Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab

@biosci.lbl.gov

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Official account of the Biosciences Area of @BerkeleyLab Solving challenges in energy, environment, health, and biomanufacturing. Re-post ≠ Endorsement

Two people wearing protective glasses stand next to each other, smiling in front of a tall, complex lab instrument, a cryogenic electron microscope, with many cables and large metal parts.
Person with dark shoulder-length hair wearing a dark long-sleeve t-shirt and jeans stands near some large rocks in front of the facade of a building with a large number 92.
Colorful graphic with a photo of a researcher and a quote about how observing promiscuous protein binding enabled the creation of an enzyme 10x more active than previous designs.
Three people wearing headphones sit around a table with microphones. In the background hangs a banner reading Let's Get Nuclear with an atom symbol logo.
Showers photographed while receiving shipments at the Joint BioEnergy Institute. (Credit: Robinson Kuntz/Berkeley Lab)
Researchers studied the crystallized complex (sample shown in microscope field of view above) of the PI3Kα protein bound to their newly identified inhibitor, using x-ray crystallography to resolve the fine details of how the inhibitor blocks a major cancer growth pathway. (Credit: Steffen Bernard/Vividion Therapeutics)
Researchers used a catalyst containing polyoxometalate (POM) salts to break down lignin’s carbon-based backbone, resulting in the production of a standardized source material for biomanufacturing processes. (Illustration by Bianca Susara)
Illustration depicting how a curated community of microbes found on and around plant roots can help plants better recover from drought stress. (Credit: Celisa Cortes)
Graphic showing logos for American Society for Microbiology and American Academy of Microbiology. Text reads "Class of 2026 American Academy of Microbiology Fellow." Inset headshot of Emiley Eloe-Fadrosh.
Schematic of a new AI-designed mini-TCR mimic (light blue) tightly bound to a tumor peptide (yellow). The high-resolution crystal structure of this complex, obtained at ALS Beamline 8.2.1, provided fine detail on protein–protein interactions required to confirm the new mimic’s specificity for its target. The precision and strength of this bond was capable of activating a cancer-fighting immune response. (Credit: Karsten Householder/Stanford)
Biosciences Area FY26 LDRDs by the numbers: 31 lead and co-PIs, 9 new projects, 10 ongoing projects, 5 early-career researchers, 4 multi-Area projects.
A hand wearing a purple protective glove pipettes solution into the port of a fabricated ecosystem (EcoFAB 2.0), a clear plastic box approximately the size of a take-out container, in which a small plant can be seen growing. (Credit: Thor Swift/Berkeley Lab)
Headshots of Berkeley Lab's Harshi Mukundan (top) and Los Alamos's Carrie Manore (bottom) against a blue background displaying logos of the two national laboratories.
DoS visualizations of predicted (AlphaFold, top) and experimental (NMR, bottom) interdomain orientation distributions for CASP16 target T1200 Staphylococcus aureus Protein A. (Credit: Allen McBride/Duke University)
Mechanical Engineer Nick Wenner, a member of the Engineering Small Project Support (EsPS) team, demonstrates the method for sealing each well in the small high-throughput pressure reactor he designed and built for use in specialized experiments. (Credit: Thor Swift, Berkeley Lab)
Headshot of Yasuo Yoshikuni with a quote from him on a background image from the study of green and read fluorescent shapes, "The serendipitous part is this yeast already had similar molecular mechanisms. Just mild tweaking was sufficient to convert the yeast into a cell factory for hydroxyapatite."
A cross-section of the crystal structure for the enzyme Pks13 (the surface colored pink and blue by hydrophobicity) as it interacts with CMX410 (shown as stick-like structure), a new drug candidate for TB.
AIChE President Joseph D. Smith (left) congratulates 2025 Shining Star Award recipient, ABPDU's Chang Dou.
A postcard with headshots of the awardees in hexagonal shapes and the Director's Award logo.
Clockwise from top left: Thasneem Frousnoon, Laura Cook, Marta Cerruti, Jacob Rapp, Heejung Cho, and Jaya Tripathi.
Left: The Protein Society 2025 Fellows logo. Right: Woman with short auburn hair wearing a colorful scarf and black top.
Woman with long wavy brown hair and bangs wearing safety goggles, white lab coat, and blue gloves holding a petri dish in a laboratory setting.
Digital rendering of coxsackievirus.
A nurse shark against a background of clear blue water.