Neuroscientists led by Michael Yartsev used wireless neural recording devices to track the brain activity of Egyptian fruit bats as they freely interacted in groups and occasionally vocalized to each other through high-pitched screeches and grunts. The study published in the journal Science provides the first glimpse into how the brains of social mammals process these types of complex group interactions.
BioE News
Congratulations new Fung Fellows!
Big congratulations to Abi Anbuchelvan, Vindhya Kilaru, Peter Sinnott, Aditya Subramanian, Cindy Tung, and Sharicka Zutshi, new 2021-22 Fung Fellows, and Isha Shah and Niki Shakouri who will be continuing as Honors Fellows. The Fellowship trains undergraduate students to develop tech solutions that address societal challenges.
Synthetic biology moves into the realm of the unnatural
Berkeley researchers, including Professor Jay Keasling, have for the first time engineered bacteria to produce a molecule that, until now, could only be synthesized in a laboratory. This advance opens the door to production of a broader range of chemicals from yeast and bacterial fermentation.
2021 Mastercard Foundation Scholarship Recipient: Cecil Chikezie
Cecil Chikezie, current Master of Engineering student in BioE, received a 2021 Mastercard Foundation Scholarship, which supports future leaders in Africa. In this article, MEng student and scholarship recipient, Cecil Chikezie, speaks about what it means to be a MasterCard Foundation Scholar and his long term bio-engineering goals of supporting the financial stability and respiratory health of Kenyan communities.
Alumnus Nathaniel Huebsch named CMBE Young Innovator
Congratulations Nathanial Huebsch, BS BioE 2003, now Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. Huebsch has been named a 2021 Young Innovator by Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering!
Can bats help us design a better driverless car?
Bats’ navigation system was designed by the world’s top engineer: evolution. A new effort in the lab of Michael Yartsev, Assistant Professor of Bioengineering and Neuroscience, to translate the bats’ neurological “rules of the road” into computational algorithms to guide development of navigation systems for driverless cars.
The Science of Antiaging
UC Berkeley’s Irina Conboy, Ph.D., is unlocking the keys to healthy longevity
Diablo Magazine features the Conboy Lab’s research on the aging process, and ways to reverse it.
Jay Keasling Receives Distinguished Scientist Fellow Award
Professor of Bioengineering and Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Jay Keasling has been named a Distinguished Scientist Fellow by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. Keasling was recognized for his “national scientific leadership in synthetic biology that has advanced DOE’s strategy in renewable energy, especially the realization of biofuels and bioproducts that enable biomanufacturing at scale and inspire and grow the U.S. bioeconomy,” according to the Office of Science award citation.
Congratulations 2022 Siebel Scholars
Five Bioengineering PhD students have been named Siebel Scholars of the class of 2022: Kristen Cotner, K.L. Barry Fung, Kazuomori Lewis, Alden Moss, and Soo Hyun Shin. The Siebel Scholars program annually recognizes top students at the world’s leading graduate schools of bioengineering, business, computer science and energy science.