Department News

Researchers illuminate operation of molecular gateway to the cell nucleus

Karsten Weis, UC Berkeley professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, Jan Liphardt, a UC Berkeley professor of physics, and colleagues have traced with unprecedented resolution the paths of cargos moving through the nuclear pore complex (NPC), a selective nanoscale aperture that controls access to the cell's nucleus, and answered several key questions about its function. The research was published September 1st in the journal Nature.

2010 Massry Prize

Howard Hughes Investigator and Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology Randy Schekman has been awarded the 2010 Massry Prize given by the Meira and Shaul G. Massry Foundation.

Schekman's laboratory developed genetic and biochemical approaches to dissect the process of protein secretion in the baker's yeast, S. cerevisiae. The genes and proteins his lab discovered in yeast were found to organize the secretory pathway in all eukaryotes and to be involved in such specialized processes as synaptic transmission in nerve cells and hormone secretion in mammals.

Stem Cell Transplantation Immunology Awards

The Governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state stem cell agency created by proposition 71, today approved $25 million to fund 19 projects intended to overcome immune rejection of transplanted stem cells. Recipients included Professors of Immunology and Pathogenesis David Raulet and Ellen Robey.

QB3 team finds that enzyme‰Ûªs wraparound structure prevents misfolding

Professors of biochemistry and molecular biology Susan Marqusee and Carlos Bustamante show in new research that, in T4 lysozyme ‰ÛÓ an enzyme related to one responsible for a form of amyloidosis ‰ÛÓ a subtle detail of topology ensures that the protein either folds all at once or not at all, avoiding dangerous intermediates.

Bertozzi Awarded Lemelson-MIT Prize

Howard Hughes Investigator and Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Carolyn Bertozzi was awarded the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize for her achievements in biotechnology.

Former MCB Graduate Student David J. Julius Wins Shaw Prize

David J. Julius, now Professor and Chair of the Dept. of Physiology at UCSF, is the recipient of the $1 million Run Run Shaw Foundation Prize in Life Science and Medicine (see attached press release) for his work identifying the ion channels involved in various aspects of nociception (pain perception).

Gates foundation awards $100,000 grants for novel global health research

Jennifer Doudna and John Ngai, both UC Berkeley professors of molecular and cell biology, are among 78 grants announced today (Monday, May 10) by the foundation in the fourth funding round of Grand Challenges Explorations. The winning proposals, selected from almost 2,700 in this round alone, were submitted by scientists in 18 countries on six continents.

Cline and Meyer Recipients of 2010 Genetics Society Awards

Professors of Genetics, Genomics and Development Tom Cline and Barbara Meyer are both 2010 recipients of Genetics Society of America (GSA) awards for distinguished service to the field of genetics. Professor Cline has been awarded the Edward Novitski Prize for exhibiting an extraordinary level of creativity and intellectual ingenuity in solving a significant problem in genetics. Professor Meyer has been awarded the Genetics Society of America Medal for outstanding contributions to the field of genetics in the last 15 years.

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Genome Sequence of Frog Published

A team of scientists, including Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development Richard Harland, are publishing the first genome sequence of an amphibian, the African clawed frog Xenopus tropicalis, filling in a major gap among the vertebrates sequenced to date.

Koshland Elected to National Academy of Sciences

Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development Doug Koshland, who is officially joining MCB on July 1, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Members are elected to the National Academy in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

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