College of Chemistry

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

August 14, 2019
Direct Talk | NHK World Japan
Kesling spoke about the impact that interdisciplinary technology can have in people’s lives as well as addressing safety concerns.

Alumna Emily Derbyshire looks for malaria’s vulnerabilities

March 4, 2019
The Scientist | Shawna Williams
Derbyshire focused on how nitric oxide activates guanylate cyclase, which is a “tough enzyme” to work on.

Clayton Radke Awarded Ruben Medal

August 30, 2019
By Eric Craypo | UC Berkeley, School of Optometry
Radke has been awarded the Ruben Medal by the International Society for Contact Lens Research.

Omar Yaghi elected to the National Academy of Sciences

April 30, 2019
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release
Omar Yaghi, Neeltje Tretter Chair Professor of Chemistry, was announced today as one of a 100 new members, and 25 foreign members, of the National Academy of Sciences.

Unsung heroes of the College of Chemistry: how the Machine Shop fuels innovation

July 28, 2025
By Veronica Bartell | College of Chemistry
The Machine Shop is a vital, often unseen engine driving success at the College of Chemistry.

Richmond Sarpong joins new NSF Initiative on Computer-Assisted Synthesis

September 7, 2019
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release
Supported by the National Science Foundation, the team plans to create tools for a new generation of ‘data chemists’ by exploring the use of computers and machine learning to streamline how complex molecules, which form the basis for over 50% of the medicines on the market, are made.

Peidong Yang's lab awarded CO2 challenge grant from NASA

May 22, 2019
UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry Press Release

A team of researchers from the lab of Peidong Yang have received a phase one grant for their project to develop an integrated system to synthesize sugars from CO2. NASA is preparing to land humans on the Moon in 2024, the agency is keeping a keen eye on technologies needed for Mars missions that will follow. New technologies will be needed to sustain human life as we move out into the stars.

Fossil Fuels are Dead, Long Live Fossil Fuels

January 7, 2020
Catherine Wolfram | Energy Institute at HAAS

fossil fuel

Electricity generation is projected to play a central role in global decarbonization efforts. On the one hand, electricity generation is supposed to scale up rapidly, as we use electricity to replace fossil fuels in everything from powering vehicles to heating buildings and cooking food. At the same time, decarbonization necessitates a radical transformation in the way we produce electricity, since worldwide, over 60% of electricity is currently produced using fossil fuel technologies.

Authors John Newman and Nitash Balsara release 'Electrochemical Systems', Fourth Edition

April 1, 2021
Frances Chaves | ECS-Blog

John Newman and Nitash Balsara

The long-anticipated fourth edition of Electrochemical Systems by John Newman and Nitash P. Balsara is now available.* The fourth edition updates all of the chapters, adds content on lithium battery electrolyte characterization and polymer electrolytes, and includes a new chapter on impedance spectroscopy. Topics covered include electrochemical theories as they relate to the...

Megaphages harbor mini-Cas proteins ideal for gene editing

July 20, 2020
By Robert Sanders | UC Berkeley media relations

Illustration of a megaphage injecting its DNA into a gene

The DNA-cutting proteins central to CRISPR-Cas9 and related gene-editing tools originally came from bacteria, but a newfound variety of Cas proteins apparently evolved in viruses that infect bacteria. The new Cas proteins were found in the largest known bacteria-infecting viruses, called bacteriophages, and are the most compact working Cas variants yet discovered — half the size of today’s workhorse, Cas9.