UC Berkeley launches trial of saliva test for COVID-19
Scientists from Professor Jennifer Doudna’s laboratory and the Innovative Genomics Institute are now testing a quicker and cost-efficient way to obtain patient samples through saliva. If the new study demonstrates that detecting the coronavirus in saliva is just as reliable as using nasal swabs, UC Berkeley will be able to ramp up the monitoring of students, faculty and staff as the campus gradually opens in preparation for the start of classes in late August. Read more on Berkeley News. >
Berkeley bioengineers discover how tumor cells can mimic Velcro
A new research by UC Berkeley engineers, including Professor Sanjay Kumar, has shed light on how tumor cells adhere to and move through brain tissue. The work was published last month and explains how tumor cells use long, membranous “microtentacles” to act like Velcro as they digest and work their way through the brain’s lobes. Read more on Berkeley Engineering. >
Six UC Berkeley-led projects win funding to combat COVID-19 with AI
UC Berkeley researchers, including QB3-Berkeley faculty Teresa Head-Gordon and Jennifer Listgarten, have been awarded funding from the C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and other emerging diseases. The six Berkeley-led projects are among 26 projects awarded a total of $5.4 million by the institute to accelerate artificial intelligence research for COVID-19 mitigation through advances in medicine, urban planning and public policy. Read more on Berkeley News. >
Meet the UC Berkeley scientists using decontamination to tackle COVID-19’s PPE shortage
In this interview conducted by graduate student Gabriela Lomeli, five UC Berkeley scientists discuss how they’ve pivoted their research directions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and leveraged their expertise and training to write guidelines on safe PPE reuse using UV-C light exposure for decontamination.
Read the interview on the QB3-Berkeley website. >
Lab Fundamentals Bootcamp goes remote
On June 22nd, QB3-Berkeley’s Lab Fundamentals Bootcamp launched its first remote session for students. This highly interactive program is designed to prepare students to work in wet lab
environments. While many labs are opening with limited capacity, much of campus remains closed, posing a barrier to delivering the program. In an effort to offer this program to students amid the pandemic, this year’s instructors overhauled the entire bootcamp—from leading lessons on Zoom to creating videos of experiments in the lab. The instruction continues until June 26th and next month the QB3-Berkeley website will post an interview with Bootcamp instructors. In the meantime,
read more about Bootcamp here. >
