Impact Area: the Environment
Bioengineering is ideally placed to address environmental problems in our warming world. Our faculty and students are always looking for ways to apply their research to solving challenges in climate change, agriculture, environmental remediation, green manufacturing, and more.
News About: Environmental Impact
Pivot Bio is using microbial nitrogen to make agriculture more sustainable
Co-founded by BioE alumnus Karsten Temme, Pivot is bringing cleaner nitrogen to American farmland.
New recyclable adhesives can be easily adapted for medical, consumer and industrial applications
Messersmith Lab has created a family of polymers from a stabilized alpha-lipoic acid which could lead to versatile, high-performance and environmentally friendly recyclable adhesives.
Putting on the heat
Professor Seung-Wuk Lee discusses pyroelectricity: the finding that viruses can generate electricity when exposed to heat, and how this may pave the way for next-generation biosensors and diagnostic tools.
Cool it down
How isochoric preservation can protect food, organs — and even the planet. Professor Boris Rubinsky discusses the state of the art in cryogenics and preservation.
Viral Pyroelectricity with Seung-Wuk Lee
Professor Seung-Wuk Lee discusses pyroelectricity: the finding that viruses can generate electricity when exposed to heat, and how this may pave the way for next-generation biosensors and diagnostic tools.
Bakar ClimatEnginuity Hub: Berkeley’s new home for climate innovation
Professor David Schaffer will lead the new Bakar ClimatEnginuity Hub, an incubator that will provide resources and support to entrepreneurs in renewable energy and clean technology.
Berkeley’s ecosystem of innovation, entrepreneurship combats climate change
Professors John Dueber and David Schaffer are featured in this article highlighting campus research and entrepreneurship in sustainability.
Rubinsky’s coral preservation work featured on PBS News
Professor Emeritus Boris Rubinsky’s isochoric vitrification method of preserving coral samples in suspended animation is part of recent emergency efforts to save dying coral reefs. The method is being used by the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.
Herr Lab receives grant to study marine symbiosis in a warming world
The Herr Lab has been awarded a 3-year ‘Symbiosis’ grant from the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation, geared towards designing and disseminating microfluidic tools to power new understanding of marine symbiotic systems – like coral reefs – adversely impacted by rising sea temperatures and other climate-associated stresses. Herr’s lab welcomes two new postdoctoral scholars, Drs. Fangchen Liu and Cyril Deroy, and is collaborating with experts in coral systems from the Carnegie Institution for Science (Prof. Phillip Cleves) and the University of Miami (Prof. Nikki Traylor-Knowles).
Two alumni innovations named to Time 2023 Best Inventions
Two PhD alumni have innovations named to the Time Magazine 200 Best Inventions of 2023 list. The Cala kIQ, developed by Cala Health, founded by alumna Kate Rosenbluth, is a wearable device that assists patients with Essential Tremor and Parkinson’s. Proven 40 OS is a fertilizer using naturally occurring microbes to reduce emissions and pollution while producing higher crop yields – developed by Pivot Bio, founded by alumnus Karsten Temme.