Check out this video interview with Professor Dan Fletcher on his collaboration with CRISPR researchers to produce a rapid COVID-19 test using a smartphone camera.
BioE News
How water helps the substrate into the enzyme
An international research team including Professor Teresa Head-Gordon have investigated why cages can increase the catalytic activity of enclosed molecules. Using terahertz spectroscopy and complex computer simulations, they showed that water encapsulated in a tiny cage has special properties that are structurally and dynamically distinct from any known phase of water.
Three BioE alumni in Forbes 30 Under 30!
Congratulations to three bioengineering alumni named to the 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Joshua Yang (MTM 2016) and Robert Chen (BS 2013) were named in Healthcare: Yang for his work on developing non-invasive tools to measure kidney injuries through startup company Nephrosant, and Chen for designing therapies for undernourished children, using links between certain gut bacteria and stunted growth. Joshua Nixon (BS 2016) and co-founder were named in the Social Impact list for founding Prime Roots, a company developing plant-based meat and seafood alternatives.
Upcycling: Turning plastic bags into adhesives
Professor Phil Messersmith’s lab has collaborated on a new chemical process that converts polyethylene plastic into a strong and valuable adhesive, and could make plastic bag recycling economically worthwhile.
Cataloging Nature’s Hidden Arsenal: Viruses that Infect Bacteria
Adam Arkin is one of the leaders of a new approach for studying which bacterial receptors phages exploit to infect cells, and what cellular mechanisms the bacteria use to respond to a phage infection. These microscopic battles have implications for medicine development, agricultural research, and climate science.
What’s it like to work in the lab of a Berkeley Nobel laureate? Ask a graduate student.
BioE graduate student Connor Tsuchida talks about the experience of working in Nobel prize-winning labs.
New CRISPR-based COVID-19 test uses smartphone cameras to spot virus RNA
Fletcher Lab, in collaboration with the Gladstone Institutes and Doudna Lab, have developed a new CRISPR-based COVID-19 diagnostic test that, with the help of a smartphone camera, can provide a positive or negative result in 15 to 30 minutes. This test also gives an estimate of viral load, or the number of virus particles in a sample, which can help doctors monitor the progression of a COVID-19 infection and estimate how contagious a patient might be.
Peng and Rosenbluth named to 40 Under 40
PhD alumni Lily Peng (2012) and Kate Rosenbluth (2009) have been named to the 2020 Fortune Magazine “40 Under 40”, an annual list of 40 young professionals of exceptional talent and influence in their fields. Peng, now Product Manager at Google Health, aims to bring health care to the masses through the use of artificial intelligence. She has personally designed algorithms including the firm’s diabetes-related eye disease detection program. Rosenbluth, Founder and CEO of Cala Health, has designed an FDA-cleared wrist device that eases hand tremors for the 7 million Americans who suffer from essential tremors.
Sanjay Kumar named AAAS Fellow
Congratulations Professor Sanjay Kumar, named to the 2020 class of Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Kumar was recognized for his “distinguished contributions to the field of bioengineering, particularly the development of biomaterial and single-cell technologies to investigate mechanobiological signaling in health and disease.”