berkeleyMCB

Did the first animal look like a sponge or a comb jelly? The debate continues. - Berkeley News Two years ago, a novel analysis by UC Berkeley researchers pointed to comb jellies as the root of the animal tree of life. Another Berkeley group now says it’s sponges.

Which came first — the comb jelly or the sponge? The battle over the root of the animal tree of life rages on, with the latest research from QB3-Berkeley's Nicole King coming down on the side of the sponge. Read more from the UC Berkeley news team: news.berkeley.edu/2025/11/19/d...

Berkeley Talks: For Nobel laureate Randy Schekman, it began with pond scum and a toy microscope - Berkeley News “I just could not believe the world that was revealed,” the UC Berkeley professor said of the microorganisms he saw through the plastic lens. He went on to win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicin...

🎧 Berkeley Talks: For Nobel laureate Randy Schekman, it began with pond scum and a toy microscope. Hear more in his podcast on Berkeley News. news.berkeley.edu/2025/11/28/b...

illustration of petri dishes growing microbes

Out today in Science Magazine — First author Veronika Kivenson and PIs Jill Banfield (The Banfield Lab) and Alanna Schepartz team up to reveal a new genetic code in #archaea, with implications for #methane and #climate, and #bioengineering! Learn more: https://ow.ly/Kuem50Xurh0

decorative illustration of DNA

Out now in the The Atlantic — IGI's Jennifer Doudna and Fyodor Urnov on this year's remarkable progress in using #CRISPR to treat rare diseases. Read here: https://ow.ly/5vJ750XFQon

Congratulations to Matthew and Josh! Check out our extensible Python based 2DTM package, check out our example adaptations for optimizing template parameters and constrained searches and customize to suit your own experiments. Stay tuned for exciting future developments in the pipeline :)

The Sudmant Lab & Wilsterman Lab are hiring a postdoc! Come work on the genetics and evolution of the placenta and dissecting genetic adaptations to altitude in deer mice!

Check out more details here: evol.mcmaster.ca/brian/evoldi...

www.sudmantlab.org
www.thewilstermanlab.com

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📣 Last mito911 webinar of 2025! Join us for @micharapelab.bsky.social on Dec 11th 8am PST.
Register here: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

✨New preprint!

🧵1/4 Excited to share our work on AI-guided design of minimal RNA-guided nucleases. Amazing work by @petrskopintsev.bsky.social @isabelesain.bsky.social @evandeturk.bsky.social et al!
Multi-lab collaboration @banfieldlab.bsky.social @jhdcate.bsky.social @jacobsenucla.bsky.social🧬

🔗👇

Huge credit to @bmanohar.bsky.social for leading this collaborative effort, based at @innovativegenomics.bsky.social & @berkeleymcb.bsky.social, with major contributions from OSU's Krys Bankiewicz & Russ Lonser, as well as crucial support from NIH's SCGE consortium @scge.bsky.social

Honored that this work represents my first "first-author" preprint of my PhD journey at
@berkeleymcb.bsky.social. Grateful for the incredible mentorship and collaborations. Neuro-PERC was a true multi-institution effort. Read the thread for the details!

#ArticleinPress: Colocalization of Cancer-Associated Biomarkers on Single Extracellular Vesicles for Early Detection of Cancer. Authors from @berkeleymcb.bsky.social.

#OpenAccess text: https://www.jmdjournal.org/article/S1525-1578(24)00209-5/fulltext

All life copies DNA unambiguously into proteins. Archaea may be the exception. - Berkeley News A study finds that one microbe, a member of the Archaea, tolerates a little flexibility in interpreting the genetic code, contradicting a 60-year-old doctrine.

Exciting research from the Nayak Lab! news.berkeley.edu/2025/12/01/a...

JPM alumni reception 2025 (Photo credit: Johnny Gan Chong)

Planning to attend the JPM healthcare conference? RSVP to join us for the MCB alumni reception on January 14, 2026 | 5:30p-8:30p | 111 Minna Gallery. Rsvp here: bit.ly/mcbJPM2026

UC Berkeley dean’s research inspires emerging treatment for rare bone disease Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced on September 17 that it had completed a phase 3 trial for a drug to treat fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP). FOP is a severe, ultra-rare genetic dis...

Dean of Biological Sciences & MCB faculty Richard Harland's research inspires emerging treatment for rare bone disease: ls.berkeley.edu/news/uc-berk...

Wendy Ingram speaks about Dragonfly Mental Health at a conference, sharing her journey from UC Berkeley researcher to global advocate for mental wellness in academia. Event hosted by Behavioral Teaching Solutions; Photo by Aga Ignas.

🌟 UC Berkeley molecular & cell biology alum, Wendy Marie Ingram Ph.D. '15, transformed a tragedy into a positive movement by founding Dragonfly Mental Health.

