Taking aim at the global health problem of malaria, which infects 250 million people worldwide every year and kills one child every 45 seconds in Africa alone, UC Berkeley researchers in the frontier field of synthetic biology re-engineered yeast to produce the antimalarial drug artemisinin. The development of this semi-synthetic compound through cutting-edge research and public-private collaboration ensures an affordable, reliable supply of artemisinin, and promises enormous spin-off potential in the production of other drugs, specialty chemicals and fuels.
The Energy Biosciences Institute at UC Berkeley is leading the world’s quest to transition from today’s carbon-based energy economy.
Building on his work at Berkeley, biochemistry professor Edward Penhoet co-founded Chiron in 1981 to develop diagnostic tools and biopharmaceuticals to tackle a range of diseases and conditions, including cancer, HIV, malaria, multiple sclerosis and cystic fibrosis. Best known for its work discovering the virus that causes hepatitis C and the subsequent development of screening methods to reduce the risk of contracting the virus via blood transfusion, the biotech powerhouse also developed the first vaccine for the hepatitis B virus. In 2006, pharmaceutical giant Novartis acquired Chiron for $5.4 billion.
Virtually every electronic microchip developed in the world today is the product of SPICE computer simulation software, or one of the modeling program’s derivatives. Based on Department of Defense-funded research conducted at Berkeley during the 1960s, the original SPICE program was developed in 1972 under the direction of Donald Pederson. Later, A. Richard Newton, professor of engineering, collaborated on crafting the software for automated electronic design in the semiconductor and integrated circuit industries. In 1983, Newton co-founded electronic design automation firm SDA Systems, which later merged with competitor ECAD to form Cadence Design Systems. Valued at $30 million at the time of the merger, Cadence has a market value of $2.68 billion, with annual revenues of $935 million and assets of $1.4 billion.
The research of Robert Tjian, professor of molecular and cell biology, has provided new insights into the molecular mechanisms that underlie a host of human diseases and conditions from Huntington’s disease and cancer to diabetes and infertility. Seeking to understand how genes are controlled inside the cell, Tjian’s work focuses on proteins that regulate the expression of genes and their role in cell malfunction and disease. Tjian identified the first gene-specific transcription factor in a human cell and later co-founded Tularik to develop pharmaceuticals that regulate malfunctioning genes. Amgen, one of the world’s largest biotech firms, acquired Tularik in 2004 for $1.3 billion.
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