October 01, 2025
Andrew Dillin is a professor of immunology and molecular medicine in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology (MCB). He would be in the Department of Neuroscience, too, if he wasn’t so dang busy. In addition to his regular teaching and research duties, Dillin is developing the Division of Immunology and Molecular Medicine’s new curriculum…
September 04, 2025
UC Berkeley’s Wenjun Zhang is trying to understand how oral bacteria make biofilms, aka plaque, so she can distinguish the good from the bad — and tip the balance to prevent cavities. If Wenjun Zhang has her way, no one will ever have to brush or floss again. Zhang, a UC Berkeley professor of chemical…
August 11, 2025
A UC Berkeley study found that social prairie voles lacking the receptor for oxytocin are slow to form friendships and less aggressive toward unfamiliar peers. This suggests a role for oxytocin in both the “approach” and “avoid” sides of maintaining friendships. A new UC Berkeley study shows that the so-called love hormone, oxytocin, is also…
July 28, 2025
A planned addition to the campus’s Innovation Zone will expand lab space for the Innovative Genomics Institute and build out the largest innovation hub — Bakar Labs — at any U.S. university. UC Berkeley’s planned Innovation Zone on the west side of campus gained significant momentum as a result of the approval today (July 17)…
July 24, 2025
India is the most populous country in the world, home to 1.5 billion people and more than 5,000 anthropologically well-defined ethno-linguistic and religious groups. However, Indian genomes have been largely left out of the conversation of human history. Researchers at UC Berkeley in Priya Moorjani’s lab were interested in examining questions related to India’s genomic…
June 26, 2025
India is one of the most diverse countries in the world. A new analysis of Indian genomes shows an ancient admixture of genes from Neanderthals and Denisovans, and more recent mingling of genes from Iranian farmers, Central Asian steppe pastoralists and hunter-gatherers from South Asia. Photo courtesy of unsplash With around 5,000 different ethno-linguistic and…
June 25, 2025
Ever wonder how your body digests food, or how some industrial processes become “greener”? The answer often lies with enzymes – nature’s microscopic workhorses that speed up vital chemical reactions. A recent study in Science, uses a high-throughput enzymology platform to study nearly 200 different versions of an enzyme called adenylate kinase found in living things…
June 06, 2025
QB3-Berkeley scientists peek in on algae at night to discover how these organisms prepare for another stressful day on the job. After a long day at work, we humans might recharge by sipping tea, soaking in a candle-lit bubble bath, and finally getting some shut eye. What do algae do to unwind? These tiny photosynthesizers…