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Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Awards $7.5 Million to Biosciences Researchers
Seven LBNL Biosciences Area researchers are among the 47 new investigators chosen by the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub to receive up to $1.5 million each to conduct cutting-edge biomedical research — with no strings attached. The investigator awards are the first individual grants by the CZ Biohub as it seeks to foster unconventional scientific exploration and encourage researchers to invent new tools to accelerate the pace of discovery. Senior investigators will each receive 1.5 million over five years while the younger faculty will receive half the amount, $750,000. Biosciences Area’s senior investigators are: Jill Banfield and Michal Maharbiz (EGSB), Dan Fletcher and…
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Thirdhand Smoke Affects Weight, Blood Cell Development in Mice
Berkeley Lab researchers found that the sticky residue left behind by tobacco smoke led to changes in weight and blood cell count in mice. These latest findings add to a growing body of evidence that thirdhand smoke exposure may be harmful. Researchers from the Biosciences Biological Systems and Engineering Division (BSE) and the Energy Technologies Area (ETA) teamed up with scientists at UC San Francisco and Nanjing Medical University for the study. The findings, reported in a Feb. 3 paper in Scientific Reports, suggest that the dangers associated with smoking continue long after the cigarette is snuffed out. Read more in the…
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Biosciences Area FY17 LDRD Projects
The projects of 13 Biosciences Area scientists and engineers received funding through the FY17 Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program. The funded projects cover a broad range of topics including the study of microbiomes in relation to their environment, plants, and gut health; catalysis for solar conversion to energy; and genomic expression in tissue. Among them were three projects related to Lab-wide initiatives. Together, these efforts account for 17.5% of the $25.2 million allocated. Lab-wide, a total of 88 projects were selected from a field of 166 proposals.
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JBEI and ABPDU Raise Food and Funds for Local Food Bank
During their annual food drive, JBEI and ABPDU raised food and funds for the Alameda County Community Food Bank. A total of $2514 was raised in monetary contributions for the Virtual Food Drive. A friendly competition was promoted between ABPDU and JBEI’s Divisions to see which group could raise more pounds of food. JBEI’s Operations staff collected the highest number of pounds of food this year. This initiative helped raise awareness of food insecurity of children, adults and seniors in the Alameda County. To learn more about how you can help visit http://www.accfb.org/.
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The Strings That Bind Us: Cytofilaments Connect Cell Nucleus to Extracellular Microenvironment
New images of structural fibers inside a cell appear in a study featured on the cover of the Journal of Cell Science special issue on 3D Cell Biology, published this month. The images, obtained by scientists in the Biosciences Area, show thread-like cytofilaments reaching into and traversing a human breast cell’s chromatin-packed nucleus. It provides the first visual evidence of a physical link by which genes can receive mechanical cues from its microenvironment. The work leading up to the images began in the early 1980s when Biological Systems & Engineering’s Mina Bissell proposed the idea that gene expression and cell fate…
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