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Gene therapy using adeno-associated virus (AAV) has successfully restored sight to people with a rare inherited retinal degeneration, but current therapy requires injecting the virus directly into the retina. UC Berkeley researchers have evolved AAV so that it is able to penetrate the retina, allowing doctors to inject the virus and its gene load into the vitreous to reach all cells of the retina.
Tag: chemical engineering
Douglas Clark appointed new College of Chemistry dean
May 9, 2013:
Douglas Clark, the current chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and the Warren and Katharine Schlinger Distinguished Professor in Chemical Engineering, has been designated the new dean of the College of Chemistry.
Launch of antimalarial drug a triumph for UC Berkeley, synthetic biology
April 11, 2013:
The best therapy today for malaria is a drug combination that includes a derivative of artemisinin, now solely available from plants. On April 11, Sanofi began production of the first semi-synthetic version of artemisinin, derived from yeast developed by biotech company Amyris based on discoveries in the laboratory of Jay Keasling at UC Berkeley.
Campus poised to join Obama’s BRAIN initiative
April 2, 2013:
President Barack Obama has announced a major national initiative to understand how the brain works and how it goes awry. Neuroscientist John Ngai, chemist Paul Alivisatos and chemical engineer Jay Keasling were on hand at the White House to lend support to the so-called BRAIN initiative, which Ngai termed “our moon project.”
Making living matter programmable
March 26, 2013:
A dozen of the pioneers of synthetic biology gathered on campus March 25 to discuss the revolutionary potential of “programming life,” which some compared to the digital revolution. The event was co-hosted by SynBERC and Discover magazine.
Sweet diesel! Discovery resurrects process to convert sugar directly to diesel
November 7, 2012:
A long-abandoned fermentation process is being resurrected by UC Berkeley chemists and chemical engineers to produce compounds to feed a catalytic reaction that produces a fuel that looks and acts just like diesel. The fuel has a higher energy content than ethanol, and could help replace nonrenewable transportation fuels.
Synthetic biology pioneer Jay Keasling receives Heinz Award
September 12, 2012:
Jay Keasling, a leading authority and pioneer on synthetic biology who has engineered microbial “factories” to manufacture an affordable version of a frontline antimalarial drug and biofuel substitutes for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, has won a 2012 Heinz Award, which carries a cash prize of $250,000. Three of the four other winners are UC Berkeley grads.
Poolla, Cairns awarded Bosch energy grants
July 17, 2012:
The Bosch Energy Research Network has awarded chemical engineering professor Elton Cairns and mechanical engineering professor Kameshwar Poolla up to $150,000 over two years for research to reduce energy consumption and environmental impact. The awards are among seven announced July 17 after BERN reviewed 121 applications from five U.S. research universities.
Hot springs microbe yields record-breaking, heat-tolerant enzyme
July 5, 2011:
Scientists looking for unusual cellulose-digesting enzymes, called cellulases, have found one that works at a higher temperature, 109 degrees Celsius, than any others found to date. The cellulase comes from an Archaea found in a Nevada hot spring.
