Biochemistry

Novel synthetic proteins rival their natural counterparts in proton transport

March 3, 2020
Paul L Boisvert |Oak Ridge National Laboratory

polymer membranes

Biological membranes, such as the "walls" of most types of living cells, primarily consist of a double layer of lipids, or "lipid bilayer," that forms the structure, and a variety of embedded and attached proteins with highly specialized functions, including proteins that rapidly and selectively transport ions and molecules in and out of the cell. Scientists have long sought to develop synthetic membranes that could match the selectivity and high-speed transport offered by their natural counterparts. Now a team led by University of California Berkeley researchers has designed a novel polymer that is as effective as natural proteins in transporting protons through a membrane. The results of their research were published in Nature.

Carolyn Bertozzi’s glycorevolution

February 3, 2020
Lisa M. Jarvis | C&EN

Carolyn Bertozzi’

Carolyn Bertozzi, the glycoscience evangelist has spent her career illuminating the importance of the sugar structures coating our cells. As she turns from building biological tools to building biotech companies, will she see a new wave of converts?

Frances Arnold turns microbes into living factories

May 28, 2019
by Natalie Angier | The New York Times

Frances Arnold. Photo by Erika Gerdemark for The New York Times.Instead of synthesizing new biochemicals from scratch, the Nobel Prize-winning chemist puts nature to the task — with astonishing results.

PASADENA, Calif. — The engineer’s mantra, said Frances Arnold, a professor of chemical engineering at the California Institute of Technology, is: “Keep it simple, stupid.” But Dr. Arnold, who last year became just the fifth woman in history to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is the opposite of stupid, and her stories sometimes turn rococo.

Scientists use DNA origami to alter gene expression in plants

April 4, 2019
Marge d'Wylde |College of Chemistry

DNA origami could change the way we alter plants

new research reported from the lab of Markita Landry, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at UC Berkeley, a team of scientists has taken an original approach of using DNA origami nanotechnology to slip through plant cell walls and graft small interfering RNA (siRNA) directly onto plant cells. Their research shows it is possible to directly silence genes in plants without damaging plant tissues, and without making any alterations to the plant’s genome.

Breakthrough Study of Cell Signaling Holds Promise for Immune Research and Beyond

April 2, 2019
Aliyah Kovner | Berkeley Lab press release

NanoEP experiment

For the first time ever, scientists have imaged the process by which an individual immune system molecule is switched on in response to a signal from the environment, leading to the critical discovery that the activation process involves hundreds of proteins suddenly coming together to form a linked network through a process known as a phase transition.

UC vows to protect groundbreaking CRISPR invention despite court decision

September 11, 2018
By Public Affairs, UC Berkeley

DNA photo - Getty Images

A statement about the U.S. Court of Appeals decision on the University of California's patent interference claim before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board b by Charles F. Robinson, Office of General Counsel, UC Office of the President.

Potential new way to boost biofuels and bioproducts production

November 27, 2018
Irina Silva |Berkeley Lab Science Shorts

Itay Budin and Jay KeaslingJBEI researchers gain understanding of central metabolism of bacteria and yeast species commonly used in biotechnology.

CRISPR opens door to new type of medicine: ‘genome surgery’

October 25, 2018
By Robert Sanders, Berkeley Media relations

Jennifer DoudnaIGI researchers, including Bruce Conklin of UCSF and Jennifer Doudna of UC Berkeley, discuss the promise of CRIRSP-Cas9 'genome surgery.'

http://news.berkeley.edu/story_jump/crispr-opens-door-to-new-type-of-medicine-ge…

Smallest life forms have smallest working CRISPR system

October 18, 2018
by Robert Sanders, Berkeley Media Relations

Archaea bacteria with CRISPR systems.

An ancient group of microbes that contains some of the smallest life forms on Earth also has the smallest CRISPR gene-editing machinery discovered to date.

Court denies UC appeal, allowing issue of key CRISPR patents

September 10, 2018
By Robert Sanders, Media relations

DNA strandThe Court of Appeals today concluded that the use of CRISPR-Cas9 in plant and animal cells is separately patentable from Drs. Doudna and Charpentier's invention of the use of CRISPR-Cas9 in any environment. We are evaluating further litigation options. We also look forward to proving that Drs. Doudna and Charpentier first invented usage in plant and animal cells – a fact that is already widely recognized by the global scientific community – as the Doudna-Charpentier team's several pending patent applications that cover use of CRISPR-Cas9 in plant and animal cells are now under examination by the patent office.