February 19, 2025
Evo 2, the largest AI model in biology to date, can accurately predict the effects of all types of genetic mutations. Marking a major milestone for biomolecular sciences, a team of researchers — made up of scientists from UC Berkeley, Arc Institute, UCSF, Stanford University and NVIDIA — have developed a machine learning model trained…
February 12, 2025
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) announced yesterday that David Schaffer, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, of bioengineering, and of neuroscience, has been elected to its ranks. Election to the NAE is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to engineering practice, research or…
February 05, 2025
Bronwyn Lucas is an assistant professor of biochemistry, biophysics, and structural biology in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and the Center for Computational Biology. The Lucas lab employs cryo-EM and computational tools to develop new approaches to leverage the growing databases of molecular structures to investigate the molecular details of life. QB3-Berkeley: What’s…
January 08, 2025
Jennifer Doudna, a UC Berkeley biochemist who shared the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the invention of CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing, has been awarded a National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the nation’s highest honor for technological achievement. President Joe Biden named Doudna and 10 other technology medalists in a White House announcement last Friday, Jan. 3.…
December 12, 2024
Surviving Neanderthal genes in modern genomes tell a story of thousands of years of interactions A new analysis of DNA from ancient modern humans (Homo sapiens) in Europe and Asia has determined, more precisely than ever, the time period during which Neanderthals interbred with modern humans, starting about 50,500 years ago and lasting about…
December 11, 2024
Ahmet Yildiz is a professor in the departments of Molecular & Cell Biology and Physics. The Yildiz laboratory combines biochemical and single-molecule biophysical techniques to understand how motor proteins move on microtubules long distances at fast speeds and produce the forces required to carry their cargo in a dense cytoplasm. QB3-Berkeley: Are there any recent…
November 04, 2024
We are sorry to share the sad news of the passing of a beloved colleague and prolific scholar, Alexander (Alex) Pines, Glenn T. Seaborg Professor Emeritus and Professor of the Graduate School. He was 79 years old. Alex was born in 1945 and grew up in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where his lifelong passion for science,…
October 10, 2024
UC Berkeley researchers in two multi-institutional teams have won major awards from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to fund pioneering biomedical research. Projects in microbiome engineering and in implantable biologic drug delivery will receive up to $22.7 million and $34.9 million, respectively, from ARPA-H, a federal funding agency that supports transformative biomedical…