Web cookies (also called HTTP cookies, browser cookies, or simply cookies) are small pieces of data that websites store on your device (computer, phone, etc.) through your web browser. They are used to remember information about you and your interactions with the site.
Purpose of Cookies:
Session Management:
Keeping you logged in
Remembering items in a shopping cart
Saving language or theme preferences
Personalization:
Tailoring content or ads based on your previous activity
Tracking & Analytics:
Monitoring browsing behavior for analytics or marketing purposes
Types of Cookies:
Session Cookies:
Temporary; deleted when you close your browser
Used for things like keeping you logged in during a single session
Persistent Cookies:
Stored on your device until they expire or are manually deleted
Used for remembering login credentials, settings, etc.
First-Party Cookies:
Set by the website you're visiting directly
Third-Party Cookies:
Set by other domains (usually advertisers) embedded in the website
Commonly used for tracking across multiple sites
Authentication cookies are a special type of web cookie used to identify and verify a user after they log in to a website or web application.
What They Do:
Once you log in to a site, the server creates an authentication cookie and sends it to your browser. This cookie:
Proves to the website that you're logged in
Prevents you from having to log in again on every page you visit
Can persist across sessions if you select "Remember me"
What's Inside an Authentication Cookie?
Typically, it contains:
A unique session ID (not your actual password)
Optional metadata (e.g., expiration time, security flags)
Analytics cookies are cookies used to collect data about how visitors interact with a website. Their primary purpose is to help website owners understand and improve user experience by analyzing things like:
How users navigate the site
Which pages are most/least visited
How long users stay on each page
What device, browser, or location the user is from
What They Track:
Some examples of data analytics cookies may collect:
Page views and time spent on pages
Click paths (how users move from page to page)
Bounce rate (users who leave without interacting)
User demographics (location, language, device)
Referring websites (how users arrived at the site)
Here’s how you can disable cookies in common browsers:
1. Google Chrome
Open Chrome and click the three vertical dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data.
Choose your preferred option:
Block all cookies (not recommended, can break most websites).
Block third-party cookies (can block ads and tracking cookies).
2. Mozilla Firefox
Open Firefox and click the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy & Security.
Under the Enhanced Tracking Protection section, choose Strict to block most cookies or Custom to manually choose which cookies to block.
3. Safari
Open Safari and click Safari in the top-left corner of the screen.
Go to Preferences > Privacy.
Check Block all cookies to stop all cookies, or select options to block third-party cookies.
4. Microsoft Edge
Open Edge and click the three horizontal dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Cookies and site permissions.
Select your cookie settings from there, including blocking all cookies or blocking third-party cookies.
5. On Mobile (iOS/Android)
For Safari on iOS: Go to Settings > Safari > Privacy & Security > Block All Cookies.
For Chrome on Android: Open the app, tap the three dots, go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies.
Be Aware:
Disabling cookies can make your online experience more difficult. Some websites may not load properly, or you may be logged out frequently. Also, certain features may not work as expected.
MCB held a successful Departmental Research Exchange on Thursday 8/21. This event was created to welcome new graduate students, highlight faculty research, celebrate named scholarship donors and congratulate summer named fellowship recipients. It was a great way to kick off the new academic year! View the photos below!
Indigenous scholars set out eight steps to stop marginalization in academia and to enable a shared Indigenous agenda in science. See full commentary in Nature
The Department of Molecular and Cell Biology is proud to announce that Jonathan Gilbert, Instructor In-Residence - Stamford Campus has received a 2024-2025 Faculty Recognition Award. This award is given annually to a faculty member who made significant contributions through their scholarly activities or service benefiting the University community. Recipients demonstrate high standards for academic […]
Congratulations to these students who have been awarded Fall 2025 Conference Participation Awards: Morgan Wagner Helena Heyer-Gray Ryan Drennan Danielle Arsenault Heather Jamieson Tristan Evans Josh Berthiaume
Professor Hallie Krider, a former member of the MCB faculty, passed away at his home in Arizona on May 31. A Wisconsin native, Hallie received his PhD in Genetics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1971 and began working at UConn in the Genetics and Cell Biology section of the former Biological Sciences Group. […]
https://events.uconn.edu/live/json/v2/events/response_fields/location,summary/date_format/%25F%20%25j,%20%25Y/group/Molecular and Cell Biology/max/5/start_date/today/end_date/6 months/
Alexandrescu Lab: Zinc-induced folding and solution structure of the eponymous novel zinc finger from the ZC4H2 protein Biomolecules
Klassen Lab: Isolation and characterization of mollicute symbionts from a fungus-growing ant reveals high niche overlap leading to co-exclusion mBio
Gage Lab: Neuromorpha vorax: a previously unculturable cosmopolitan protist with an unexpectedly complex life cycle belonging to Glissomonadida Clade-U/Group-TE mBio
Alder Lab: Contemporary insights into elamipretide's mitochondrial mechanism of action and therapeutic effects Biomed Parmacother
Gage Lab: Rhizosphere-colonizing bacteria persist in the protist microbiome mSphere
Nyholm Lab: Organ structure and bacterial microbiogeography in a reproductive organ of the Hawaiian bobtail squid reveal dimensions of a defensive symbiosis. Appl Environ Microbiol.
White Lab:
Structure and infection dynamics of mycobacteriophage Bxb1 Cell
White Lab: Stabilization mechanism accommodating genome length variation in evolutionarily related viral capsids. Nat Commun
Alexandrescu/Teschke Labs: Templated trimerization of the phage L decoration protein on capsids Protein Sci.
