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Q&A: The Story Behind Our Infinitely Recyclable Plastic
A multidisciplinary Berkeley Lab team led by the Joint Bioenergy Institute’s Corinne Scown and the Molecular Foundry’s Brett Helms, has been working for several years to develop a game-changing plastic that, unlike traditional plastics, can be recycled indefinitely and is not made from petroleum. Scown and Helms spoke with Berkeley Lab on the inspiration for this plastic, shortfalls in our current recycling systems, and how this ambitious project is enabled by a diverse combination of scientific expertise.
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Scientists Analyze Dry-sanitizing Device for Reusable PPE
Current methods to decontaminate PPE are successful at eradicating the virus but compromise the PPE material, ultimately increasing the wearer’s potential exposure to pathogens. But scientists at the Berkeley Lab, in collaboration with the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) School of Medicine, have confirmed that a new dry-sanitizing device may provide a safe and reliable solution that doesn’t alter the integrity of the PPE material.
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We’ve Got the Dirt on Soil Protists
A group of scientists who study the interactions between plants and microbes have published a study detailing the dynamic relationships between soil-dwelling, single-celled organisms called protists and developing plants. Protist communities near plant roots were found to respond to the different developmental stages of switchgrass, a crop with excellent potential as a bioenergy feedstock, much like bacterial communities do.
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Amy Herr to Head UC Berkeley’s Bakar BioEnginuity Hub
UC Berkeley has announced a new campus initiative, the Bakar BioEnginuity Hub (BBH), that aims to launch the world-changing startups of today, while cultivating the innovative leaders of tomorrow. Opening this fall, BBH will focus on people working at the convergence of the life sciences with the physical, engineering, and data sciences. Amy Herr, a faculty engineer in the Biological Systems and Engineering (BSE) Division and UC Berkeley professor of bioengineering, has been named executive director of BBH.
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The Future Looks Bright for Infinitely Recyclable Plastic
The average person in the U.S. generates about 100 kg of plastic waste per year, most of which goes straight to a landfill. A team led by the Joint BioEnergy Institute’s (JBEI) Corinne Scown and Jay Keasling and the Molecular Foundry’s Brett Helms and Kristin Persson set out to change that. Less than two years ago, Helms announced the invention of poly(diketoenamine), or PDK, a material that has all the convenient properties of traditional plastics while avoiding the environmental pitfalls. Now, collaborating with researchers from JBEI and Biosciences, the team has released a study that shows what can be accomplished…
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