UC Science Today

In the last 15 years, DNA sequencing has literally gotten a million times cheaper. This, according to the University of California, San Diego’s Rob Knight, who is a world leader in the study of the microbiome, which is the collection of microorganisms and their genetic material in or on the human body or in another environment.

"Part of the reason that we’re finding so much out about the microbiome at the moment, is the cost of DNA sequencing dropped by about a fraction of a million in the last 15 years. And you probably wouldn’t pay $100 million to find out what was in your own gut, or the gut of your dog, or your cat – but you might well pay $100."

Knight says this has led to a large number of studies, including one he cofounded called The American Gut Project, which is a crowdsourced, crowdfunded initiative in which anyone can contribute mouth, skin or gut samples from themselves, family members or even their dogs.

"What’s going to be really exciting is when it gets to the point where every middleschooler, instead of doing a project where they just look at the mold growing in their fridge, they can sequence the DNA of that mold and find out what it really is."

In the last 15 years, DNA sequencing has literally gotten a million times cheaper. This, according to the University of California, San Diego’s Rob Knight, who is a world leader in the study of the microbiome, which is the collection of microorganisms and their genetic material in or on the human body or in another environment.

"Part of the reason that we’re finding so much out about the microbiome at the moment, is the cost of DNA sequencing dropped by about a fraction of a million in the last 15 years. And you probably wouldn’t pay $100 million to find out what was in your own gut, or the gut of your dog, or your cat – but you might well pay $100."

Knight says this has led to a large number of studies, including one he cofounded called The American Gut Project, which is a crowdsourced, crowdfunded initiative in which anyone can contribute mouth, skin or gut samples from themselves, family members or even their dogs.

"What’s going to be really exciting is when it gets to the point where every middleschooler, instead of doing a project where they just look at the mold growing in their fridge, they can sequence the DNA of that mold and find out what it really is."

A nationwide survey of physicians found that almost all young doctors under 40 have had exposure to palliative care, an approach to improve the lives of those with serious illness. But the exact opposite was the case for doctors 60 and older. Dr. Steve Pantilat, founder and director of one of the nation’s first hospital-based palliative care programs at the University of California, San Francisco, says this generational difference is in part because such services were not available in the past.

"When I was a student here at UCSF – and it’s not that long ago – we had no palliative care. Today, it’s one of the most popular electives in the medical school, we have a fellowship. And so the landscape has completely changed and you can’t leave medical school today without having exposure to palliative care."

Pantilat adds that palliative care used to be considered end of life care, but that’s changing, too.

"People live for years, decades sometimes, with their serious illness. We’re going to miss this huge opportunity to make people’s lives better because we’re waiting for something that we don’t have to wait for."

A nationwide survey of physicians found that almost all young doctors under 40 have had exposure to palliative care, an approach to improve the lives of those with serious illness. But the exact opposite was the case for doctors 60 and older. Dr. Steve Pantilat, founder and director of one of the nation’s first hospital-based palliative care programs at the University of California, San Francisco, says this generational difference is in part because such services were not available in the past.

"When I was a student here at UCSF – and it’s not that long ago – we had no palliative care. Today, it’s one of the most popular electives in the medical school, we have a fellowship. And so the landscape has completely changed and you can’t leave medical school today without having exposure to palliative care."

Pantilat adds that palliative care used to be considered end of life care, but that’s changing, too.

"People live for years, decades sometimes, with their serious illness. We’re going to miss this huge opportunity to make people’s lives better because we’re waiting for something that we don’t have to wait for."

A nationwide survey of physicians found that almost all young doctors under 40 have had exposure to palliative care, an approach to improve the lives of those with serious illness. But the exact opposite was the case for doctors 60 and older. Dr. Steve Pantilat, founder and director of one of the nation’s first hospital-based palliative care programs at the University of California, San Francisco, says this generational difference is in part because such services were not available in the past.

"When I was a student here at UCSF – and it’s not that long ago – we had no palliative care. Today, it’s one of the most popular electives in the medical school, we have a fellowship. And so the landscape has completely changed and you can’t leave medical school today without having exposure to palliative care."

Pantilat adds that palliative care used to be considered end of life care, but that’s changing, too.

