Samantha McBirney (BS 2012) has grabbed the cover of the ACS Sensors journal for her graduate work on an inexpensive magnetic detector for malaria.
Archives for 2018
CRISPR diversifies: Cut, paste, on, off, and now– evolve!
Researchers led by BioE PhD student Shakked Halperin, working in the laboratories of David Schaffer and John Dueber at UC Berkeley, have described yet another creative application for CRISPR: a platform to spur evolution of specific genes inside cells.
Conolly, Schaffer named Bakar Fellows
Professors Steve Conolly and David Schaffer have been selected for the Bakar Fellows Program, which supports faculty working to apply scientific discoveries to real-world issues in the fields of engineering, computer science, chemistry and biological and physical sciences. Conolly is a worldwide pioneer in medical imaging and magnetic particle imaging, while Schaffer is an innovator in the field of gene therapy.
Teresa Head_Gordon named ACS Fellow
Professor Teresa Head-Gordon has been elected to the 2018 class of Fellows of the American Chemical Society. Fellows are recognized for outstanding achievements in and contributions to science, the profession, and the Society.
Diassess wins HHS BARDA award for home influenza test
Alumni startup Diassess has been selected for an award of up to $21M for further development of a consumer at-home influenza diagnostic, which could have significant impact on controlling the spread of the flu. The company was founded by PhD alumni Debkishore Mitra and John Waldeisen.
MTM startup
Respira Labs, a startup by MTM alumna Dr. Maria Artunduaga, has been selected as a 2018 E-Team by VentureWell. Respira is also a Fall 2018 HotDesk Team at the Berkeley Skydeck accelerator, and an NSF I-Corps team.
Fresh Blood: What Theranos Leaves In Its Wake
Professor Luke Lee discusses the challenge and promise of on-chip diagnostics and the state of the industry after the trouble with Theranos.
Size matters
Macrophages are the body’s immune attack force, but how do they recognize their target particles? Fletcher Lab investigators have shown how macrophage target recognition is controlled by the height of the antibody above the target cell surface. They found that the gap created between the target cell and macrophage by the antibody, which bridges an antigen on the target cell surface and the macrophage’s receptors, must be small enough to exclude a molecule that turns off the receptor. This has broad implications for development of therapeutic antibodies because it establishes a size threshold for effective cell surface antigen targets.
CRISPR-Gold editing reduces repetitive behavior in mice with a form of autism
New research from Prof Niren Murthy’s lab uses his CRISPR-Gold nanoparticle delivery technique to lessen some autism symptoms in mice with a form of fragile X syndrome, the most common known single-gene cause of autism spectrum disorder. Published in Nature Biomedical Engineering June 25, 2018.