San Diego, CA
Illumina and the San Diego Zoo are sequencing koala genomes to investigate disease
Two world-class institutions that call San Diego home have joined forces on an investigation into the DNA of koalas.
The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and DNA-sequencing giant Illumina are examining the genetic information of nearly 100 koalas spanning 30 years to get a better understanding of koala retrovirus, or KoRV.
Scientists suspect through growing evidence that certain variants of koala retrovirus—all koalas carry some form of it—are associated with common diseases and health issues they have, such as leukemia, lymphoma and deadly fungal infections.
KoRV is baked into the genes of koalas and gets passed along to the next generation. This boat load of genetic data will help researchers examine patterns of how KoRV is getting integrated into koala genes. In turn, having a better understanding of KoRV will help inform conservation plans for koalas in the wild and in human care.
Dr. Cora Singleton, senior veterinarian at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, works primarily with marsupials, including koalas. Singleton has cared for koalas for years and witnessed them struggle with the health effects of KoRV.
In order to sequence the genome, the San Diego Zoo used samples from 91 current koalas living at the zoo as well as samples from the frozen zoo—a bank of living cells—going back to the 1970s. These samples were then sent to Illumina’s laboratory in San Diego, where researchers extracted the DNA to prepare it for sequencing in their machines. Those sequencing instruments break the DNA down into the basic alphabet that makes up all genetic information.
Ashley Van Zeeland, vice president of corporate development at Illumina, said there is a lot less known about the koala genome than the human genome. That mass amount of data was then sent to collaborators in other countries, who are now studying the koala genomes.
“(They) take the data that our instruments generate and put it together into kind of the full picture of that species,” Van Zeeland said.
Van Zeeland, who has worked in genomics for two decades, explained the unique offering of this dataset is that it pairs generations of genetic data alongside meticulously documented medical records. For instance, researchers can examine the cause of death for a koala and its parents to see if there’s a connection.
Researchers are looking for patterns of where KoRV has inserted itself into the koala’s DNA because it’s not entering at the same spot for every koala. More specifically, researchers are comparing the patterns of how KoRV integrated into koala genes in a way that may be associated with certain diseases.
Van Zeeland explained that looking at where KoRV inserted itself in the genome may give researchers an idea of which genes might be disrupted, turned on or off in the koala and the resulting effect on their health.
Having that knowledge of which integration patterns correlate with certain adverse health effects could inform how conservationists pair up koala populations for reproduction. As koalas already face pressures from climate change and a disappearing habitat in the wild, this would tackle one more stressor on the endangered population.
While the koala genome had already been sequenced previously, the scale of this project wasn’t feasible even a few years ago, explained Singleton.
“One of the questions everybody always said from a research perspective: ‘wouldn’t it be great if we could see what’s going on in the genome?’ But for many, many years it was very expensive and very labor intensive,” Singleton said.
Illumina has been focused on getting the cost of sequencing the genome down so this kind of technology is more accessible and applicable for researchers. Van Zeeland said that in 2015 it cost roughly $1,000 to $2,000 to sequence a genome, but now that cost is down to about $200 using the latest technology. (Illumina’s work on the project is through its Illumina iConserve initiative, which focuses on environmental and wildlife conservation.)
Singleton characterizes this project as a career highlight to be a part of a network of collaborators trying to solve the same puzzle. While it’s been years in the making, she always knew “there was something special in there that we had to uncover at the right time and the right place.”
“It’s the moment for genetics to take off in the world of conservation,” Singleton said.
The effort to compile and analyze a database of the North American koala population will be the largest koala pedigree genomic database in the world. The project spans continents and is also aided by the University of Sydney, Australian Museum Research Institute, University of Nottingham, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research and ZooParc de Beauval.
2024 The San Diego Union-Tribune. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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San Diego, CA
Military bases in San Diego County increase security following Iran attacks
SAN DIEGO (CNS) – Military bases in San Diego County and nationwide have increased security measures due to last weekend’s U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, prompting traffic delays near base entrances, enhanced ID checks and access restrictions.
The Naval Air Station North Island on Coronado ports three aircraft carriers, including the San Diego-based USS Abraham Lincoln, which led some of the first-wave attacks on Saturday.
Naval Base Coronado warned motorists of possible traffic delays at all base entry points due to the increased security measures.
Targets included Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command and control facilities, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and military airfields.
The U.S. operation, dubbed “Epic Fury,” and Israeli operation, “Raging Lion,” began striking targets at 1:15 a.m. Eastern Time Saturday.
As of Tuesday, at least six U.S. service members had been killed in action.
The strikes also killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei, who had been Iran’s supreme leader since 1989, making him the longest-serving head of state in the Middle East.
Iran’s offensive forces claimed to have struck USS Abraham Lincoln with ballistic missiles, but according to an X post from U.S central Command, “The Lincoln was not hit. The missiles launched didn’t even come close. The Lincoln continues to launch aircraft in support of CENTCOM’s relentless campaign to defend the American people by eliminating threats from the Iranian regime.”
Those with concerns regarding the heightened security can contact San Diego County’s Office of Emergency Services at 858-565-3490 or oes@sdcounty.ca.gov.
Copyright 2026, City News Service, Inc.
San Diego, CA
SD Unified moves forward with layoffs of classified employees
SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Less than 3 weeks after the San Diego Unified School District finalized a new contract with teachers, the school board voted unanimously on Tuesday to move forward with layoff notices for other district employees.
The layoffs affect classified employees — workers who are employed by the district but are not teachers and are not certified. That includes bus drivers, custodians, special education and teacher aides, and cafeteria workers.
