Guess what? You’re only 10 percent human — the rest of you is made up of bacteria, viruses, fungi and other microbes. Science Today talks with UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla and professor Rob Knight about a new Microbiome and Microbial Sciences Initiative that will advance the study of microbiomes found in the gut and everywhere else on Earth.

Since arriving at UC Berkeley to lecture at the Berkeley Food Institute, food journalist, author and former New York Times columnist Mark Bittman zig-zagged around California to meet UC experts involved in everything from climate change to restaurant labor rights. Now Bittman plans to stay a bit longer. But will he finally sneak in a Meyer lemon recipe?

Mark Bittman meets with UC Berkeley's Jennifer Sowerwine, who studies the cultural and ethnic dimensions of food security among Hmong farmers in the Central Valley. Together, they discuss the challenges facing these micro-farmers, and pick up produce at a Hmong stall at the Berkeley Farmers Market. 

Last year, UC San Diego’s V. ‘Ram’ Ramanathan had an audience with Pope Francis in the parking lot of the Vatican. Ramanathan, who serves on the prestigious Pontifical Academy of Sciences panel, delivered what he calls a ‘parking lot pitch’ to the leader of the Catholic Church. Here, Ramanathan describes this moment and how it may have influenced the Pope’s subsequent position on the matter. 

Venture out into the fields of Salinas with Mark Bittman as he interviews UC Berkeley's Brenda Eskenazi. She leads the CHAMACOS study, which follows children born between 2000-02 and assesses the impact of pesticides and other environmental chemicals (like flame retardants) on their long-term health.

Mark Bittman explores the lush 30-acre farm at UC Santa Cruz — offering hands-on apprenticeship, research opportunities and produce since 1967.

Go back to school with Mark Bittman and step into a San Francisco school cafeteria that’s piloting a new initiative aiming to engage kids to eat more healthful meals.