Biosciences News

Microvi Biotechnologies, a leading innovator of biocatalytic processes, working with the Advanced Biofuels Process Demonstration Unit (ABPDU) at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), has demonstrated breakthrough improvements to biological ethanol production.

The vast majority of the thousands of chemicals in our homes and workplaces have not been tested to determine if they cause cancer due to limitations in current testing methods. Berkeley Lab scientists are developing a cell culture that better identifies chemicals that increase breast cancer susceptibility.

During standard X-ray solution scattering experiments, molecules scatter X-rays as they tumble around during exposures, resulting in a diffraction pattern with matching measurements along all angles due to the full orientational averaging. When X-ray snapshots are collected at timescales shorter than a few nanoseconds, such that molecules are virtually frozen in space and time during the scattering experiment, X-ray diffraction patterns are obtained that are no longer equal along all angles. These measurements are collected using a method called fluctuation X-ray scattering, typically performed on an X-ray free electron laser or on a ultra-bright synchrotron. This technique can provide fundamental understanding of biomacromolecular structure, engineered nanoparticles, or energy-related intermediate-scale materials not attainable via standard scattering methods.

Lygos and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab’s Advanced Biofuels Process Demonstration Unit have collaborated to scale up production of biomass-derived specialty chemical. Lygos, Inc., announced today that it has successfully achieved pilot scale production of malonic acid from sugar. Lygos’ novel manufacturing technology decreases CO2 emissions, eliminates toxic inputs and could replace the existing petroleum production process for malonic acid at lower cost and less energy.

The projects of six Physical Biosciences Scientists and Engineers received funding through the FY2015 Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program. These projects cover a broad range of topics, including energy, biomanufacturing, and technology and tool development. Together, these efforts account for nearly 15% of the $24.9 million allocated. Eighty-two proposals were selected from a field of 169. There was an equal distribution of new and continuing projects among the selected PBD proposals.