Biomanufacturing

Meet our faculty: David Schaffer, pioneer in bioengineering and gene therapies

October 4, 2022

David Schaffer, Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Bioengineering, Molecular and Cell Biology, and the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at U.C. Berkeley, gave a presentation during homecoming on the future of gene therapies and stem cell therapies. Viewed as the next stages of medical treatments, Prof. Schaffer discusses some of the exciting research coming from his lab.

Congressman Garamendi’s staff visits the College of Chemistry

September 9, 2022

L to R, Jason Ryder, Elle Ekman, and Marley Cassels

Pictured from L to R, Executive Director of the Masters of Bioprocess Engineering Jason Ryder speaking with Elle Ekman, Legislative Assistant for Defense and Veterans Affairs; and Marley Cassels, Defense Fellow in Congressman Garamendi's Washington, DC office....

An anti-cancer drug in short supply can now be made by microbes

September 1, 2022

Saccharomyces cerevisiae, also known as brewer’s yeast, has been dyed blue to be seen under a microscope.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae, also known as brewer’s yeast, is seen under a microscope. This species is used around the world to...

They call it a ‘women’s disease.’ Alumna Linda Griffith wants to redefine it.

July 9, 2021

Linda Griffith

Alumna Linda G. Griffith is a professor of biological and mechanical engineering at M.I.T., and its director of the Center for Gynepathology Research. “I don’t want to make endometriosis a women’s issue,” she said in 2014. “I want to make it an M.I.T. issue.” Photo credit Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times.

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Most labs devoted...

One-of-a-kind course aims to build the bioeconomy workforce

July 7, 2021

Tiffany Chen, a UC Berkeley chemical engineering student,

Tiffany Chen, a UC Berkeley chemical engineering student, loads a sample into the AMBR 250 device as part of UC Berkeley’s “Advanced Bioprocess Engineering Laboratory” class, which introduces advanced concepts of bioprocessing to chemical engineering students, at Berkeley Lab’s...

Cannabinoids are the next big thing in the pot industry

July 5, 2021

marijuana leaf

It’s 2021 and regular THC isn’t going to cut it for the budding weed industry. Neither will CBD. Instead, a host of startups are betting that weed consumers will be clamoring for something that nature alone can’t provide.

In Berkeley, California, the startup Demetrix, is preparing to manufacture “metric tons” of...

David Schaffer Harnesses 'Directed Evolution' for Gene Therapy

March 18, 2021

David Schaffer

David Schaffer, Hertz Fellow, gene therapy researcher, and The Hubbard Howe Jr. Distinguished Professor of Biochemical Engineering at UC Berkeley says he “plays Darwin” in his Berkeley lab, using high throughput genetic sequencing technology to test over a billion genetic samples for the desired biological activity.

He mutates promising genes and selects...

The power of change in science

March 9, 2020

women trailblazers

Guided by CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna, a formidable entrepreneur in her own right, C&EN profiled 15 women working in the Chemical industry in academics and startups in C&EN's 2020 Trailblazers. Four of them are affiliated with UC Berkeley's College of Chemistry. They have collectively launched more than 30 start-ups aimed at developing treatments for rare diseases, building better batteries, and more. They’re chemical scientists at the top of their game. They’re role models building and mentoring teams. And yes, they’re badasses. They live by the motto “Nobody ever got anywhere by listening to no.”

Why this UC Berkeley gene therapy spinout is targeting a $100 million IPO

October 9, 2019
David Schaffer

The company, called 4D Molecular Therapeutics Inc., doesn't expect to put its first three experimental single-shot cures for a range of diseases into clinical trials until next year. Yet it already has key partnerships with well-known drug makers Roche, AstraZeneca plc and gene therapy pioneer uniQure NV. Founders David Schaffer, The Hubbard Howe Jr. Distinguished Professor of Biochemical Engineering, and Dr. David Kirn have worked on so-called "viral vectors" — the protein shells ridden by viruses to skip through the body — since before the company was formed in 2013. In gene therapy, those vehicles are engineered to remove the disease-triggering part of a virus and used instead to carry correct versions of genes to replace mutated genes.

Jay Keasling talks to Japan's NHK World about Synthetic Biology

August 14, 2019

Richmond Sarpong

Jay Keasling, Professor, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and JBEI’s Chief Executive Officer, was featured in NHK World’s interview program “Direct Talk”. Keasling, a pioneer of synthetic biology, talks about the impact that this interdisciplinary technology can have in people’s lives as well as addresses its safety concerns.