Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab

@biosci

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

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Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· 1d

When people ingest shellfish harvested from waters affected by a red tide, the harmful saxitoxin can lead to paralytic shellfish poisoning. No antidote exists, but researchers recently confirmed a naturally occurring protein in frogs can reverse the lethal effects of red tide toxin in mice. Link 👇.

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· 4d

Faces are one of the most diverse anatomical features, but how can the facial structure of birds and mammals vary so drastically when we share the majority of our DNA? Work from #BioEGSB researchers Laura Cook and @axelvisel.bsky.social uncovers what may be the driving force of facial morphology.

A collage highlighting the differences in faces between birds and mammals, the top column contains 5 birds, the bottom column contains 5 rodents.

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· 7d

A hidden treasure lies within lignin—every year 100 million tons of lignin is produced, yet most of it is wasted. Researchers at @berkeleylab.lbl.gov developed a scalable method for turning lignin into benzylamines, chemicals used in the production of dye, fertilizer, pesticide, and pharmaceuticals

Two researchers in lab coats and safety glasses hold a beaker of dark liquid and a dish of brown powder in a lab.

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· 11d

Jack here! I toured the SIBYLS Beamline at the @als.lbl.gov with #BioMBIB researcher Scott Classen. Scott is working on BilboMD, a computational platform for predicting protein structures based off real world X-ray data. The website is free, making it super easy for other researchers to use.✨

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· 13d

Today is #NationalInternDay, and we are thrilled to spotlight Jack Addison, a SULI intern who has worked with our communications team this summer. Jack has been the creative force behind our first-person social media content. Thank you for helping us share the story of Biosciences Area research!

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· 13d

Today we wrap up our retiree celebration by wishing Bill Jagust all the best as he embarks on a new chapter after 39 years on #TeamBioSci. He redefined the PET brain imaging program using new tracers to study aging and dementia and will continue as a professor at UC Berkeley. Congratulations, Bill!

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· 14d

Berkeley Lab researchers combined experimental data with AI and supercomputers to develop a new web-based platform that accelerates structural insights. Learn about how they're bringing a new angle to studying proteins: https://biosciences.lbl.gov/2026/07/27/a-new-angle-for-studying-proteins/

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· 16d

Continuing our retiree celebration, today we acknowledge Olga Diaz's 21+ years with Berkeley Lab—18 of them as executive assistant to @jbei.lbl.gov CEO Jay Keasling @keaslinglab.bsky.social . Thanks for supporting science on #TeamBioSci, Olga!

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· 20d

Congratulations to Eltra Green on her impending retirement at the end of the year. As business manager for the Biosciences at Berkeley Operations Center, Eltra has kept us "in the pink"—her favorite color 🩷. #TeamBioSci wishes you all the best! 🎉

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· 20d

Today we're kicking off a celebration of our 2026 retirees by acknowledging Wendi Lynch's 10 years of service as a senior administrator for the @jgi.doe.gov. Thank you for supporting science on #TeamBioSci, Wendi. Enjoy your next adventure!

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· 21d

Hi, Jack here! I recently met #BioEGSB’s Peter Andeer for a tour of the EcoBOT self-driving lab. The latest in a line of evolving plant–microbe 🌱🦠 research tech developed at Berkeley Lab, EcoBOT autonomously manages small ecosystems, EcoFABs, that control growth conditions to the microbial level 🧫.

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· 29d

A recent article about fungal dye production included work by @jbei.lbl.gov & #BioBSE scientist Aindrila Mukhopadhyay. Making synthetic indigo is a toxic process. Aindrila’s team engineered genes into the fungus Rhodosporidium Toruloides to naturally produce the similar indigoidine dye. Read more 👇.

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· Jul 7

Built by a team of Berkeley Lab biologists, mathematicians, and engineers, EcoBOT is a self-driving lab that uses advanced computer vision to track plant growth with unprecedented precision. It then applies algorithms to analyze that data and autonomously design and perform follow-up experiments.

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· Jul 2

Hi all, Jack here! I recently toured Theia, the powerful custom cryo-EM project led by #BioMBIB scientist Holger Müller. Typical cryo-EMs sacrifice resolution for contrast; Theia uses a laser phase plate to increase contrast while maintaining a higher resolution thanks to its custom configuration.

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.

Cryogenic electron microscope interior with the tall microscope column, liquid nitrogen chamber, and numerous bundled cables and control modules. Text boxes on the image say, "Cryo-EMs start with an electron beam that passes through the specimen and into an objective lens. Theia uniquely has an abberation corrector and the laser phase plate." and "The liquid nitrogen freezes samples to about -190°C"

A researcher points towards an array of mirrors inside a cryogenic electron microscope cabinet while looking towards someone asking a question. The array surrounds the microscope body, cables and control modules are present in the background.

