News

The groundbreaking for the Integrative Genomics Building (IGB), the future home of the DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and the Systems Biology Knowledgebase (KBase), took place under sunny skies yesterday, January 31, at the former site of the Bevatron particle accelerator. Notables in attendance included Sharlene Weatherwax, associate director of science for Biological and Environmental Research (BER) at DOE Office of Science; Pier Oddone, former Fermilab director and former Berkeley Lab deputy director; and Kimberley Budil, vice president for national laboratories in the University of California Office of the President. To symbolize their future partnership and signify some of the vast and complex communities of microorganisms that provide the foundation for the research that will be conducted in the IGB, JGI Director-Designate Nigel Mouncey and KBase Principal Investigator Adam Arkin mixed soil samples in beaker mugs and toasted to their shared vision for the Biosciences future colocation on the Hill.

In collaboration with DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI) researchers, the team led by David Baker of the University of Washington reports that structural models have been generated for 12 percent of the protein families that previously had no structural information available. Read more at JGI News.

The Biosciences Area launched its Twitter account one year ago. @LBNLBioSci has served as a tool to disseminate the Area’s achievements in energy, environment and health, and has so far attracted 409 followers. To celebrate the one year anniversary, the Biosciences communications team has released a listicle on seven of the Area’s bacterial, fungal and microbial discoveries. Read the listicle here and follow @LBNLBioSci.

In Nature, a team led by University of East Anglia scientists conducted a comparative genomic analysis involving three diatoms by tapping expertise from the DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI), who conducted all sequencing and annotation. Read more at JGI News.

After 9-month national search, Nigel Mouncey, currently Research and Development Director for Bioengineering and Bioprocessing at Dow AgroSciences LLC, has been selected as the Director of the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI), a DOE Office of Science User Facility. Mouncey will be the DOE JGI’s fourth Director in its 20-year history. He succeeds Eddy Rubin, who announced his retirement in March 2016 after a dozen years as Director, and DOE JGI Strategic Planning Deputy Axel Visel, who has served as Interim Director since then. Read more about Mouncey’s selection on the DOE JGI website.