UC receives patent for use of CRISPR-Cas9 to tune gene expression
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent that covers methods of modulating DNA transcription using the CRISPR-Cas9 system.
Largest, fastest array of microscopic ‘traffic cops’ for optical communications
Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley have built a new photonic switch that can control the direction of light passing through optical fibers faster and more efficiently than ever. This optical “traffic cop” could one day revolutionize how information travels through data centers and high-performance supercomputers that are used for artificial intelligence and other data-intensive applications.
New CRISPR-powered device detects genetic mutations in minutes
A team of engineers at the UC Berkeley and the Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) of The Claremont Colleges combined CRISPR with electronic transistors made from graphene to create a new hand-held device that can detect specific genetic mutations in a matter of minutes.
UC awarded third CRISPR patent, expanding its gene-editing portfolio
The University of California announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued U.S. Patent Number 10,227,611 covering use of single-molecule RNA guides and Cas9 protein in any cell, thus creating efficient and effective ways for scientists to target and edit genes.
Gene Therapy gets a Boost
With support from the Bakar Fellows Program, David Schaffer is working on one of the first gene therapies to be approved for clinical use. The therapy acts to restore vision in children with a rare and previously incurable disease called Leber's congenital amaurosis type 2.
Highlighting Disease by Making the Body Transparent
It’s still some years off, but Steven Conolly aims to see disease in a totally new way. He leads research on an emerging Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) technology that already can peer past tissue or organs to detect disease deep within the body.
Beyond Hormonal Birth Control
Nearly 40 percent of women worldwide stop using birth control pills within a year – mainly due to side effects such as depression, weight gain, bleeding between periods and blood clots. Research by Polina Lishko on a non-hormonal contraceptive is showing promise as a new birth control alternative.
U.S. patent office indicates it will issue third CRISPR patent to UC
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a notice of allowance for a University of California patent application covering systems and methods for using single molecule guide RNAs that, when combined with the Cas9 protein, create more efficient and effective ways for scientists to target and edit genes.
Literally Switching Strategies to Handle the Internet Data Flood
Cloud applications and the ever-increasing demand by large enterprises to transmit and analyze “big data” are stretching the capacity of even the largest data center servers as traditional switches become data flow bottlenecks. Ming Wu has invented a new optical, or photonic, switch capable of record-breaking speed that can be fabricated as integrated circuits so they can be mass-produced, keeping the cost per device low.
Turning cars into robot traffic managers
Self-driving cars may one day do more than just get us from point A to point B. By adjusting their speed and position while they merge they could also help reduce the bottlenecks and random slowdowns on busy thoroughfares like the Bay Bridge, getting us where we’re going faster and more efficiently than if we all drove ourselves.
Patent awarded for DNA-targeting complex at heart of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing
The University of California announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted U.S. Patent Number 10,113,167, covering unique RNA guides that, when combined with the Cas9 protein, are effective at homing in on and editing genes.
New test rapidly identifies antibiotic-resistant ‘superbugs’
The technique could help doctors prescribe the right antibiotics fast.
Xu, Titov receive million-dollar New Innovator awards
Two young faculty members — assistant professors Ke Xu of chemistry and Denis Titov of molecular and cell biology — were among 89 recipients of “high-risk, high-reward” grants announced last week by the National Institutes of Health.
CZ Biohub awards $13.7 million for new collaborative health research
The Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, a nonprofit medical research organization, announced that it is awarding $13.7 million over three years to support cutting-edge biomedical research from seven teams of scientists, physicians and engineers, with faculty members from UC Berkeley, UCSF and Stanford.
UC Berkeley startup accelerator gets a boost from venture fund
SkyDeck, UC Berkeley's accelerator and incubator, is accelerating its own growth. A new venture fund enables SkyDeck to invest $100,000 in the companies in its accelerator, and its accepting a broader and more global range of entrepreneurs, tripling its adviser group and doubling its office size.
