UC Davis geology professor Qing-Zhu Yin will give a public talk, “The “Lotus Valley” Meteorite: What does it mean to science? What does it mean to our valley? What can it mean to you?” on Sunday, May 20.

Where: Gold Trail Grange #452, 319 State Highway 49

Coloma, CA 95613 (located within Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park)

Time: 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. (Free Parking at Sutter’s Mill Parking Lot next door)

In this general public talk, Dr. Yin will review what scientists could learn about the origin of our solar system from meteorites like the one that fell in Lotus Valley; why scientists need a lot more materials; how to identify the general features of these carbonaceous chondrites in the field, with examples from Lotus Valley fall; how to handle the sample for safe storage, etc. followed by a brief question-and-answer session.

Coincidentally, on May 20, the Annular Solar Eclipse occurs at 6:20 p.m. Lotus is well within 93 percent totality of view. Join Dr. Yin at 6:00 p.m. near the Grange for the eclipse viewing prior to the presentation on the meteorite.

Qing-Zhu Yin received his Ph.D. from the Max-Planck-Institute for Chemistry/Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany and worked at Harvard University before joining UC Davis in 2003. He recently co-authored a book for lay readers, “Earth: Its Birth and Growth,” published by Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Harris Lewin, vice chancellor for research and professor of evolution and ecology at the University of California, Davis, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors given to a scientist or engineer in the United States. Including Lewin, 21 UC Davis faculty are members of the academy.

“I am grateful to all those institutions, and the individuals within them, who enabled me to maximize the extraordinary opportunities presented by more than 30 years in science,” Lewin said. “In particular, I must thank the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for allowing me the freedom to explore and to create; my family and mentors; and the many graduate students, postdocs and staff who are the primary reasons for my success.

“Special appreciation goes to my colleagues here at UC Davis, who exemplify excellence at every level, and who have supported me in my transition to the faculty and administration.”

Throughout his career, Lewin has been deeply involved in interdisciplinary research that has the potential to move from the laboratory to the marketplace, where it can help solve real-world problems. As a graduate student at UC Davis, he discovered genetic factors linked to disease resistance in cattle, leading to a patent on a screening test for cattle resistance to leukemia viruses. After graduating from UC Davis in 1984 with a doctorate in immunology, he moved to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he was founding director of the Institute for Genomic Biology. He is widely known for his work in mammalian genomics, especially in livestock, and he played a leading role in the sequencing of the bovine genome.

Lewin returned to UC Davis in 2011 as vice chancellor for research. In that position, he oversees the Office of Research, which is responsible for organizing and promoting research on campus; managing grant applications; and overseeing intellectual property, technology transfer and efforts to translate UC Davis discoveries into new companies and products. Lewin’s office is also responsible for interdisciplinary Organized Research Units, research programs and facilities, such as the Institute for Transportation Studies, John Muir Institute of the Environment, Biotechnology Program and the Crocker Nuclear Laboratory.

Lewin is holder of the Robert and Rosabel Osborne Endowed Chair and Professor in the department of Evolution and Ecology, one of the top ranked departments in the country. He is also a member of the UC Davis Genome Center where he has a laboratory and is continuing his research on genome evolution.

In 2010-11, UC Davis received $684 million in funds to support research. According to a survey by the National Science Foundation, UC Davis ranks 16th in the nation in university research and development expenditures.

Chancellor Linda P. B. Katehi has set a goal of increasing the campus’s research budget to $1 billion, and Lewin has taken steps to help achieve that goal, including streamlining processes in the Office of Research and offering more support for interdisciplinary groups of faculty seeking to apply for large, multimillion-dollar grants.

The Office of Research recently announced the Interdisciplinary Frontiers Program, which will award grants of up to $1 million to faculty in science, engineering, arts and humanities as “seed money” to launch projects that can later compete for funding from external sources.

In 2011, Lewin was co-recipient of the prestigious Wolf Prize in Agriculture for his work on genetics, genomics and disease resistance in cattle. He also is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Lewin and 83 other new members will be inducted into the National Academy of Sciences next April during its 150th annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit honorific society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furthering of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Established in 1863, the academy has served to “investigate, examine, experiment, and report upon any subject of science or art” when called upon to do so by any department of the government. For more information, or for the full list of newly elected members, visit http://www.nasonline.org/.

Ventria Bioscience, based in Fort Collins, Colo. with manufacturing facilities in Kansas, has announced a  successful completion phase 2 clinical trial of its lead therapeutic candidate, VEN100, which is based on an antibacterial compound from human breastmilk grown in genetically modified rice plants.

Ventria was founded in 1993 by Ray Rodriguez, professor of molecular and cellular biology at UC Davis, and the company’s products are rooted in technology developed in Rodriguez’ lab at UC Davis. The company later relocated out of California. Rodriguez remains as chairman emeritus of the company.

The study was conducted by a team of investigators from Johns Hopkins University. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study tested the safety and tolerability of VEN100 and its ability to reduce the incidence of antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) in high-risk patients. Patients treated with VEN100 were about half as likely to develop diarrhea during antibiotic treatment, they found. VEN100 was also found to be safe and well tolerated, with no observed adverse events in the study.

Antibiotic-associated diarrhea is a common adverse effect of broad-spectrum antibiotics, occurring in as many as 25 percent of patients taking these drugs. AAD can be mild in otherwise healthy adults but can become severe and life threatening in high-risk patients including elderly, immune-compromised, or otherwise vulnerable patient groups. While Clostridium difficile is a known etiologic agent for diarrhea, C. difficile infection explains less than half of all AAD cases. The standard treatment — more antibiotics.

More: News release from Ventria Bioscience; original research paper