COVID-19

Chemistry researchers work to develop new drug to inhibit COVID-19

May 19, 2020
by Robert Sanders | UC Berkeley Public Affairs
Thanks to Fast Grants, a group of seven COVID-19 research projects has started at UC Berkeley that could turn up new diagnostic and potential treatments for the infection within months.

An expert on 'undruggable' targets tackles the coronavirus

October 5, 2020
Becky Bish | The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research

Dan Nomura

Nomura in his lab at UC Berkeley. Photo: Elena Zhukova

Throughout the grim reality of a global pandemic that has disrupted normal life for months, one persistent bright spot has been the robust response of the biomedical research community. The battle to develop vaccines and drugs to fight the SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19, the disease which it causes, has highlighted the...

UC Berkeley launches trial of saliva test for COVID-19

June 30, 2020
By Robert Sanders | UC Berkeley media relations

COVID-19 saliva based test

Scientists from the Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI), the same UC Berkeley group that rapidly popped up a state-of-the-art COVID-19 testing laboratory in March, are now trialing a quicker way to obtain patient samples: through saliva. Saliva, collected in the same way companies like 23andMe and Ancestry.com get samples for DNA genealogy analysis, can be gathered without medical supervision, and that saves time, money and precious PPE.

Crispr, not just for gene editing

October 30, 2020
Jennifer Newton | Chemistry World

Illustration of Crispr-Cas activity

Crispr–Cas is part of an ancient bacterial immune system that detects and chops up invading viruses’ DNA. Source: © Science Photo Library

Thanks to the 2020 chemistry Nobel prize, Crispr–Cas systems will...

UC Berkeley and Gladstone scientists develop new Covid-19 test

December 7, 2020
by Kara Manke | UC Berkeley Public Relations

image for lighting up covid test

In the diagnostic test, a patient sample is mixed with CRISPR Cas13 proteins (purple) and molecular probes (green) which fluoresce, or light up, when cut. When coronavirus RNA is present in the sample, it prompts the CRISPR proteins to snip the molecular probes, causing the whole sample to emit light. This fluorescence can be detected with a cell phone camera. (Image courtesy...

Impacts of virtual mentoring on STEM students

June 30, 2020
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

Person using laptop

Photo: Lawrence Berkeley Lab

The innovative Genomics Institute (IGI) has awarded a new research project in the College of Chemistry that is looking at the effects of COVID-19 on STEM mentoring. Headed by Laleh Coté, and including fellow PIs Anne M. Baranger, and Colette Flood, the funding is part of...

Teresa Head-Gordon receives COVID-19 research funding

June 25, 2020
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release
Teresa Head-Gordon, Chancellor's Professor of Chemistry, Bioengineering, and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, joins three colleagues from Berkeley Engineering who have received funding from the C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute for COVID-19 projects.

COVID Stories: Sourdough bread with a purpose

March 24, 2021
Gretchen Kell | UC Berkeley media relations

Brendan Huang, Carolyn Hong

Seniors Brendan Huang and Carolyn Hong, who both have received the COVID-19 vaccine and are in the same social bubble, met in an organic chemistry lab as sophomores, became fast friends and wound up baking sourdough bread together. It’s an adventure that Hong calls “our sourdough journey.” (Photo by Talia Patt)

Friends Carolyn Hong and Brendan Huang had a delicious...

An adjuvant made in yeast could lower vaccine cost and boost availability

May 8, 2024
By Robert Sanders | Berkeley News
Biosynthesis in yeast produces a cheaper immune-boosting ingredient of many vaccines.

Molecular Sciences Software Institute launches open-source data sharing project for COVID-19

May 26, 2020
Virginia Tech Press release
The Molecular Sciences Software Institute has launched an open-source website that will allow biomolecular scientists from around the world to share computer-aided drug-testing simulations targeting the protein at the center of COVID-19.