Health

Heavy metals listed in the periodic table

Scientists recruit new atomic heavyweights in targeted fight against cancer

12/14/20 Berkeley Lab — Methods from team led by nuclear engineering assistant professor Rebecca Abergel could lead to systems for both diagnosing and treating cancer in real time

Exploded view of N95 mask, and assembled prototype modeled by undergrad researcher Jason Duckering

Anti-COVID mask breaks the mold

12/10/20 LBL — Scientists from Berkeley Engineering and Berkeley Lab have designed a rechargeable N95 mask with a custom fit

Illustration of cellphone checking for coronavirus RNA

CRISPR-based COVID-19 test uses smartphone cameras

12/04/20 — New diagnostic test, with accurate results in under 30 minutes, developed by scientists at Berkeley (including bioengineer Daniel Fletcher) and Gladstone Institutes

Graphic of Lucira coronavirus test device and 4-step instructions

Home coronavirus test springs from Berkeley Engineering roots

11/18/20 — First FDA-approved, rapid test for home use was developed by Lucira Health, founded by bioengineering Ph.D. graduates Debkishore Mitra and John Waldeisen

A newborn infant receives supplemental warming while getting skin-to-skin contact with the mother

Patents for Humanity honors Berkeley-designed infant warmer

11/05/20 — An infant-warming device developed by civil and environmental engineering professor Ashok Gadgil and a Berkeley Lab colleague received an honorable mention

Ashok Gadgil and Ph.D. student Dana Hernandez, right, test new technology at Gadgil’s lab.

Safe to drink

11/05/20 — Professor Ashok Gadgil has found an affordable, scalable way to remove arsenic from drinking water.

The way it moves

11/05/20 — Bioengineers have determined how tumor cells adhere to and move through brain tissue.

Young again

11/05/20 — Diluting the blood plasma of older mice has rejuvenating effects on the body, bioengineering researchers have learned.

Graphic with images of coronavirus superimposed over map of COVID-19 hot spots in the U.S.

Berkeley Engineering takes on COVID-19

11/05/20 — In response to the pandemic, engineers at Berkeley pivoted their research to help test, treat and heal a growing number of patients.

UC Berkeley workers remove a wastewater autosampler from a sewer drain

Tracking COVID-19 in our sewers

10/29/20 — Berkeley civil engineers have developed a rapid, low-cost and effective method to test for the presence of the coronavirus in wastewater flowing through municipal sewer systems

UC Berkeley accelerates bio-preservation research as part of $26M NSF center

08/04/20 — The Advanced Technologies for the Preservation of Biological Systems (ATP-Bio) center could dramatically expand organ transplant options

Illustration of masked community members

Fung Institute responds to COVID-19

07/14/20 — How various members of the Fung Institute community take initiative to support COVID-19 response

Berkeley team creates respiratory devices from sleep apnea machines

07/07/20 — Resourceful and affordable, about 600 apparatuses from Grace O'Connell's lab head to Ecuador this month

Robot see, robot do, AI-style

06/17/20 Engadget — Berkeley Engineering researchers, in collaboration with an Intel team, have taught a surgical robot to suture by showing it surgical videos of actual doctors.

Slide of mouse muscle fibers before and after plasma rejuvenation therapy

Diluting blood plasma rejuvenates tissue, reverses aging in mice

06/15/20 — A new study led bu bioengineering professor Irina Conboy suggests that plasma exchange could be the key to unlocking the body’s regenerative capacities

Michel Maharbiz delivering his TEDMED talk

Using neural dust to eavesdrop on our organs

06/11/20 — In this TEDMED talk, EECS professor Michel Maharbiz describes using extremely miniaturized implants to get a closer look at organs in real time

Scientists invent new ways to peer into the earliest stages of life

04/30/20 — Thanks to research led by Amy Herr, scientists can examine the crucial period when RNA molecules tell cells what they should do

Four lead researchers with masks standing outside.

Putting coronavirus antibody tests to the test

04/25/20 Berkeley News — Berkeley bioengineer Patrick Hsu and colleagues at UCSF found flaws in many of the 14 serology tests evaluated.

Low-cost, readily deployable respirators could help frontline healthcare workers

04/15/20 — Engineers develop powered air-purifying respirators that can be rapidly manufactured using widely available components

Rebecca Abergel in her lab holding a pill

Double duty

04/14/20 — A pill developed to treat radiation poisoning may also be effective in protecting MRI patients from the potentially toxic effects of gadolinium.