition increases proposed for nursing students are in compliance with the University’s own policies. The UC student’s association has a petition going to continue to protest tuition raises at ucsa.org/action-alerts/sign-our-petition. Bryne Ulmschneider is a fourth-year graduate student in the Tetrad program
Starobinets
English Corner
Parasites key to biodiversity
Class teaches language learners about a wide array of cultures
» FROM PAGE 5
While the re-introduction of the condor has been hailed as a success, it is in fact a qualified success because in the process this louse became extinct. Dolly writes: “Biodiversity conservation needs to account not only for the large fauna most often targeted by reintroduction and other translocation projects, but also for the small fauna along for the ride.” I guess the true ecologist must appreciate the creepy-crawlies in addition to the cute-and-fuzzies. References: Conservation Biology, Slate
Human Genetics
Lately, there have been too many genetics-related news headlines to keep up with. In a November 2014 issue of Cell, J.K. Goodrich et al. conducted a largescale twin study and found that identical twins tend to have more similar gut bacterial composition than fraternal twins. Since identical twins have identical DNA, this implies that “human genetics shape the gut microbiome” (the title of their paper). They also discovered that the most heritable bacterial family was Christensenellaceae, which acts as a hub in a network of co-occurring species. Interestingly, these bacteria also correlated with a lower body mass index and, in fecal transplant mouse models, caused reduced weight and fat gain. But the definitive implication of genetics in a phenomenon is just the beginning; the burning question is which gene(s) is responsible for enriching this “lean microbiome,” and even more importantly, how? It’s easy to imagine how the answers to these questions might lead to treatments for metabolic disorders and obesity. The search for genetic clues for novel drug development has been embraced by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. They are building a database of “human knockouts”—people missing a particular
» FROM PAGE 3
Public Domain/Pixabay.com Studies of identical siblings could help us better understand bacteria in the gut.
Twin Peeks:
gene—that can inform on the efficacy and toxicity of using drugs to block certain gene products from functioning. This approach worked successfully in their development of alirocumab, a monoclonal antibody that inhibits PCSK9 in order to lower cholesterol: People with loss-offunction mutations in PCSK9 had low cholesterol levels but were otherwise healthy, and the anti-PCSK9 therapy has been effective in a blockbuster drug race between pharmaceutical companies (though the FDA is closely monitoring some neurocognitive side effects). The search for more healthy people who happen to be missing a gene could identify new potentially safe drug targets for various diseases (if those people can live without it, so can others, right?) —of course there’s the caveat that those human knockouts have lived with the missing gene all their life, and have had a chance to adapt. Nonetheless, it’s an elegant idea that holds a lot of promise; a knockout human, after all, is more clinically relevant than a knockout mouse. The “Human Knockout Project” was first described by D.G. MacArthur, a computational biologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, in an Apr. 2012 issue of Science. He is currently working on finding and documenting human knockouts for every gene in the genome (though many will likely not exist, as they will be lethal mutations). Current estimates are that each of us has about 80 single defective copies and 20 double defective copies of various genes. In the words of Osgood Fielding, III from “Some Like It Hot”: “Well, nobody’s perfect!” Sources: Cell, Science, Technology Review, Reuters, Genomes Unzipped Hanna Starobinets is a fourth-year BMS student.
have the opportunity to share their own cultural traditions. “It is very interesting to know about the customs in the world,” Zheng said. How did it start? English Corner started out by meeting with the Association Chinese Students Scholars. Professor Chunhua Ding had a vision five years ago that if Chinese scholars did not learn English well enough they would not be competitive in the professional world. This led to a pilot program only with a small group of Chinese Scholars. The scholars started advertising in their organization, and when the International Students and Scholars Office found out about it, they started advertising for all scholars and international students. How is it set up? The curriculum is about learning how to enhance your use of language and powers of expressions. When reading quotes, it is not so much about if you understand the quote, it is about touching your inner
thoughts and hearing other people’s views that you would not hear otherwise. Some topics are about poetry, friendship, dealing with change, music, movies. Every week there is something about an American idiom. It is more about using quotes and questions to build community. We want everyone to be contributors. What kind of people attend? Most people who attend are researchers. Some are practicing doctors in their home country. Anyone who wants to make a heart–heart connection and explore using English to raise their understanding of the world is welcome. The group is completely apolitical. An average 17 people come to the weekly meetings, and they estimate having had more than 500 participants in the past five years. People new to San Francisco, new to the English language, and those who feel bilingual or bicultural are all welcome. Rosa Chan is a third-year Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics student.
Courtesy of Wiipa Panmontha
Bahá’í Living: The English Corner emphasizes spiritual unity while having participants reflect
on American expressions and quotes. The group also hosts social events, from hiking trips to cooking classes.
