Crammed inside every human cell are numerous strands of chromosomal DNA that, if laid end-to-end, would span a distance of about two meters. A special enzyme mechanically untangles the DNA, keeping our chromosomes from resembling a string of Christmas tree lights jammed into a box after the holiday. Someday, biochemist James Berger's efforts to understand the same enzyme in cancer cells could lead to new tumor-fighting drugs.

Assistant Professor Lu Chen has been awarded the prestigeous Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

For more information see:

Official Packard Announcement

Professor Michael Marletta

For more information see:

UC Press Release
Award Announcement

Professor Hiroshi Nikaido will present this year's Roger Y. Stanier Memorial Lecture on Thursday November 4 in 100 Genetics & Plant Biology Building.

What happens when you touch a hot pan on the stove? You probably yell and yank your hand away. Between the sizzle and the scream though, an amazingly fast and complex cascade of cellular communication occurs inside your body.

To study the electrical intricacies of the nervous system, neurobiologist Ehud Isacoff is developing new optical methods that enable scientists to watch the cellular symphony unfold at the nanoscale.

The Department of Molecular and Cell Biology is seeking applications for four faculty positions.

Applications should include a curriculum vitae; a list of publications; a brief description of research accomplishments; a statement of research objectives and teaching interests; and reprints of three most significant publications. Please arrange to have three letters of reference sent to the address below. Applicants are expected to join the faculty July 1, 2005 or thereafter.

Four years ago, a new weapon in the war on cancer made it to clinical trials accompanied by headlines and hope. Gleevec, a drug manufactured by Novartis, appeared to selectively turn off a specific cancer-causing protein like a light switch, stopping the progress of a severe form of leukemia in its tracks.

The Presidential Early Career Award (PECASE) is the nation's top honor for scientists at the beginning of their careers.

One way to disrupt a mechanical process is to throw a wrench into the works. This also holds true for viruses, biological parasites that hijack a cell's reproductive mechanisms to replicate themselves. The key though to successful sabotage is knowing precisely where to toss the wrench.

The Distinguished Research Mentor award is designed to honor faculty members in the College of Letters & Science who have performed exceptional service as research mentors for undergraduate students.

When UC Berkeley biologist Nipam Patel was searching for a new crustacean to study, one of his graduate students paid a visit to a large public aquarium. Rather than select an organism from one of the breeding tanks, the student sifted through the aquarium's filter system.

A University of California, Berkeley, chemist has put a new twist on the standard chemistry experiment: Instead of using a test tube or flask, she mixes and reacts chemicals in living organisms.

Carolyn Bertozzi's innovative approach involves chemicals that don't interact with the molecules in the body, only with each other. But her in vivo chemistry has great potential for studying cells in living organisms and creating new diagnostics, and perhaps treatments, for disease.

University of California, Berkeley, biochemist Hiroshi Nikaido, M.D., has received the 14th annual Bristol-Myers Squibb "Freedom to Discover" Award for Distinguished Achievement in Infectious Diseases Research.

Nikaido, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at UC Berkeley, was recognized for his groundbreaking contributions to understanding the mechanisms of bacterial resistance to antibiotics and insights that have led to the design of more effective antibiotics.

Carlos Bustamante is a mechanic. He tinkers with machines to see what makes them tick. He talks a lot about torque and force, compression and tension. Bustamante is not an engineer though. He's a UC Berkeley professor of molecular and cell biology, physics, and chemistry. And the devices he studies are the microscopic machines behind life itself--cells, proteins, molecular motors, and DNA.

Read the full article on the ScienceMatters@Berkeley website.

Assistant Professor Nicole King has been chosen as a 2004 Pew Biomedical Scholar. The prestigious award funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts and administered by UCSF provides $240,000 over four years to investigators early in thein careers. The title of Dr. King's abstract was "Choanoflagellates and the origin of animal multicellularity."

For more information see the official Press Release.