Yartsev shows a stable hippocampal code in freely flying bats

bat

Neural activity in the hippocampus is known to reflect how animals move through an environment. Using innovative wireless miniature microscopy technology in flying bats, Professor Michael Yarsev’s lab has resolved a long-standing scientific debate about the stability of those neural codes.

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NHS begins use of BioE-pioneered Nanoknife

illustration of nanoknife in use

Non Thermal Irreversible Electroporation treatment, developed by Bioenginering and Mechanical Engineering professor Boris Rubinsky, is now the technology behind the Nanoknife. Licensed from Berkeley by AngioDynamics, the Nanoknife uses electric currents to quickly and easily reach remote tumors in prostate cancer. University College London Hospital was recently the first hospital to use the treatment in…

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CRISPR-Chip named 2021 Top 10 Innovation by The Scientist

Developed by former BioE postdoc Kiana Aran, the CRISPR-Chip now in use in Cardea Bio’s CRISPR-SNP-Chip has been named one of 2021’s Top 10 Innovations by The Scientist magazine. The new chip is the first device capable of detecting single base differences in DNA without generating millions of copies of the DNA first.

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Right off the bats

photo collage of yartsev and bats

What the only flying mammal can teach us about the brain:
Professor Michael Yartsev’s unique flight room and studies of the neural circuitry of Egyptian fruit bats are yielding fascinating insights into the capabilities of the mammalian brain — including navigation, communication, and language.

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Bat study reveals secrets of the social brain

bat

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.

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Synthetic biology moves into the realm of the unnatural

model of artificial metalloenzyme produced through synthetic biology

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.

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Can bats help us design a better driverless car?

photo of Yartsev near trees

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.

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The Science of Antiaging

Conboy photo

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.

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