March 21, 2024
At its most basic, chemistry is a lot like working with building blocks – but the materials are atoms and molecules. COFs – or covalent organic frameworks, a new class of porous crystals – are a great example of a material that behaves like a molecular Lego set, where individual building blocks are connected through…
February 15, 2024
UC Berkeley research suggests that constant stress triggered by clumping proteins is killing brain cells. Protein clumps, also known as aggregates, are thought to lead to cell death and dementia. New research suggests that such clumps may not cause brain cell death directly, but rather throw the cell’s response to stress off balance so that…
February 02, 2024
SCET Alum Alina Su and University of California, Berkeley Bioengineering Professor Irina Conboy are co-founding Generation Lab with the Mission to Extend the Human Healthspan. SCET Alum and former Collider Cup winner, Alina Su, and University of California, Berkeley Bioengineering Professor Irina Conboy are co-founding Generation Lab with the Mission to Extend the Human Healthspan – Waitlist for Its Clinically…
February 01, 2024
New regenerative medicine technique may repair and protect the colon For millions of patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), clinical remission can seem out of reach. Current therapeutics like corticosteroids and biologics help manage symptoms and control chronic inflammation but do little to repair damage to the intestinal lining. Now, a new regenerative medicine technique is showing…
February 01, 2024
Most approved gene therapies today, including those involving CRISPR-Cas9, work their magic on cells removed from the body, after which the edited cells are returned to the patient. This technique is ideal for targeting blood cells and is currently the method employed in newly approved CRISPR gene therapies for blood diseases like sickle cell anemia,…
December 13, 2023
Vertebrates vary widely in the number of retinal cell types in the eye, but most cell types seem to have a common origin. Karthik Shekhar and his colleagues raised a few eyebrows as they collected cow and pig eyes from Boston butchers, but those eyes — eventually from 17 separate species, including humans — are providing…
December 07, 2023
The molecular mechanisms responsible for photoprotective memory in algae have implications for crop productivity Fluctuating sunlight poses a challenge for plants and green algae, which must quickly adjust their photosynthetic systems to remain efficient in changing conditions. Aiding in that response is a kind of rudimentary memory that allows these organisms to respond more rapidly…
December 07, 2023
Formaldehyde, a toxin and carcinogen found in construction materials, carpets, car exhaust, cigarette smoke and even permanent press clothing, turns out to play an important role in the body — one that may explain why the chemical causes cancer. In a study published this month in the journal Science, researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, and the…