Biosciences News

In Science Advances, JGI researchers have taken stock of the current state of microbial genomic biodiversity. Using publicly available genome sequence data generated over the past three decades, their study assesses what fraction of the microbial diversity we know about, and proposes a path forward to curate and cultivate what is still unknown.

A first-of-its-kind study led by Cynthia McMurray and Aris Polyzos in the Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging (MBIB) Division integrated cell type– and brain region–specific features of DNA repair in normal brains, setting a benchmark for the field. Their results, recently published in Nature Communications, suggest that DNA damage itself serves as the checkpoint, limiting the accumulation of genomic errors in cells during natural aging.

The projects of 23 Biosciences Area scientists and engineers received funding through the FY25 Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program.

In December, Eva Nogales, senior faculty scientist Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging (MBIB) Division, traveled to her native Spain where she was honored for her work in the field of visualization of macromolecular function.

Biochemist Jennifer Doudna, a faculty scientist in the Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging (MBIB) Division, founder of the Innovative Genomics Institute, and a professor at UC Berkeley, has received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the nation’s highest honor for technological achievement. Doudna, who is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, was honored for her work developing the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology.