DUBTAC in action against a target. (Courtesy Nomura Lab)
For some time, scientists have been working on the major challenge of developing new therapies against many human diseases. Many of these diseases are caused by the abberant action of certain proteins in our cells that are considered “undruggable”, or difficult to therapeutically target using classical drug...
The catalysis innovator on the thrills of heading to the mountains and having a reaction named after him.
John Hartwig is the Henry Rapoport Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. He received the 2019 Wolf Prize in Chemistry. His research aims to find new metal-catalysed reactions, and he was one of the developers of the Buchwald-...
UC Berkeley Office for the Vice Chancellor for Research | Press Release
Professor Kumar photographed at UC Berkeley. (Photo Annie Lin)
This week UC Berkeley’s office for the Vice Chancellor for Research announced that Professor Sanjay Kumar has been selected to serve as the next director of the...
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.
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.”
In a paper published earlier this year in the journal Nature, scientists explain the process in which they are using yeasts to manufacture cannabis compounds. These test tube shenanigans are being conducted more as a way for scientists to gain a better understanding of THC and CBD rather than a means for bypassing the cannabis plant in one’s quest for buzz or therapeutic benefits.
By Ron Leuty – Staff Reporter, San Francisco Business Times
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.
