When Biosciences Area Principal Deputy Mary Maxon served as the Assistant Director for Biological Research at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), she developed the first-ever National Bioeconomy Blueprint. The document, released in April 2012, outlines strategies to grow and manage this $325B+ sector of the US economy. A testament to its role in driving innovation, the Blueprint is listed as item number 49 in an impact report detailing the top 100 Examples of President Obama’s Leadership in Science, Technology, and Innovation.
Lab Participates in New National Microbiome Initiative
Microbiomes are communities of microorganisms that live on and in people, plants, soil, oceans, and the atmosphere, playing important roles in each ecosystem. Today, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy launched the National Microbiome Initiative, designed to advance the understanding of microbiome behavior and enable the protection of healthy microbiomes. With its Microbes to Biomes program, Berkeley Lab is well positioned to contribute. Both Mary Maxon, Principal Deputy for Biosciences, and Trent Northen, Interim Director of Environmental Genomics & Systems Biology, worked with Eoin Brodie of the Earth & Environmental Sciences Division and other leading scientists to co-author an mBio editorial that calls for a predictive understanding of Earth’s microbiomes to address 21st century challenges in the areas of energy, health, and environment. Read more at the Berkeley Lab News Center.
Mapping a Cell’s Destiny
Scientists at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley have developed a way to spatially map gene expression data to determine a cell’s fate. The method could go far in interrogating human tissue organization and helping elucidate key aspects of development, human health and disease. Erwin Frise and Sue Celniker of the Lab’s Environmental Genomics & Systems Biology Division were part of the team that developed this method that speeds discovery of spatial patterns in gene networks. Read more at Berkeley Lab News Center.
2016 Lab Performance Review
As shared by Jay Keasling with Biosciences staff on May 2, the 2016 Berkeley Lab Performance Review process has officially kicked off. Read his announcement here.
Biosciences Scientists Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Four Berkeley Lab scientists have been elected to the 2016 class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a 236-year-old honorary society that recognizes accomplished scholars, scientists and artists in academia, the humanities, arts, business and government. They include Biosciences’ biophysicist senior scientist Robert Glaeser and biophysicist senior faculty Eva Nogales of the Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging Division; and Jay Keasling, Biosciences associate laboratory director and CEO of the Joint BioEnergy Institute. Together with the Lab’s Nuclear Science Division Director Barbara Jacak, they are among 213 new members announced by the academy today (April 20).
Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences is one of the country’s oldest learned societies and independent policy research centers, convening leaders from the academic, business, and government sectors to respond to the challenges facing—and opportunities available to—the nation and the world. Members contribute to academy publications and studies of science, engineering, and technology policy; global security and international affairs; the humanities, arts, and education; and American institutions and the public good. The new academy members will be inducted at an October 8 ceremony in Cambridge, Mass. Read more at the Berkeley Lab News Center.
Was this page useful?
Send
