Biosciences News

JBEI develops new synthetic biology tools for engineering Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Pioneering work has been led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) to engineer microbes to transform plant derived starting materials into energy-rich biofuels. But despite the progress in genomics and synthetic biology for the optimization of biofuel production in engineered microbes, microbial engineering methods remain slow and laborious. Such is the case of the fungal host, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The yeast S. cerevisiae has proven to be an excellent organism for commercial-scale production of biological molecules, though its strain development remains painstakingly slow due to difficulties related to the combined effect of different expression parts and host conditions. Now, researchers at JBEI have developed the largest, most comprehensive Cas9-based toolkit to quickly institute genetic changes in S. cerevisiae to optimize heterologous gene expression.

Ignacio Tinoco, Jr., former affiliate in Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging and professor emeritus of chemistry at UC Berkeley, died on Nov. 15 at the age of 85. A pioneer in many fields, Tinoco is most well-known for his study of RNA folding over his 60-year career. “The echoes of his discoveries are everywhere in modern biochemistry and biology. He trained generations of RNA scientists, imbuing us with his humility, rigor, and wry sense of humor,” said his former student Jody Puglisi, professor and chair of the Department of Structural Biology at Stanford University. Read more at C&EN.

On December 14, The Digest, a bioeconomy daily, featured the ABPDU (Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Biofuels Process Demonstration Unit) with an article on how the pilot has become a leader in the advanced bioeconomy. The feature article talks about the ABPDU’s capabilities and the many companies it has worked with since 2012 when it was first established. Read more on The Digest.

Amy Herr, faculty scientist in Biological Systems and Engineering, was among 175 inductees announced by the Academy on December 13. Election is a “distinction accorded to academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society.” Herr is renowned for innovative engineering analysis of complex biological systems, with an emphasis on analytical tools and diagnostics. Read more at BerkeleyNews.

Jennifer Doudna, faculty scientist in the Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging Division and molecular and cell biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, together with four other CRISPR pioneers, were among the top five named runner ups of Time Magazine’s 2016 Person of the Year. They were chosen for their roles in the development of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing system, a revolutionary tool that promises cures for many heritable diseases. It is the 90th time Time Magazine has named “the person who had the greatest influence, for better or worse, on the events of the year,” the magazine states; this year, they chose Donald Trump.

Doudna shares the recognition with Emmanuelle Charpentier at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin, Feng Zhang of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT , Carl June at the University of Pennsylvania, and Kathy Niakan at the Francis Crick Institute in London. Read more about their pioneering work in Time Magazine’s article, The CRISPR Pioneers, their breakthrough work could change the world.