“Action is my coping mechanism,” says Wendy.

Read more here: https://bit.ly/3JcDq72

📷: Aga Ignas
#Research #Impact #CalAlum

Research Image: A section from a 20-day-old human brain organoid, showing rosette-like structures of dividing neural precursor cells. Different types of precursors are labeled in green and red; cell nuclei are labeled in blue. Image credit: Helen Bateup Lab, Molecular Therapeutics Division, UCB Molecular & Cell Biology Department.

MCB Fall 2025 Transcript

The Fall 2025 Transcript newsletter is here! mcb.berkeley.edu/news-and-eve...

MCB alumna Tracy Johnson! 🎉

Did the first animal look like a sponge or a comb jelly? The debate continues. - Berkeley News Two years ago, a novel analysis by UC Berkeley researchers pointed to comb jellies as the root of the animal tree of life. Another Berkeley group now says it’s sponges.

Did the first animal look like a sponge or a comb jelly? The debate continues. Check out the article from MCB's Nicole King and postdoc Jacob Steenwyk @jlsteenwyk.bsky.social:
news.berkeley.edu/2025/11/19/d...

FSP1-mediated lipid droplet quality control prevents neutral lipid peroxidation and ferroptosis - Nature Cell Biology Lange et al. identify a lipid droplet quality control pathway in which FSP1 safeguards stored neutral lipids from lipid peroxidation, thereby preventing the induction of ferroptosis.

☕ @mikelangelipid.bsky.social @olzmannlab.bsky.social & co identify a #LipidDroplet quality control pathway in which FSP1 safeguards stored neutral lipids from lipid peroxidation, thereby preventing the induction of #ferroptosis.
@berkeleymcb.bsky.social
bit.ly/49mTeyF

Reimagining Druggability using Chemoproteomic Platforms Reimagining Druggability using Chemoproteomic Platforms - Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI)

I rarely get to give a research talk at my home institution! Looking forward to giving a talk about our latest research next Tuesday, November 18th, at 2 pm as part of the @innovativegenomics.bsky.social seminar series in Room 115 IGIB at UC Berkeley! innovativegenomics.org/events/semin...

NEW pub in @science.org 🥳

Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?

For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.

We provide new evidence suggesting that...

🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

An honor and pleasure to be at the @HKLaureatesForum, a “meeting of inspirational minds” gathering @ShawPrize recipients 🏅 and young scientists. Inspirational to hear other laureates and interact with promising researchers curious about the world around them, big 🪐 & small 🧬

Delighted to present my trajectory and research to audiences ranging from high school students to researchers at Hong Kong Universities and Science Centers. Special thanks to my local ambassadors Zhoe and Emi for making my visit so special 🥰🥰

New from the @doudna-lab.bsky.social and first author @owentuck.bsky.social!

Azalea Therapeutics Launches with $82 Million Financing to Redefine Precision Genomic Medicines by Engineering Cells Directly Inside Each Patient Azalea Therapeutics launches with $82M to advance precision in vivo genome engineering, creating therapeutic cells directly inside patients....

Azalea grew out of collaborative research conducted at the Innovative Genomics Institute in Jennifer Doudna’s lab and in Justin Eyquem’s lab as part of the Gladstone-UCSF Institute of Genomic Immunology.

@j-eyquem.bsky.social
@innovativegenomics.bsky.social

Congrats to MCB's Evan Miller on receiving this grant from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation! 👏🎉

Brad Ringeisen, Fyodor Urnov, and Carlotta Ronda

Coming up November 6th — join us to hear about the latest in #CRISPR for human health from IGI's Brad Ringeisen, Fyodor Urnov, and Carlotta Ronda as part of @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social's Basic Science Lights the Way lecture series! Register here: https://basicscience.berkeley.edu/

Introducing CURED Driven by the motto Fiat Lux, Berkeley illuminates the world.

Andrew Dillin is a professor of immunology and molecular medicine in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology.

In his spare time, he is forming a new Center for Unmet, Rare and Emerging Diseases (CURED) that aims to discover cures other organizations are not pursuing.

gobears.me/47pCGn5

FSP1-mediated lipid droplet quality control prevents neutral lipid peroxidation and ferroptosis - Nature Cell Biology Lange et al. identify a lipid droplet quality control pathway in which FSP1 safeguards stored neutral lipids from lipid peroxidation, thereby preventing the induction of ferroptosis.

Excited to share my postdoc work @olzmannlab.bsky.social! We found lipid droplets, the cell’s lipid storage depots, are subject to oxidative damage and are protected by FSP1. Loss of FSP1 triggers droplet peroxidation and cell death, revealing a new layer of lipid quality control!

shorturl.at/B5XYD