Welcome!

The Beal laboratory combines the tools of synthetic chemistry, biochemistry and molecular biology to study and control ribonucleic acids (RNAs). RNAs are structurally complex biopolymers whose proper function is central to all life including bacteria, viruses and humans. Our work is advancing the understanding of essential basic science principles of RNA structure and recognition and is providing a platform for the development of new medicines targeting RNA, RNA-binding proteins and the RNA interference pathway.

11-28-11
Professor Peter Beal has been elected as a AAAS Fellow for "distinguished contributions to chemical biology through the application of synthetic organic chemistry to the understanding of RNA-protein interactions." Click here to read about it on the UCD Chemistry Department homepage on the November 25th, 2011 news entry.

11-04-11
Our lab's work in generating new RNA bases for RNAi applications has been featured in the latest issue of Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (link). To read the article, click here.

07-27-11
The Beal Lab publication "Nucleobase and Ribose Modifications Control Immunostimulation by a MicroRNA-122-mimetic RNA" (Peacock et al.) has been selected and evaluated by the post-publication peer review website Faculty of 1000 - placing the article in the top 2% of published articles in biology and medicine in the F1000 library (link).

07-18-11
A recent publication by our lab (Peacock et al.) was spotlighted in the July 15th issue of ACS Chemical Biology (link).

06-02-11
Congratulations to: Rena Goodman, 2011-2014 NSF Predoctoral Fellowship; Hayden Peacock, NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Graduate Award in Medicinal Chemistry; Andrea Ching and Mara Couch, UCD Chemistry Department Scholarship for Outstanding Performance in the Major!

11-15-10
A collaboration between the Beal and David lab was recently featured in the Davis Enterprise (link) and C&E News (link)