Five innovators join the ranks of the Bakar Fellows
Five UC Berkeley faculty innovators 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.
Urban Resilience: Hiding in Plain Sight
More than 1,500 abandoned parcels of land lie scattered throughout San Francisco, from unused alleys to vacant parking lots and public easements. The combined area rivals the size of Golden Gate Park. By integrating the potent tools of digital mapping with digital design technology used in architecture and engineering, Nicholas de Monchaux has created a new way to envision these many unused and underused sites together.
CRISPR-EZ: Improving on a Good Thing
Lin He’s lab uses CRISPR technology to study how different genetic elements in a mouse embryo’s cell nucleus – genes that encode proteins, functional RNAs, and repetitive sequences – interact to assure normal development or trigger cancer.
Ramping up Production of Vital Industrial Products
Jamie Cate is studying stains of yeast that can handle industrial conditions to create a new platform organism for new biofuels and a range of industrial chemicals.
Medical Exams: There’s an App for That
Your cell phone can already find your car and tell you what song the restaurant is playing. How about an app to screen for eye disease? By coupling the sophisticated imaging capabilities of smart phone cameras with lenses and software for examining the retina, Daniel Fletcher and his students have developed a hand-held, user-friendly version of the optometrist’s ophthalmoscope and are teaming up with clinical collaborators to detect retinal disease caused by diabetes.
Smart Materials: Getting the Sun to Pull Down the Shade
When a car seat heats up on a hot day, it just gets.... hot. But some materials become totally transformed by the sun’s heat. They undergo a kind of Jekyll and Hyde reversal called a phase change. They turn from insulators to metals. Junqiao Wu is exploiting the most remarkable of these compounds, called vanadium dioxide, to devise ways to cool buildings, winter-proof car engines, and even create novel sunglasses.
Mechanical Engineering To Aid Back Surgery
Lower back pain is not as common as the common cold. But it’s close. About 80 percent of people suffer back pain sooner or later.
Haas Startup Squad connects MBA students to Skydeck
Ludwig Schoenack is known as “the connector” in UC Berkeley startup circles. It’s an apt nickname the MBA student, who just launched the Haas Startup Squad, a team of matchmakers who help connect Haas students to entrepreneurs at the UC Berkeley incubator, Skydeck.
Computer Vision to Protect Patients — and Budgets
Alexandre Bayen and PhD student Pulkit Agrawal developed a computer vision-based system to help memory care centers monitor patient falls and to reduce them where possible.
Three innovators elected to National Academy of Inventors
Three faculty members – Tsu-Jae King Liu and Eli Yablonovitch of electrical engineering and computer sciences and Daniel Portnoy of molecular and cell biology and public health – have been named fellows of the National Academy of Inventors.
New robots can see into their future
Researchers have developed a robotic learning technology that enables robots to imagine the future of their actions so they can figure out how to manipulate objects they have never encountered before.
Blockchain Lab receives campus-first Bitcoin donation
The Blockchain Lab received the campus’s first ever donation in Bitcoin, worth more than $50,000.
Doctoral student wins Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award
Doctoral candidate Dan Hammer has been awarded the first-ever Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award for his work to make satellite imagery more accessible and understandable for journalists who are reporting on the environment.
Berkeley startup to train robots like puppets
Robots today must be programmed by writing computer code, but imagine donning a VR headset and virtually guiding a robot through a task and then letting the robot take it from there.
Fed up, two UC Berkeley students launch tool to spot Twitter bots
Two UC Berkeley undergraduate computer science students are doing what they say Twitter won’t: sorting out and tagging the angry propaganda bots designed to undermine, destabilize and inflame American political discourse.
$1.5 million ‘New Innovator’ grants to two young faculty members
Two UC Berkeley assistant professors have received New Innovator Awards from the National Institutes of Health to pursue high-risk, high-reward work that could have implications for human health.
Visionary Award honors three Berkeley intellects shaping the future
Amy Herr, Scott Shenker, and Mike Cohen are powerhouses at UC Berkeley, and all three are winners of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce’s Visionary of the Year award.
