Aaron Streets at far right speaks into a microphone with three other speakers sitting at the table beside him.

How does the universe work? Promoting diversity can help answer that.

Science has been considered a purely objective field of study that has produced research to cure diseases, map out the anatomies of living things and explore our planet and the universe. But UC Berkeley Bioengineering Professor Aaron Streets says it is important for those who conduct that research “to represent the full diversity of human…

Water flowing from a faucet.

Researchers reveal the ‘hidden’ costs of drinkable water

Drinking water treatment technologies are typically evaluated for contaminant removal efficiency, capital costs and health impacts, but these narrow metrics do not fully capture why more than 2 billion people worldwide lack safe drinking water. To tackle this problem, researchers at UC Berkeley argue for an assessment of the “hidden” costs of these technologies, including…

A black field with a ctenophore on the left side and a marine sponge on the right side with the word Versus in the middle.

What did the earliest animals look like?

For more than a century, biologists have wondered what the earliest animals were like when they first arose in the ancient oceans over half a billion years ago. Searching among today’s most primitive-looking animals for the earliest branch of the animal tree of life, scientists gradually narrowed the possibilities down to two groups: sponges, which…

Susan Marqusee.

Chemist Susan Marqusee takes leading role at National Science Foundation

Susan Marqusee, a biophysical chemist who headed the UC Berkeley arm of the California Institute of Quantitative Biosciences (QB3) for 10 years, until 2020, has been chosen to lead the Directorate for Biological Sciences of the National Science Foundation (NSF) — the major funder of basic life sciences research in the United States. “I am excited for…

Collage of green grass overlaid on the buildings of a biomanufacturing facility.

Tiny Microbes Could Brew Big Benefits for Green Biomanufacturing

A research team led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and UC Berkeley has engineered bacteria to produce new-to-nature carbon products that could provide a powerful route to sustainable biochemicals. The advance – which was recently announced in the journal Nature – uses bacteria to combine natural enzymatic reactions with a new-to-nature reaction called the “carbene…

Ed Green in a white lab coat at a lab bench with pipetting supplies in front of him.

Ed Green named QB3-Santa Cruz Scientific Director

Richard (Ed) Green, professor of biomolecular engineering, has been selected to serve as the next director of the California Institute of Quantitative Biosciences (QB3) at UC Santa Cruz. QB3 is the University of California’s hub for innovation and entrepreneurship in life science, working with UC researchers and other scientists to launch startup companies and partner…

Collage of seven faculty portrait photos and the National Academy of Sciences logo.

Donald Rio elected to National Academy of Sciences

Seven UC Berkeley faculty members were among 120 new members and 23 new international members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) announced this week, an honor that recognizes their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. The seven new members are neuroscientist Marla Feller, herpetologist Tyrone Hayes, economists Hilary Hoynes and Emmanuel Saez, chemists Jeffrey Long and T. Don Tilley and biochemist Donald Rio. There…

Headshot of Bilge Ozaydin on a gray background with the QB3-Berkeley logo on the bottom of the photo.

An interview with Professional in Residence Bilge Ozaydin

Bilge Ozaydin is the Director of the Strain Discovery and Development group at Pivot Bio. The QB3-Berkeley Professionals in Residence program will be joined by Ozaydin on Friday, May 5th. UC Berkeley and LBL trainees may register for Ozaydin’s events here. Ozaydin spoke with postdoctoral researcher Briana Van Treeck about her scientific journey. Briana Van…