College of Chemistry

Peidong Yang and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners announce research partnership

August 19, 2022
University of California Berkeley and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners
In a new partnership, The Peidong Yang research group will work with Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) to develop technology that will convert air into sugar.

Meet our alumni: David Liu

March 29, 2023
Manuel Ansede | El Pais
Alumnus David Liu

Photo of David Liu via wikipedia. Uncredited.

"We can correct the vast majority of DNA errors that cause genetic diseases"

The Harvard University magazine published almost a couple of decades ago that one of its professors, the chemist...

To battle climate change, scientists tap into carbon-hungry microorganisms for clues

November 30, 2022
By Theresa Duque | Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

Illustration of carbon reduction cycle

New technique could fast-track future carbon-free solar fuels. (image: 3rdtimeluckystudio/Shutterstock)

Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have demonstrated a new technique, modeled after a metabolic process found in some bacteria, for converting carbon dioxide (CO2) into liquid acetate, a key...

Solar beats nuclear at many potential settlement sites on Mars

May 10, 2022
UC Berkeley, Robert Sanders, Media relations

Illustration of colony on Mars

An artist’s rendering of a crewed Martian biomanufactory powered by photovoltaics and capable of synthesizing food and pharmaceuticals, manufacturing biopolymers and recycling biological waste. (Artwork credit: Davian Ho, UC Berkeley)

The high efficiency, light weight and flexibility of the latest solar cell technology means photovoltaics could provide all the power needed for...

Seeing in super-resolution

January 20, 2023
Sarah C.P. Williams | Heising-Simons Faculty Fellows Program

Portrait of Ke Xu in the lab. (Photo by Elena Zhukova)

Ke Xu, Associate Professor of Chemistry, is a 2021 Heising-Simons Faculty Fellow. (Photo by Elena Zhukova)

What do the smallest building blocks of life look like? How do molecules dance and dart and drift through cells, fold and fuse and form the machinery of living things? For...

W.M. Keck Foundation awards Ashok Ajoy, David Limmer, and Kevin Wilson grant to develop nanoscale sensors

September 27, 2022
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

Illustrations of NMR diamond nanoparticle designs

(A) Hyperpolarized 13C nuclear spins in diamond nanoparticles (nanodiamonds) serve as sensors by relaying NMR signals from proximal analytes to a conventional RF antenna-based detector. (B) Microscope image from preliminary data showing fluorescence of nanodiamonds deployed inside micron-scale droplets. (C) Rendering of proposed instrument which...

Scientists find trigger that sets off metastasis in pancreatic cancer

July 5, 2022
by Robert Sanders | UC Berkeley Public Affairs

Illustration of Healthy pancreas (left) and metastatic tumors on the liver (right)

Scientists have found that cancers in the pancreas (left) readily metastasize because these tumors suppress levels of an enzyme, MSRA, that pulls oxygen atoms off amino acids called methionine. As MSRA levels decrease, methionines on proteins become more oxidized. This causes one particular protein to rev up energy production in...

David Schaffer: Research that takes risks must be supported

August 22, 2022
By Ivan Natividad| UC Berkeley Public Relations

David Schaffer

Bakar Fellows Program Director and UC Berkeley professor David Schaffer reflects on the reasons why he sees Berkeley as a leader in world-changing research, innovation and entrepreneurship. (UC Berkeley photo by Mark Joseph Hanson)

The Berkeley Changemaker is a Berkeley News series highlighting innovative members of the campus community engaged in work and research that...

Designer Materials to Keep Plastic Out of Landfills

July 28, 2022
by Alison Hatt | Berkeley Lab

mound of plastic garbage

Scientists at Berkeley Lab have developed a material system that could keep plastic out of landfills by enabling a much broader range of fully recyclable plastic products. photo: Adobe Stock

A group of scientists from the labs of Brett Helms, the Joint...

New institute brings together chemistry and machine learning to tackle climate change

September 21, 2022
By Rachel Leven | Berkeley Computing, Data Science, and Society

Portrait of Omar Yaghi

Professor Omar Yaghi in his office. Photo College of Chemistry.

Imagine a technology that could remove planet-warming emissions from smokestacks, turn moisture in the air into drinking water and transform carbon dioxide into clean energy.

A new UC Berkeley institute will bring together top machine learning and chemistry researchers to make this vision a reality, and a Bay Area...