Amidst the decline of reefs worldwide, UC Riverside scientists have launched a $1.1 million project to uncover how coral regains life-giving algae after suffering from heat stress.

Researchers at Okayama University of Science have discovered that bitter taste receptors—the same type found on the human tongue—exist inside cancer cells and play a key role in multidrug resistance (MDR). These receptors sense anticancer drugs within the cell and activate molecular pumps that expel the drugs, preventing them from working effectively. This groundbreaking finding reveals a new biological function for taste receptors beyond the tongue and skin, where they normally serve as a defense system against harmful substances. The study, published in Scientific Reports (Nature Research), suggests that blocking these receptors could stop cancer cells from developing drug resistance. Because MDR is one of the biggest challenges in chemotherapy, this discovery opens a promising new path for improving cancer treatment. The research team believes that combining bitter taste receptor blockers with conventional anticancer drugs could enhance treatment outcomes and help advance chemotherapy into a new era of precision medicine.

UC Riverside engineers have discovered a pontentially new method of solar desalination that uses deep ultraviolet (UV) light to separate salt from water without heat. Led by Luat Vuong, associate professor of mechanical engineering, the team showed that high-frequency UV light around 200 nanometers can break salt-water bonds more effectively than visible light. Using aluminum nitride ceramic wicks, the researchers achieved significantly faster evaporation of salt water under UV light compared to other wavelengths. Reported in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, the finding reveals an unexplored “deep UV channel” that could make desalination more energy-efficient and sustainable.