Researchers at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley have discovered that as plants develop, they craft their root microbiome, favoring microbes that consume very specific metabolites. Their study could help scientists identify ways to enhance the soil microbiome for improved carbon storage and plant productivity.
Doudna Featured on CBS ‘Sunday Morning’ Program
Reporter Mo Rocca explores “strokes of genius” in this episode. Among those he interviews is Jennifer Doudna, faculty scientist in the Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division. The co-discoverer of the CRISPR gene-editing technology does not consider herself a genius, but rather thinks teams are more productive than individuals. Rocca also interviews internet pioneer Vint Cerf and musician Wynton Marsalis. Watch the episode.
Marqusee Recipient of Protein Society Award
Susan Marqusee, faculty scientist in the Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, will receive the Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Award, sponsored by Genentech, which is granted in recognition of exceptional contributions in protein science that profoundly influence our understanding of biology. Marqusee, a biophysical chemist whose work focuses on protein folding and dynamics, is one of the world’s top experimental scientists in the field of protein folding.
New Machine Learning Method Sees the Forests and the Trees
While it may be the era of supercomputers and big data, without smart methods to mine all that data, it’s only so much digital detritus. Now researchers at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley have come up with a novel machine learning method that enables scientists to derive insights from systems of previously intractable complexity in record time.
Brown Fat Flexes its Muscle to Burn Energy—and Calories
A multidisciplinary team of bioengineers and metabolic researchers led Andreas Stahl, a professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences & Toxicology at UC Berkeley, has figured out a new pathway that triggers brown fat to consume calories and radiate them away as heat. Sanjay Kumar, a faculty scientist in Biological Systems and Engineering (BSE) and assistant professor of bioengineering at UC Berkeley, was a co-author on the study published March 6 in Cell Metabolism. One unexpected finding was that muscle-like myosin is responsible for causing brown fat cells to stiffen in response to signals from the brain; it is this increased tension that triggers a biochemical pathway that ends with these cells burning calories for heat. “This study offers a remarkable example of how mechanical and other physical forces can influence physiology and disease in powerful, unexpected ways,” Kumar said. Understanding how brown fat is activated could unlock new ways to combat obesity. Read more from UC Berkeley News.
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