Human & Animal Health

Rare research on the effects of a pandemic undertaken during an ongoing disaster shows that COVID-19 has severely affected people’s daily emotional lives and mental health, increasing their stresses the longer lockdowns, fear of getting sick and financial strains continue.

Wealthier communities went from being the most mobile before the COVID-19 pandemic to the least mobile, while poorer areas have gone from the least mobile to the most mobile, according to a study by the University of California, Davis.

Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have successfully produced a bull calf, named Cosmo, who was genome-edited as an embryo so that he’ll produce more male offspring. The research was presented in a poster today (July 23) at the American Society of Animal Science meeting.

The future of livestock breeding is taking shape at UC Davis. In the laboratory of animal scientist Pablo Ross, groundbreaking discoveries are being made that will pave the way for raising healthier, more productive and better-adapted cattle, sheep and other species.

In 2018, the Ross lab reported the first successful effort to grow embryonic stem cells from cattle in a petri dish. This milestone is a crucial step in the development of faster and more focused breeding programs.

Nearly 150 million children in the world suffer from stunted growth, a condition linked to chronic malnutrition that keeps people from reaching their full physical, mental and social potential.

Evidence shows that animal-sourced foods like meat, poultry, fish, eggs and dairy can help.

Do you ever wonder why sometimes one, lone cow stands munching grass on a hillside while her fellow cattle graze in groups below?

Animal behavior experts at UC Davis do, and their curiosity may shed light on one of the most critical economic and ecological questions in rangeland management. How can we encourage more cattle to roam?

Faculty from the UC Davis School of Medicine and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences have received seed funding from the UC Office of the President to launch research projects aimed at mitigating the impact of COVID-19.

There are numerous reasons the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences is a world leader in so many areas—bright students, hard-working staff and, of course, the willingness of our faculty to innovate and seek opportunities to keep California moving ahead whatever the circumstances.

The gene-editing technology CRISPR has been used for a variety of agricultural and public health purposes — from growing disease-resistant crops to, more recently, a diagnostic test for the virus that causes COVID-19.

In a remote section of campus west of Highway 113, Matthew Stone and a few students are looking after the well-being of thousands of fish at the UC Davis Center for Aquatic Biology and Aquaculture. Stone is the assistant facilities manager at CABA.

“We have quite a large number of fish that we’re trying to take care of and they all have different needs that we need to address,” he said. “These are things we simply cannot skip over during a time like this.”