Biosciences News

On October 28, Berkeley Lab marked the groundbreaking for the Biological & Environmental Program Integration Center (BioEPIC), a next-generation facility for studying interactions among microbes, water, soil, and plants. The groundbreaking ceremony at the Bayview site included members of Berkeley Lab leadership, science groups involved with BioEPIC, site cleanup and construction groups, and the construction contractor.

Lydia Rachbauer, a postdoctoral researcher at the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) in the Biosciences Area’s Biological Systems and Engineering Division was selected for first place and people’s choice prizes in the inaugural Bay Area Research SLAM competition on October 28.  Rachbauer delighted the audience and judges with her three-minute story on utilizing the microbes found in fish guts to convert seaweed into sustainable biofuels. 

On October 25, 2021, the Department of Energy recognized the completion of the Integrative Genomics Building (IGB) with a 2020 Project Management Achievement Award. According to the IGB project management award citation, project managers oversaw the completion of the building ahead of schedule and on budget in a highly competitive construction environment.

Three Biosciences Area members were recently highlighted in the video series, Basics2Breakthroughs, which focuses on early career scientists discussing their research and what they hope for the future in that research.

Synthetic biologists have successfully engineered microbes to make chemicals cheaply and more sustainably. However, researchers have been limited by the fact that microbes can only make molecules using chemical reactions seen in nature.

A collaboration between scientists at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley has engineered the microbe E. coli to produce a molecule that, until now, could only be synthesized in a laboratory.