Adam P. Arkin
Computational Biologist Senior Faculty Scientist
Building: 955, Room 512C
Mail Stop: 955-512L
Phone: (510) 495-2116
Fax: (510) 486-6219
aparkin@lbl.gov
http://arkinlab.bio
Links
Biography
At the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Adam Arkin holds several positions, including Senior Scientist, Technical Co-Manager of the ENIGMA Scientific Focus Area, and Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Energy Systems Biology Knowledgebase. He is the Dean A. Richard Newton Memorial Professor in UC Berkeley’s Department of Bioengineering, and Director of the Center for Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space. An expert in the comparative systems and synthetic biology of microbes, Arkin is dedicated understanding the role natural and engineered microbes can play in environmental transformation and health as well as sustainable biomanufacturing.
Research Interests
Complex webs of life integrate and drive processes that affect outcomes from the individual health of a human or plant to entire planetary mineral cycles. Our laboratory leverages quantitative measurements, precision genetics, and model-driven experimentation to predict, control, and design biological function in the context of these webs. We are especially interested in understanding and ameliorating the processes that are interlinked with the radical changes our planet is and will be experiencing as climate is forced, populations grow, and pressures are placed on the resources we use to survive. We are also interested in what it might take to establish ourselves on the next planet as humanity begins to consider long term crewed missions on the Moon and Mars. Building safe, sustainable biotechnologies for environmental stewardship, health, food, and materials based on well-informed systems-level bioengineering is our main goal.
We are also committed to open, transparent, reusable and collaboratory model-driven science as exemplified through our work the the DOE Systems Biology Knowledgebase.
Recent Publications
Related News
Dub-seq Used to Screen Phage Proteins for Antibiotic Properties
A team of researchers from Berkeley Lab, UC Berkeley, and Texas A&M University worked together on a high-throughput genetic screen to identify which part of the bacteria bacteriophage viruses were targeting.
Ten Simple Rules for Getting and Giving Credit for Data
Generating and analyzing data associated with scientific research can be challenging and complicated, to say the least. But the importance of sharing and giving credit to those who produced the data is foundational to furthering the impact of the work. Learn more about ten simple rules for getting and giving credit for data.
Small-scale Changes in Environment Can Have Large Effects on Microbial Communities
A Berkeley Lab team analyzed the genotypes and phenotypes of several Arthrobacter strains to correlate cellular functions to their location at varying depths within a single sediment core and in nearby groundwater. They found that Arthrobacter, as a genus, has remarkable flexibility in altering its suites of carbon degradation genes. This genomic variation was found to be linked to the individual strain’s environment and is the basis for Arthrobacter’s ability to break down a wide variety of complex carbon sources.
