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.

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.

@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.

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

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!

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.

Congratulations to #BioBSE's Gary Karpen on this honor!

Learn how the BioCircular Valley initiative is catalyzing waste reduction by converting byproducts from food and agriculture activities into new economic opportunities. 👀 ABPDU Program Manager James Gardner at 0:03! youtu.be/Da__T61Y8lU?...

At Berkeley Lab, OPAL team members are developing foundation models for microbial engineering and integrating these models with automated laboratory tools to accelerate experimentation. We are proud to be a partner in OPAL, working to bring the future of biological discovery to fruition!

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

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/

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/

We love our new reindeer moss wall in #BioEPIC @berkeleylab.lbl.gov . The design was sourced from a competition of BioEPIC staff and reflects the soil-microbe-plant interaction research performed in the building. (Created by: Planted Design) @eesaberkeleylab.bsky.social

Researchers identified a compound that selectively disrupts a hard-to-target tumor growth pathway and used beamline 5.0.2 at the Advanced Light Source to characterize the chemical interactions critical to its potency. Read more: https://als.lbl.gov/disrupting-cancers-broken-molecular-switch/

Congratulations to Chris Petzold and Katy Christiansen on taking on new roles. Chris will lead the Biodesign Department as Interim Head and assume the role of Chief Information Officer for the @jbei.lbl.gov . Katy will serve as the lead principal investigator of the Agile BioFoundry.

The Rosetta Stone and structural biology have more in common than you may think. Learn how our researchers are collaborating to create AI tools to crack the code of protein structures. go.lbl.gov/AQuaRef

A strategy developed @jbei.lbl.gov streamlines the process of converting lignin, a complex plant polymer, into starting materials for biomanufacturing processes. Read more about this research: www.jbei.org/breaking-thr...

The Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts Process Development Unit (ABPDU) is developing a biological digital twin to model the scaled production of lipids for jet fuel from engineered microbes.  Watch to learn what digital twins are and how they can help accelerate science: youtu.be/UKs89F-RTaM?...

Congratulations to Jennifer Doudna on being elected to the National Academy of Engineering, one of the highest professional honors for engineers in the U.S.! She is being recognized for her highly impactful work developing gene editing methods based on CRISPR-Cas9. Read more: go.lbl.gov/doudna-nae

Kanupriya Pande's group in #BioMBIB has an opening for a postdoctoral fellow to work on the development of computational methods and software for protein structure determination. Learn more and apply: jobs.lbl.gov/jobs/computa...

Our FY25 Progress Report is now live! We broke our own record by sequencing more than 1Pb of data in a year—on top of serving 2,627 users w/active proposals, plus 17K researchers making use of our data. 🖥️ 🧬 🌱 🍄 🦠 🧪 Full report: https://jgi.doe.gov/user-science/science-stories/2025-progress-report

Researchers in @eesaberkeleylab.bsky.social demonstrated that a synthetic microbial community, or SynCom, comprised of microbes found in the soil surrounding a plant's roots (rhizosphere) boosted plants' ability to recover from drought stress. Read more: go.lbl.gov/syncom

As biomanufacturing processes increase in scale, productivity often declines. A collaboration among the Agile BioFoundry, the ABPDU, and Enduro validated technology that sustains large-scale bioproduction over long periods of time, providing insight into the problem. Read more: go.lbl.gov/enduro

A custom small-batch reactor "allows researchers to explore broader chemical spaces, generate decision-ready data earlier in the research pipeline, and make more informed scale-up choices," says JBEI postdoc Vallari Chourasia, lead author of a study that demonstrated it's power. go.lbl.gov/EsPS

Congratulations to @jgi.doe.gov & @microbiomedata.org's @emileyeloe-fadrosh.bsky.social on her election as a Fellow of the @asm.org's American Academy of Microbiology! Read more: go.lbl.gov/Eloe-Fadrosh_AAM

Stanford researchers used AI to design a new T-cell receptor mimic and confirmed its precision for fighting cancer using protein x-ray crystallography at the Advanced Light Source's beamline 8.2.1. Read more: go.lbl.gov/TCR-mimic

The Laboratory Directed Research and Development program @berkeleylab.lbl.gov produces cutting-edge research for @departmentofenergy.bsky.social and the nation. Read about the Biosciences Area–led projects and multi-Area collaborations receiving funding this cycle: go.lbl.gov/bsafy26ldrds

Moving and inspirational words from #BioBSE secondary appointee Corinne Scown about why she does what she does. Thank you for sharing your story!

ICYMI: @berkeleyengineer.bsky.social's Seung-Wuk Lee, a faculty scientist in #BioBSE, pioneered a sustainable biomining approach using genetically engineered viruses to extract rare earth elements. Read more: go.lbl.gov/biomining

#BioBSE researchers Edward Baidoo and Deepika Awasthi are involved in a new collaboration with @carbonbridge.bsky.social that aims to transform almond oil from California’s North San Joaquin Valley into an affordable biosurfactant. Learn more: go.lbl.gov/carbonbridge

Delighted to be partnering with Argonne, Oak Ridge, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratories on OPAL!

