Biosciences News

A team of researchers led by Niren Murthy, a faculty scientist in the Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology (EGSB) Division, have created a test that can identify bacteria that are resistant to certain classes of antibiotics in a matter of minutes. The results of the test help doctors prescribe the right antibiotics for each infection and could help limit the spread of antibiotic-resistant ‘superbugs.’ These ‘superbugs’ actually contribute to about 700,000 deaths worldwide each year, but this new test increases patient’s chances of survival since the correct drug can be prescribed almost immediately.

Ke Xu, a faculty scientist in Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging, has been awarded a NIH Director’s New Innovator Award as part of the National Institutes of Health’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research program. Supported by the NIH Common Fund, these grants catalyze “exceptionally innovative” biomedical research with “transformative potential” from early career investigators who have never received an NIH grant before. An assistant professor of chemistry at UC Berkeley, Xu develops new physical and chemical tools to explore biological, chemical, and materials systems at the nanoscale with extraordinary resolution and sensitivity. He takes a multidimensional approach that integrates advanced microscopy, spectroscopy, cell biology, and nanotechnology. Xu is among 89 New Innovator Award recipients for 2018. Each grant comes with $1.5 million in direct funds for five years.

Read more from UC Berkeley News.

There are more than 1,000 species of yeasts and they vary in terms of genetics, metabolism and biochemistry. Their capabilities can be harnessed for a wide range of biotechnological applications, including biofuel production. Efforts such as the 1000 Fungal Genomics Project led by the JGI aim to improve our understanding of fungal diversity by sequencing genomes from across the fungal Tree of Life, but they also highlight the corresponding need to be able to assign functions to unknown genes and improve functional annotation to harness the genomic data.

In Nature Genetics, a team led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley and the Buck Institute for Research on Aging and including JGI researchers has demonstrated a way to map associations between genotype and phenotype using a strategy called reciprocal hemizygosity analysis via sequencing (RH-Seq). The proof-of-concept study represents a first-ever case of complex genotype-to-phenotype mapping between species that have been separated for millions of years and paves the way for dissection of additional traits, in fungi and beyond. Learn more on the JGI website.

Frances Arnold, the Linus Pauling Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, and Biotechnology at the California Institute of Technology, is one of the winners of this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry. She was a founding member of Berkeley Lab’s Biosciences Expert Advisory Committee and has some connections with the Biosciences Area from her time as a graduate student and postdoctoral scholar at University of California, Berkeley.

Biosciences ALD Mary Maxon recently spoke at an event hosted by the East Bay Economic Development Alliance about the East Bay’s unique biotech innovation ecosystem. During the panel discussion, Maxon noted that carbon waste could be California’s next gold rush, driving the bioeconomy. The discussion was recorded by Contra Costa TV and will be rebroadcast throughout October. Go here to see the schedule. Read more about this event at the “Tim Talk” blog on PleasantonWeekly.com.