The district says it is eliminating 221 positions — 133 that are currently filled and 88 that are vacant — to save $19 million and help address a projected $47 million deficit for the next fiscal year.
Preliminary layoff notices will go out on March 15, with final notices by May 15.
The district estimates about 200 classified employees will receive preliminary notices, but of them, about 70 are expected to lose their jobs based on union-negotiated bumping rules.
Bumping allows employees with more seniority to move into another position in the same classification, thereby “bumping” a less senior employee out of that role.
Lupe Murray, an early childhood special education parafacilitator with the district, said the news came as a shock after the teacher strike was called off.
“When the strike was called off, I’m like, ‘Yes!’ So then when I got the email from the Superintendent, I’m like, ‘Wait, what?’ So, I think everyone was shocked,” Murray said.
The district says it sends out annual layoff notices, as all districts in the state do.
Before Tuesday’s board meeting, classified employees rallied outside, made up of CSEA (California School Employees Association) Chapters OTBS 788, Paraeducators 759, and OSS 724. They were joined by parents, students, and the San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO.
Miguel Arellano, a paraeducator independence facilitator with San Diego Unified and a representative of San Diego Paraeducators Cahpter 759.
“What do we want? No layoffs! When do we want it? Now!” the crowd chanted.
Arellano said he felt compelled to act when he learned about the potential layoffs.
“The first thing that went through my mind was that I need to speak up. I need to protect these people,” Arellano said.
Inside the meeting, the board heard emotional, at times tearful testimony from classified employees before voting unanimously to move forward with the layoff schedule.
Superintendent Fabi Bagula said the district has tried to protect classrooms from the cuts.
“We have tried our best to only, I mean, to not touch the school. Or the classroom. But now it’s at the point where it’s getting a little bit harder,” Bagula said. “What I’m still hoping, or what I’m still working toward, because we’re still in negotiations, is that we’re able to actually come to a win-win, where there’s positions and availability and maybe even promotions for folks that are impacted.”
Arellano warned the layoffs could have a direct impact on students.
“We are already spread thin, so, with more of a case load, it’s going to be impossible to be able to service all the students that we need to have,” Arellano said.
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San Diego, CA
Scripps Oceanography granted $15M for deep sea, glacier science
The Fund for Science and Technology, a new private foundation, granted Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego $15 million for ocean science Tuesday.
FFST, funded by the estate of the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, was started in 2025 with a commitment to invest at least $500 million over four years to “propel transformative science and technology for people and the planet.”
“Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego is pushing boundaries for exploration and discovery across the global ocean,” Chancellor Pradeep Khosla said. “This visionary support from the Fund for Science and Technology will enable Scripps researchers to advance our understanding of our planet, which has meaningful implications for communities around the world.”
The grant, the largest of its kind since Scripps joined UCSD in 1960, will go toward research in three areas: monitoring of environmental DNA and other biomolecules in marine ecosystems, adding to the Argo network of ocean observing robots, and enhancing the study of ocean conditions beneath Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier, often referred to as the “Doomsday Glacier.”
Scripps Institution of Oceanography has used Argo floats for more than two decades to track climate impacts in our oceans. NBC 7 meteorologist Greg Bledsoe reports.
“The Fund for Science and Technology was created to support transformational science in the search of answers to some of the planet’s most complex questions,” said Dr. Lynda Stuart, president and CEO at the fund. “Scripps has a long tradition of leadership at the frontiers of ocean and climate science, and this work builds on that legacy — strengthening the tools and insights needed to understand our environment at a truly global and unprecedented scale.”
Scripps Director Emeritus Margaret Leinen will use a portion of the grant in her analysis of eDNA — free-floating fragments of DNA shed by organisms into the environment — in understudied parts of the ocean to collect crucial baseline data on marine organisms, according to a statement from Scripps.
“In many regions, we know very little about the microbial communities that form the base of the ocean food web or that make deep sea ecosystems so unique,” Leinen said. “Without data, we can’t predict how these communities are going to respond to climate change or what the consequences might be. That’s a vulnerability — and this funding will help us begin to address it.”
Using autonomous samplers that can collect ocean water for eDNA analysis, as well as conventional sampling, scientists will use tools to “reveal the biology of the open ocean and polar regions.”
According to Scripps, the international Argo program has more than 4,000 floats that drift with currents and periodically dive to measure temperature, salinity and pressure. Standard floats can record data up to depths of 2,000 meters (6,560 feet), while newer Deep Argo floats can dive to 6,000 meters (19,685 feet).
The grant funding announced Tuesday will allow for Scripps to deploy around 50 Deep Argo floats along with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory.
Sarah Purkey, physical oceanographer at Scripps and Argo lead, said this leap forward in deep ocean monitoring comes at a crucial time because the deep sea has warmed faster than expected over the last two decades.
Thwaites Glacier is Antarctica’s largest collapsing glacier and contains enough ice to raise global sea level by roughly two feet if it were to collapse entirely. According to Scripps, prior expeditions led by scientist Jamin Greenbaum discovered anomalously warm water beneath the glacier’s ice shelf — contributing to melting from below. Greenbaum now seeks to collect water samples and other measurements from beneath Thwaites’ ice tongue to disentangle the drivers of its rapid melting.
This season’s Antarctic fieldwork will “test hypotheses about the drivers of Thwaites’ rapid melt with implications for sea-level rise projections,” the statement from Scripps said.
“The ocean holds answers to some of the most pressing questions about our planet’s future, but only if we can observe it,” said Meenakshi Wadhwa, director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography and vice chancellor for marine sciences at UCSD. “This historic grant will help ocean scientists bring new tools and approaches to parts of the ocean we’ve barely begun to explore.”
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