Lab laser optics with steel chamber holding a phase plate. In the background are cables, and an array of mirrors ends into an attached smaller chamber. Text boxes on the image say, "Here is where the laser enters to be focused by a pair of mirrors, building up the intensity to be the brightest continuous laser focus ever." And, "This chamber contains the laser phase plate."

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· Jun 29

Hi everyone, my name is Jack. I'm a SULI summer intern at Berkeley Lab. Over the next several weeks I’ll be creating posts sharing my experiences learning about cool research projects across the Biosciences Area. I hope you enjoy this series as I much as I enjoy making it!

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.

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· Jun 19

Congratulations to @jbei.lbl.gov's Corinne Scown on being named one of the 2026 Top Agri-food Pioneers by the World Food Prize Foundation! Scown's work focuses on modeling the economic and environmental impacts of advanced pathways to bio-based fuels and products. Link to read more in comments. 👇

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· Jun 18

Structural biology + AI-assisted computer modeling + Directed evolution = A faster path to protein design. By manipulating the “promiscuity” of a designed protein, a team including #BioMBIB faculty scientist James Fraser created two novel proteins with specialized functions. Link in comments. 👇

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.

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· Jun 12

Leveraging new tools and large-scale data mining, @jgi.doe.gov researchers nearly tripled the available fungal mitochondrial genome data, unlocking new potential for AI-driven studies of energy metabolism. 🍄 Read the full story: https://lnkd.in/guExxUg5

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· Jun 11

Phage Foundry lead @vivekmutalik.bsky.social was mentioned in a Q&A by Aeron Hammack of the @molecularfoundry.lbl.gov. Phages are bacterial antagonists useful in medicine; Phage Foundry is making a database of them. Mutalik’s team saves researchers resources by bypassing a demanding research phase.

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· Jun 5

Quantum tech is growing, but the industry faces a critical shortage of trained scientists and engineers. Berkeley Lab’s A-LIFT Office and Sandia National Laboratories are bridging this gap through the QCaMP program! Read more about our impact and how to get involved: go.lbl.gov/QCaMP

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· Jun 3

Nuclear medicine got it's start in what would become the Biosciences Area at @berkeleylab.lbl.gov. The field is now undergoing a massive evolution. Hear about the shift from traditional beta-emitting isotopes to the high-energy power of alpha emitters. 🎧 https://youtu.be/xHwxfi71RCE

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· May 28

How can quantum-related phenomena exist in the "warm, wet, and noisy" environments of living systems? A new @pnas.org perspective from @princeton.edu's Gregory Scholes and #BioMBIB’s Graham Fleming lays out where the field of quantum biology stands — and where it's going next.

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· May 27

At Berkeley Lab, we share our main campus with a plethora of critters—snakes, turkeys, deer, and bobcats, to name a few. But we don't have baby bison like @fermilab.bsky.social does! Enjoy a few pics courtesy of our fellow national lab colleagues for #WildlifeWednesday.

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· May 20

@ucsanfrancisco.bsky.social researchers led by #BioMBIB faculty scientist @fraserlab.com pioneered a new method to guide rapid design of super-powered proteins. They leveraged nat'l lab light sources including the @als.lbl.gov's beamline 8.3.1 run by fellow MBIB faculty scientist James Holton.

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· May 12

Gary Karpen, a senior faculty scientist in #BioBSE and @berkeleymcb.bsky.social professor, is among the 2026 class elected to the @nasonline.org. Karpen studies how the structure, organization, and maintenance of genetic material impact inheritance and cell function. go.lbl.gov/Karpen-NAS

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· May 7

Stop by the @berkeleylab.lbl.gov booth at #SynBioBeta2026 and learn how to work with the Agile BioFoundry and @jgi.doe.gov to access our resources!

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· May 6

A pair of recent studies involving scientists from #BioBSE shed new light on the potential dangers of thirdhand smoke—not just for cancer risk, but for brain health as well. They provide compelling evidence that environmental exposures interact with genetic variation to shape health outcomes.

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· Apr 14

Whether leading her team or supporting the work of the Women’s Support and Empowerment Council (WSEC) at @berkeleylab.lbl.gov, research scientist and WSEC vice-chair Lydia Rachbauer balances trust, innovation, and leadership. View highlights from a recent interview below. 👇 #BioBSE | @jbei.lbl.gov

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· Apr 10

Sadiki Showers, a material handler with the @jbei.lbl.gov , weaves his past experiences as a music promoter in the early days of hip hop into his current role. Learn more about the people #BehindtheBreakthroughs. https://biosciences.lbl.gov/2026/04/08/sadiki-showers-hip-hop-handler/

Showers photographed while receiving shipments at the Joint BioEnergy Institute. (Credit: Robinson Kuntz/Berkeley Lab)

Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab@biosci· Mar 30

Congratulations to #BioBSE's Abby Dernburg and Blake Simmons, who have been elected into the 2025 class of the @aaas.org ! Read more: https://biosciences.lbl.gov/2026/03/27/two-scientists-named-aaas-fellows/