News
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New research shows gene exchange between viruses and hosts drives evolution
January 4, 2022
The first comprehensive analysis of viral horizontal gene transfer (HGT) illustrates the extent to which viruses pick up genes from their hosts to hone their infection process, while at the same time hosts also co-opt useful viral genes. HGT is the movement of genetic material between disparate… read more
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Virus hunter, physicist among UBC researchers invested into Order of Canada
December 30, 2021
UBC researchers Dr. Curtis Suttle and Dr. Walter Hardy are among the members of the UBC community being invested into the Order of Canada this week. The Order is one of our country’s highest civilian honours. Dr. Suttle, one of the world’s leading marine virologists, currently has… read more
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Ancient marine deoxygenation events highlight the fragility of our oceans’ biochemical cycles
December 20, 2021
Researchers at UBC have uncovered links between rapid changes in ocean chemical conditions, climatic catastrophe, and biological crisis in Earth’s past. Scientists discovered this phenomenon while studying an ocean deoxygenation event (OAE1a) in the Cretaceous Period (~120 Ma)—an… read more
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Farmed seafood supply at risk if we don’t act on climate change
December 13, 2021
The supply of farmed seafood such as salmon and mussels are projected to drop 16 per cent globally by 2090 if no action is taken to mitigate climate change, according to a new UBC study. Ocean-farmed seafood or mariculture is often seen as a panacea to the problems of depleted stocks of wild fish… read more
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UBC researchers train computers to predict the next designer drugs
November 15, 2021
Global law enforcement agencies are already using the new method UBC researchers have trained computers to predict the next designer drugs before they are even on the market, technology that could save lives. Law enforcement agencies are in a race to identify and regulate new versions of… read more
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35 new gravitational wave observations bring researchers closer to uncovering the secrets of how stars live and die
November 8, 2021
A global team of scientists, including researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC), have detected thirty-five new gravitational wave events, including colliding black holes and neutron stars. The new events, detailed in today’s paper, bring the total number of observed events to… read more
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Heatwaves like ‘the Blob’ could decrease role of ocean as carbon sink
October 28, 2021
Researchers have found the two-year heatwave known as ‘the Blob’ may have temporarily dampened the Pacific’s ‘biological pump,’ which shuttles carbon from the surface ocean to the deep sea where it can be stored for millennia. Canadian and European researchers, in… read more
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New paper lays out agenda for the next generation of biodiversity research
October 14, 2021
Weather and climate disasters in the United States have cost more than $100 billion this year, according to reports from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. British Columbia’s late June heat dome claimed between 500 and 600 lives—and the resulting wildfires will cost… read more
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No shortage of prey for southern resident killer whales in Canadian waters during summer
October 12, 2021
A popular belief that there are fewer Chinook salmon during the summer in Canadian waters for southern resident killer whales, compared to an abundance of fish for northern resident killer whales, has been debunked by a study led by scientists at the University of British Columbia. In a paper… read more
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Marine heatwaves could wipe out an extra six per cent of a country’s fish catches, costing millions their jobs
October 1, 2021
Extremely hot years will wipe out hundreds of thousands of tonnes of fish available for catch in a country’s waters in this century, on top of projected decreases to fish stocks from long-term climate change, a new UBC study projects. Researchers from the UBC Institute for the Oceans and… read more