Student-designed medical device wins Fast Company award
A student-designed medical device to diagnose pneumonia has been named the winner of the student category of Fast Company‘s 2017 Innovation by Design Awards.
UC Berkeley Sutardja Center launches new lab to take on $1 trillion meat industry
The new alt.meat lab will enable engineering, science, and entrepreneurship students to utilize high-tech approaches to create plant-based meat alternatives targeted at satisfying meat lovers
Biomedical startups featured in the New York Times
Two biomedical startups founded by current and former UC Berkeley students are making big news for their small devices that monitor asthma and heart health. These medical devices started as senior design projects in the BioE 192 Senior Capstone Design course and are now on the pages of the New York Times.
European Patent Office to grant UC a broad patent on CRISPR-Cas9
The European Patent Office (EPO) has announced its intention to grant a broad patent for the revolutionary CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology to the University of California, the University of Vienna and Emmanuelle Charpentier.
In a sample of blood, researchers probe for cancer clues
A new study, led by bioengineers at UC Berkeley, has taken an important step in that direction by measuring a panel of cancer proteins in rare, individual tumor cells that float in the blood.
UC Berkeley, power company Enel launch innovation hub
The UC Berkeley campus has a new innovation hub that is the result of a partnership between Enel, a multinational power company, and the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) and the Banatao Institute.
Physiological Changes Tracked Moment to Moment
Imbedded in a sweatband, a network of sensors devised by Ali Javey can monitor moment-by-moment changes in electrolytes and metabolites, a potential boon to weekend athletes, diabetics and people exposed to heavy metal concentrations.
Trading in the Scalpel for a Sharper Blade
Bakar Fellow Kathy Collins develops techniques to capture genetic information embedded in cancer cells’ RNA — a new tool to improve cancer diagnosis and treatment.
“Editing” New Metamaterials Brings Light Into Focus
Jie Yao has developed a technique to readily change the structure of thin sheets of “metamaterials” so that they can focus light in an entirely new and commercially promising way.
New Bakar Fellows director sees Berkeley’s entrepreneurial spirit in faculty
UC Berkeley is known as No. 1 for producing serial entrepreneurs, and that fearless ethos doesn’t drive only our students. It also drives our faculty, says Amy Herr, the faculty director of the Bakar Fellows Program.
Crowdfunding expands innovation financing to underserved regions
Crowdfunding platforms, such as Kickstarter, have opened a funding spigot to startups in regions that have suffered from a venture capital drought, a new UC Berkeley study shows.
Green light for Berkeley: Feds move on $11 million for S.F. transit innovation
The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the City of San Francisco and its partner UC Berkeley $11 million to fund six innovative projects aimed at reducing traffic congestion and creating a safer and more efficient transportation system.
Berkeley innovators named fellows of National Academy of Inventors
Three UC Berkeley faculty members and entrepreneurs have been named fellows of the National Academy of Inventors.
In startup sweepstakes, it’s Cal vs. Stanford
Once again, Stanford and UC Berkeley were neck and neck in competing for the largest number of tech startups created by undergraduate alums, according to the industry analytics firm PitchBook.
$4.6 million grant to improve how automated cars, drones interact with humans
As companies contemplate putting self-driving cars on our city streets, driverless trucks on our freeways and autonomous delivery drones overhead, UC Berkeley engineers are embarking on a major project to improve the safety of these vehicles and how they interact with humans.
UC Berkeley launches Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence
UC Berkeley artificial intelligence (AI) expert Stuart Russell will lead a new Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence, launched this week.
Study: Berkeley, UC startups vital to California’s economy
As a vital engine of California’s economy, UC Berkeley has been generating startups at an ever-faster rate in recent years and stimulating more and more companies and jobs.
Six at Berkeley receive new 30 Under 30 Award for global food crisis work
Six of 30 young people honored today by the University of California for their innovative work helping to solve the global food crisis are from the Berkeley campus.