MCB Professor and Co-Chair, Nipam Patel, and his lab share insights into how butterfly wings develop. Watch this new video, created by the California Academy of Sciences, posted on its bioGraphic website:
Department News
Below are articles from various sources about members of MCB and their research.
February 22, 2017
In 2016-2017, UC Berkeley's Bakar Fellows Program is supporting the cutting edge research of two MCB faculty members -- Professor Kathy Collins and Professor Jim Hurley. Read more about their exciting and entrepreneurial work:
Aiding Cells’ Strategy to Survive (Hurley's work)
Trading in the Scalpel for a Sharper Blade (Collins' work)
February 17, 2017
"The Patent Trial and Appeal Board ruled that the inventions claimed in the pending U.S. patent application filed by the Doudna/Charpentier research group and the patents and applications filed by the Broad Institute are separately patentable from one another, thereby moving the Doudna/Charpentier group’s application closer to issuance as a U.S. patent."
February 09, 2017
The lab of MCB & Chemistry Professor and HHMI Investigator Chris Chang has developed a new way to transport chemicals throughout the body by bioconjugating them to amino acids through a process known as redox activated chemical tagging, or ReACT. The invention has been called “a chemical swiss army knife” by Chang due to its wide range of potential applications, from drug delivery systems to water purification processes.
February 08, 2017
MCB Affiliated Professor Dan Fletcher (who is Chair of the Department of Bioengineering) was one of the thirteen UC Berkeley faculty that were named Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigators. Fletcher "will launch a new effort to map the topography and spatial organization of cell-cell surfaces, starting with macrophages in their interactions with tumor cells."
February 07, 2017
The MCB Department is fully committed to supporting, in every way possible, all members of our department, irrespective of their national origin, religious background, race, color, age, sex, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation. We are particularly troubled by the recent Executive Order on Immigration because it threatens members of our community and the practice of science. MCB scientists and staff come from many countries and engage in numerous international collaborations. Our research is enhanced by the diversity of perspectives provided by scientists from different backgrounds including international scientists. In addition, everyone’s science benefits when all scientists can travel freely between the U.S. and other countries to communicate directly with each other. We will resist policies that threaten our scientific culture and values.
February 06, 2017
HHMI Investigator and MCB Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development Michael Eisen has announced that he will run for U.S. Senate to offer a scientific voice to the political process.
February 02, 2017
"Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier were awarded the Japan Prize today for their invention of the revolutionary gene-editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9, which has swept into research labs around the world and is already yielding new therapies for cancer and hereditary diseases."
January 20, 2017
UC Berkeley researchers studying cancer and infectious disease are joining forces in an attempt to maniupulate the immune response for both invaders through immunotherapy. The recently formed IVRI, Immunotherapeutics and Vaccine Research Institute, is at the forefront of this collaborative work.
January 13, 2017
The lab of MCB Associate Professor Lin He has reprogrammed embryonic stem cells from mice to act as “totipotent-like” stem cells, capable of generating any cell type within a developing embryo. This research could augment the selection of cell types and tissues made from stem cells, expanding the potential for stem cell therapy.