$14 million boost for Parkinson’s disease research

Two grants totaling nearly $14 million from Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) will jump-start research at UC Berkeley into the molecular and genetic causes of Parkinson’s disease.

Vance honored with Cancer Research Institute Award

Russell Vance, Molecular and Cell Biology professor of Immunology and Pathogenesis has been awarded the Cancer Research Institute’s 2020 William B. Cley Award for his research and discoveries in immunology.

A close-up of colorful test tubes sitting on a lab bench.

Nano-sized sensors learn new biological tricks

Christopher Jackson, a graduate student in the Landry Lab at QB3-Berkeley, explores how a better understanding of nanotechnology interactions with biological systems can improve neuroimaging and COVID-19 testing.

Searching for adaptation secrets in the Sahara Desert

Graduate student Diana Aguilar Gómez tells the story of Joana Rocha, a visiting scholar in the Rasmus Nielsen lab who ventured into the Sahara Desert to study the genetic adaptations that help desert foxes thrive in extreme environments.

Megaphages harbor mini-Cas proteins ideal for gene editing

While the DNA-cutting proteins central to Jennifer Doudna’s CRISPR-Cas9 and related gene-editing tools originally came from bacteria, a newfound variety of Cas proteins apparently evolved in viruses that infect bacteria.