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| December 11, 2014 | 11
12 | December 11, 2014
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The Scoop »
Lush Gelato: No bath bombs here
By Theresa Poulos and Dawn Maxey Staff Writers
While the word “lush” most often conjures up images of a night out with a lightweight pharm student, a new gelato joint on Polk Street has given the word new meaning. Lush Gelato is an East Bay favorite that has expanded to a small new shop in Nob Hill. Owner and gelato master Federico Murtaugh has amassed a following at his Oakland and Berkeley stores, and it was only a matter of time before his inventive flavors would make their way across the Bay. Murtaugh is not your typical gelato master, hailing from Argentina instead of the classically associated Italy. However, Argentina has one of the world’s largest Italian populations outside of Italy, and Murtaugh grew up no stranger to gelato. Everything at his shop is made from scratch, starting with a base of egg white, Straus cream and sugar. In case you had any doubts, you can watch through a window behind the counter as your dessert emerges in creamy waterfalls from the gelato maker. All of the gelato is made inhouse and from locally sourced ingredients whenever possible. When the Scoop team visited Lush early this November, the flavor options ran the gamut from creative concoctions like Ricotta & Lemon Zest and Popcorn
Winners from Nov. 20 caption contest
Truffle, to more standard fare such as Dawn opted for two scoops in Malted Milk & Salted Chocolate Chunks a cup: The Fresh Mint & Chocoand Tahitian Vanilla Bean. Lucky for us, late Chunks and the Malted Milk there was no line-out-the-door crowd—al- & Salted Chocolate Chunks. The though in a month or so we’re sure we’ll former was an all-around crowd be eating our words—so the lone scooper pleaser, with mint so fresh it could behind the counter indulged our sampling have been straight from the garcuriosities. den—none of that fake, toothpaste I was fearful that the Popcorn Truffle flavored green stuff here. And the would awaken nauseating nightmares of latter, no one could argue with: a the similarly named Jelly Belly flavor, rich, smooth, creamy chocolate with but luckily that was far from the case; just enough salt to bring out the Lush’s popcorn gelato had a buttery sweetness of the cacao. sweetness that was neither overpowering On the dairy-free front, I was very nor diminutive, with just hopeful that the ChocoLUSH GELATO a hint of salt. The Crème late Orange Sorbetto 1817 Polk St Fraîche & Black Pepper would be as delightful as San Francisco, Ca. 94109 Chocolate Chunk struck the other citrus-spiked (510) 444-9750 a fine balance between options, but this one noon-10 p.m. Sun-Thur. sweet and spice, adding missed the mark. I’m noon-midnight Fri-Sat. a bit of savory appeal to usually a fan of a good the rich indulgence. Unfortunately I found orange–chocolate combo; something this flavor to be a bit hard and icy, not as went wrong here, and though I can’t smooth and creamy as its neighbors. put my finger on what it was, I can I was torn between the Straus Yogurt say that I wasn’t about to get an & Orange Zest and the Ricotta & Lemon entire scoop of it. Zest, both of which had a tangy sweetness The Strawberry Sorbetto was Lush Hour: Our experts recommend you get over with a citrus twist. I ultimately decided good by San Francisco standards to Polk Street’s Lush stat, before the crowds start showing up. upon the Ricotta & Lemon Zest because (i.e. better than your average pint, its rich, creamy texture was absolutely but typical of strawberry sorbets). hours, which is perfect for the Polk Street everything. Placed atop a fresh-made The price was—insert sigh—also in line weekend crowd. cone—I witnessed its creation—the choice with San Francisco standards. At $3.20 Enjoy your treat at one of the two tables couldn’t have been more pleasing. The for one scoop and an additional dollar for in the small storefront, or take it on a walk cone wasn’t one of those enormous waffle each scoop added, Lush is not the cheapdown Polk Street for a great way to spend cones that overtakes the ice cream, but est treat. Luckily, having your gelato in a a fall afternoon in The City. instead provided a light, crispy texture to cone is only $0.75 extra, which might be complement the smoothness of the gelato. considered a real deal! They also keep late Theresa Poulos is a fourth-year medical student.
Synapse Caption Contest If you have a funny or clever caption to describe the scene below, submit it online to Facebook (www.facebook.com/UCSFSynapse) or Twitter (@UCSF_Synapse) using the hashtag #SynapseCaption. The top three captions will be printed in the next issue.
Also, if you have a funny original photo of life around UCSF that you’d like to share, or any other content or ideas to contribute, feel free to email us at synapse@ucsf.edu.
First place: “Some, still awaiting the ‘Free PPE’ promised by UCSF in June, turned to drastic measures.” –Jonathan Kuhn Runner-up: “With its proceeds benefiting cancer awareness, UCSF’s oncology researchers go a bit overboard for No Shave November.” –Ben Sellers Third place: “Desperate to appease merciless reviewers, this poor student attempts to remove all experimenter’s bias by taking ‘blinded experiment’ to a new level.” –Joel Hrit