Keasling participates in CNN Future Summit Division Head Jay Keasling participated in the first of four roundtable
discussions about how technology is shaping our future. In a global initiative,
CNN has gathered some of the world's leading futurologists in genetics, stem
cells, robotics and cybernetics to examine the ways science is working
to fix, augment and duplicate the human body. Originating from
Singapore, the show originally aired on CNN International on June
15.
Read more
about CNN Future Summit -->
Building on the extraordinary advances in
temporal and spatial resolution and breakthroughs in modern computational
and theoretical science, the
Physical Biosciences
Division aims to catalyze the development of biology as
a quantitative, predictive science.
Safety
inspections a success, but PBD maintains proactive stance
Inspections
by the Lab’s external peer review committee last month
were a success. The committee was impressed by how everyone in
the Division, from undergraduates to Director Keasling,
takes safety seriously. But we cannot rest on our laurels – safety
remains a top priority for the Division and the Lab. Please continue
to inspect your spaces on a monthly basis. Watch for our
annual safety self-assessment and picnic in March, as well as
safety training for supervisors. More info at the PBD EH&S website
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Custom microbes, at
your service: Synthetic biology featured in NYT
There are bacteria that blink on and off like Christmas tree lights and bacteria
that form multicolored patterns of concentric circles resembling an archery target.
Yet others can reproduce photographic images. These are not strange-but-true
specimens from nature, but rather the early tinkering of synthetic biologists,
who seek to create living machines and biological devices that can perform novel
tasks. Berkeley Lab's Jay Keasling is trying to take up to 12 genes from the
wormwood tree and yeast and get them to work together in E. coli bacteria to
produce artemisinin, a malaria drug now extracted from the wormwood tree. More
in the Jan 17 issue of the New York Times.
PBD is playing a major role in the Lab's efforts to develop renewable,
carbon-neutral energy sources for the future. Read
more -->
Safety
inspections a success, but PBD maintains proactive stance 
