Bioengineering

Scientists use molecular ‘lock and key’ for potential control of GMOs

06/17/15 — UC Berkeley bioengineers have developed an easy way to put bacteria under a molecular lock and key in order to contain its accidental spread. The method shows promise as a practical method of biocontainment to safeguard advances in synthetic biology and genetic engineering.

Enhanced microscopic resolution for improved diagnostics

06/17/15 — Researchers in the Waller Lab aim to make diagnosing diseases easier by algorithmically boosting the power of ordinary optical devices.

More women in engineering – what’s working?

06/17/15 — From Dean Sastry: In order to increase the representation of women in engineering, we are moving beyond good intentions with proven strategies for sustaining their interest and fostering leadership.

Bay-Area startup spins lab-grown silk

06/04/15 Bloomberg Business — David Breslauer (Ph.D'10 BioE) is the chief scientific officer of Bolt Threads, a startup company developing technology to genetically modify yeast to produce silk-like proteins - a potentially revolutionary development for the apparel industry.

A way to brew morphine raises concerns over regulation

05/20/15 New York Times — A fermentation process that produces heroin's raw ingredient has stirred debate over whether the drug trafficking trade could benefit more than the pharmaceutical industry.

Discovery paves way for homebrewed drugs, prompts call for regulation

05/18/15 — Research led by Berkeley bioengineers has completed key steps needed to turn sugar-fed yeast into a microbial factory for producing therapeutic drugs. But because the work could lead to home-brewing of opiates and other controlled substances, the researchers warn that regulators and law enforcement need to pay attention, too.

Drug perks up old muscles and aging brains

05/13/15 — UC Berkeley bioengineers have discovered that a small-molecule drug simultaneously perks up old stem cells in the brains and muscles of mice, a finding that could lead to drug interventions for humans that would make aging tissues throughout the body act young again.

Smartphone video microscope automates detection of parasites

05/06/15 — A UC Berkeley-led research team has developed a mobile phone microscope, based on CellScope technology from bioengineer Daniel Fletcher's lab, that uses video to automatically detect and quantify infection by parasitic worms in a drop of blood.

Fostering disruptive technologies

05/01/15 — The Bakar Fellows program supports faculty who are trying to translate research into commercialized technologies.

Illustration of syntetic biology on Mars

The many frontiers of synthetic biology

05/01/15 — Better drug delivery systems and provisioning deep space missions are among the new ideas emerging from synthetic biology research.

Charvi Shetty and a prototype of her affordable monitoring device.

KNOX Diagnostics

05/01/15 — Knox Diagnostics is a new medical device company that is working on a cheaper and more portable asthma monitoring device.

‘Intelligent design’ — can it deliver?

04/28/15 Berkeley Research — Berkeley bioengineer David Schaffer uses a strategy known as directed evolution to find variations in a common virus that will allow it to effectively deliver drugs to target cells.

The cyber-biophysical research frontier

04/16/15 — Cyber-biophysical systems, our newest research field, integrates sensing, computational and communications networks with human biology.

Synthetic coatings: Super surfaces

03/26/15 Nature — Characteristics adapted from lizards, ivy and other natural materials could help to engineer everyday objects with remarkable properties. Professor Phillip Messersmith, a Berkeley materials scientist and bioengineer, is studying mussel adhesive, which is ideal for securing objects underwater.

EECS professor Ana Claidia Arias demonstrates her wearable MRI wrap to Barbara Bakar and Arnold Silverman.

Bakar Fellows show off their discoveries to tech entrepreneurship world

03/25/15 — Sixteen UC Berkeley faculty, including many Berkeley Engineers, who are conducting commercially promising research supported by the Bakar Fellows Program traveled to San Francisco to deepen their connections with prominent venture capital firms, industry partners and entrepreneurs.

‘Smart bandage’ detects bedsores before they are visible to doctors

03/18/15 — Berkeley engineers have created a “smart bandage” that uses electrical currents to detect tissue damage from pressure ulcers, or bedsores, before they can be seen - while recovery is still possible.

Cyborg beetle research allows free-flight study of insects

03/16/15 — Remote-controlled beetles equipped with radio backpacks are showcasing the potential of miniature electronics in biological research led by Berkeley engineers and Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.

Bioengineers put human hearts on a chip

03/09/15 — Researchers have created a “heart-on-a-chip” technology that effectively uses human cardiac muscle cells derived from adult stem cells to model how a human heart reacts to cardiovascular medications. The system could one day replace animal models to screen for the safety and efficacy of new drugs.

Generation innovation: battling neglected tropical diseases

02/25/15 Blum Center — The career trajectory of Ashley Tsai, bioengineering and material science major, was transformed by a Global Policy and Practice experience at Kohn Kaen University in Thailand, where she researched liver fluke infections, a disease common among the rural poor in many countries.

John Dueber (right) and bioengineering graduate student Zach Russ examine a culture of indigo-producing E. coli bacteria.

Greener blue jeans

02/23/15 Berkeley Research — The indigo that dyes your favorite pair of jeans blue is wildly popular, but very "dirty" to synthesize chemically. Bioengineering professor and Bakar fellow John Dueber thinks he has found an environmentally green way for industry to churn out the dye without toxic compounds.