Biosciences News

Nationally, Native American enrollment in postsecondary programs is less than one percent, so Berkeley Lab launched an ambitious internship program to help boost representation by recruiting students from Arizona State University to work at the Lab. Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology (EGSB) Division Science Deputy Trent Northen helps lead the program. Meet this summer’s Biosciences Area interns.

Researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine identified a small-molecule protein inhibitor that blocks an enzyme that is key to male fertility. Protein crystallography performed at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) beamline 5.0.2 provided valuable structure-activity insights.

A recent Berkeley Lab News Center roundup of “Five Ways LiSA is Advancing Solar Fuels,” included a project led by Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division Director Junko Yano that could enable characterization, under real-world conditions, of the chemical reactions that take place where a metal catalyst and electrolyte meet.

A new technique developed by Biosciences Area researchers will make it much easier to discover the traits or activities encoded by genes of unknown function in microbes—a key step toward understanding the roles and impact of individual species.

Blake Simmons, Biological Systems and Engineering (BSE) Division Director, announced that Justin Heady has been named the BSE Deputy for Operations. In addition, Harshini Mukundun is assuming the role of Interim Department Head of the Bioengineering and Biomedical Sciences Department. Mukundun takes over from Antoine Snijders, who has led the department since 2016.