Two routes were taken to optimize production of isoprenol, a synthetic aviation fuel precursor. #BioBSE researchers at the Joint BioEnergy Institute used AI, automation, and biosensors to design microbial “mini-factories.” @berkeleylab.lbl.gov go.lbl.gov/speeding-to-syn-jet-fuel

A global study showed that EcoFABs can deliver consistent results across labs on three continents, supported by open protocols, tools, and datasets. The reliable, large-scale data generated are ideal for training AI, which could accelerate discoveries in agriculture. go.lbl.gov/ecofab-ring-trial

BioCircular Valley is a project co–led by BEAM Circular, Berkeley Lab, and University of California partners to connect food and agricultural waste with the innovators who can turn these sidestreams into high-value #biobased products. Watch a video about a recent workshop: go.lbl.gov/BioCirV

"We need a scientific method for the use of AI in biology," says microbiologist and lead for biosecurity @berkeleylab.lbl.gov Harshi Mukundan. Listen to an interview where she and collaborator Carrie Manore of Los Alamos National Lab discuss the opportunities and risks: go.lbl.gov/AI-standards

Check out this cool study 👇 led by @cs.lbl.gov that involved #BioEGSB's Trent Northen, Peter Andeer, and the TWINS Ecosystem project team!

🚀 Big news for California’s #bioeconomy! BEAM Circular has acquired a state-of-the-art, 130-liter gas fermentation pilot system — a major milestone in building the California Bioeconomy Innovation Campus in Stanislaus County. #ABPDU @berkeleylab.lbl.gov 👉 www.beamcircular.org/news-updates...

Kudos to #BioEGSB senior faculty scientist Adam Arkin on this impactful work!

Computational and AI methods for structural biology prediction fall short in the face of proteins that morph as part of their function. A team of researchers at Duke University and Berkeley Lab defined the problem and devised statistical techniques to improve the models’ accuracy. go.lbl.gov/CASP16

Now out: The new ENCODE registry of candidate cis-regulatory elements (🐭/👶) Major consortium effort, led by @moorejille.bsky.social - stay tuned for her "meme-torial" www.nature.com/articles/s41... @berkeleylab.lbl.gov @biosci.lbl.gov

A new custom-designed small-batch chemical reactor designed by researchers at the ABPDU, JBEI, and the Engineering Division’s Engineering Small Project Support team will help bridge a critical gap in testing new chemistry processes before scaling them up. biosciences.lbl.gov/2025/12/11/c...

2025 Berkeley Lab Early Career Director's Award recipient Kateryna Zhalnina discusses her career path and what she's learned about how to be a successful researcher: research.lbl.gov/2025/12/10/e... View her top 4 tips 👇 #BioEGSB

Happy holidays to those who celebrate and best wishes for a peaceful close to 2025! We'll be back in the new year with more exciting science solutions that @berkeleylab.lbl.gov is bringing to the world.

Revisit one of @berkeleylab.lbl.gov's Big Science Stories of 2025: a new "pee-cycling" process using a modified yeast to produce a material from urine that can used to repair bones and teeth. go.lbl.gov/osteoyeast #BioEGSB| @jgi.doe.gov | @molecularfoundry.lbl.gov

Congrats to #BioEGSB affiliate scientist Ben Rubin and team on publication of @therubinlab.bsky.social's first lead paper!

🦠 Can microbes help with contamination cleanup? To find out, our researchers investigated the genes and traits of Iodidimonas, a bacterial group common in systems that treat produced water left over from oil and gas production. Read more: go.lbl.gov/Iodidimonas @eesaberkeleylab.bsky.social

Scientists @jbei.lbl.gov are helping speed up plant engineering with a new technology called ENTRAP-seq, which can screen thousands of gene regulators for plants simultaneously. Read more: go.lbl.gov/ENTRAP-seq #BioEGSB | @berkeleylab.lbl.gov

Combining light, chemistry, and automation, Volumetric Imaging via Photochemical Sectioning (VIPS), developed by #BioMBIB's Gokul Upadhyayula and @uicbios.bsky.social's Ruixuan Gao, makes it possible to see nanoscale details deep inside intact, whole-mount tissues. Read more: go.lbl.gov/VIPS

We are hiring! Come join #TeamBioSci and help us bring science solutions to the world @berkeleylab.lbl.gov! The @jgi.doe.gov has an opening for a Bioinformatician to join the Synthetic Biology Group. Ian Blaby is the Hiring Manager. jobs.lbl.gov/jobs/bioinfo...

What if better food, fabrics, and more could be grown in a lab? Biomanufacturing experts are leading the way in scaling-up synthetics for items you rely on every day. Learn how precision fermentation can power the future of products in your home. Watch the video: vimeo.com/1121969286/8...