Two people sitting at a round wooden table with a purple screen behind one of them and an orange screen behind the other
David Gold, an assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, talks with Chancellor Gary S. May for an episode of Face to Face With Chancellor May. (Karin Higgins/UC Davis)

Learning From Jellyfish and Ancient Cholesterol

A jellyfish might seem very different from a person, but studying the way the undersea creatures can heal themselves may eventually be applicable to humans, this month’s guest on Face to Face With Chancellor May said.

“At the genetic level, they truly aren't that different,” David Gold, an assistant professor of geobiology and paleobiology in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said of jellyfish and humans. “And so understanding which genes are allowing them to reverse their life cycle, postpone aging, deal with the cellular damage that occurs — those might be things that we can apply to ourselves as well.”

Gold sat down with Chancellor Gary S. May to discuss his research, how he first got interested in science, the music currently on his playlist and more.

Watch on ucdavis.edu/news