"People live for years, decades sometimes, with their serious illness. We’re going to miss this huge opportunity to make people’s lives better because we’re waiting for something that we don’t have to wait for."

While this year’s predicted El Niño event may bring much-needed rain to California and other parts of the country, it could potentially lead to devastating costs for those in the tropics. Solomon Hsiang, a public policy professor at the University of California, Berkeley, says that previous El Niño’s triggered droughts, wildfires, floods, and outbreaks of diseases that severely impacted societies and economies in the tropical regions.

"El Niño causes the tropical regions to become hotter and drier for the better part of the El Niño year. And what we found is consistent with these other findings that leads to both a decline in economic productivity throughout the tropics as well as an almost doubling in the rate of many patterns of violence throughout the tropics."

Hsiang is hoping to raise awareness to those in less affected areas that El Niño’s are serious events.

"In the United States and in California we’re very aware of what’s going on. It changes our rainfall patterns, but the things we experience here are nowhere near as extreme as the things that the 3 billion people in the tropics will be experiencing over the coming months."

While this year’s predicted El Niño event may bring much-needed rain to California and other parts of the country, it could potentially lead to devastating costs for those in the tropics. Solomon Hsiang, a public policy professor at the University of California, Berkeley, says that previous El Niño’s triggered droughts, wildfires, floods, and outbreaks of diseases that severely impacted societies and economies in the tropical regions.

"El Niño causes the tropical regions to become hotter and drier for the better part of the El Niño year. And what we found is consistent with these other findings that leads to both a decline in economic productivity throughout the tropics as well as an almost doubling in the rate of many patterns of violence throughout the tropics."

Hsiang is hoping to raise awareness to those in less affected areas that El Niño’s are serious events.

"In the United States and in California we’re very aware of what’s going on. It changes our rainfall patterns, but the things we experience here are nowhere near as extreme as the things that the 3 billion people in the tropics will be experiencing over the coming months."

While this year’s predicted El Niño event may bring much-needed rain to California and other parts of the country, it could potentially lead to devastating costs for those in the tropics. Solomon Hsiang, a public policy professor at the University of California, Berkeley, says that previous El Niño’s triggered droughts, wildfires, floods, and outbreaks of diseases that severely impacted societies and economies in the tropical regions.

"El Niño causes the tropical regions to become hotter and drier for the better part of the El Niño year. And what we found is consistent with these other findings that leads to both a decline in economic productivity throughout the tropics as well as an almost doubling in the rate of many patterns of violence throughout the tropics."

Hsiang is hoping to raise awareness to those in less affected areas that El Niño’s are serious events.

"In the United States and in California we’re very aware of what’s going on. It changes our rainfall patterns, but the things we experience here are nowhere near as extreme as the things that the 3 billion people in the tropics will be experiencing over the coming months."

Researchers from 50 institutions are coming together to form the Unified Microbiome Initiative – an ambitious effort that aims to develop next-generation technologies to delve into microbiomes, which are the complex ecosystems of microorganisms. One of the nation’s leading experts in the field is Rob Knight of the University of California, San Diego. He says one of the most exciting aspects of the microbiome is how interdisciplinary it is.

"You’re always learning new things, always having to come up with new concepts. Just within my lab, for example, we have people from computer science backgrounds, from ecology backgrounds, from molecular biology, from microbiology, from electrical engineering – and bringing all of those talents together and then having them interface with people at companies to end users of the technology, there is really a tremendous potential to transform how we think about our microbes, how we think of ourselves as humans in general given how so many of our genes are not what we would traditionally think of as human in origin."

Researchers from 50 institutions are coming together to form the Unified Microbiome Initiative – an ambitious effort that aims to develop next-generation technologies to delve into microbiomes, which are the complex ecosystems of microorganisms. One of the nation’s leading experts in the field is Rob Knight of the University of California, San Diego. He says one of the most exciting aspects of the microbiome is how interdisciplinary it is.

"You’re always learning new things, always having to come up with new concepts. Just within my lab, for example, we have people from computer science backgrounds, from ecology backgrounds, from molecular biology, from microbiology, from electrical engineering – and bringing all of those talents together and then having them interface with people at companies to end users of the technology, there is really a tremendous potential to transform how we think about our microbes, how we think of ourselves as humans in general given how so many of our genes are not what we would traditionally think of as human in origin."