Tag Archives: berkeley lab

Clearing a Potential Road Block to Bisabolane

By Guest PostJanuary 14, 2012Scienceabies grandis, abies grandis α bisabolene synthase, advanced biofuels, agbis, andy degiovanni, berkeley lab, biofuel, biosynthetic alternative, bisabolane, ca, chemical compounds, cofactors, d2 diesel fuel, emeryville, enzyme, evolutionary heritage, flavorings, fragrances, grand fir, green energy, inhibitors, jay keasling, jose pereira, masood hadi, microbes, microbial based production, pamela peralta yahya, paul adams, precursor, protein, protein crystal structure, renewable alternative, resolution, ryan mcandrew, synthases in plants, terpene class, terpenoid synthases, three dimensional crystal structure, trucking industry, united states, x ray crystallography

*Joint BioEnergy Institute Researchers Identify Key Enzyme Structure*

The recent discovery that bisabolane, a member of the terpene class of chemical compounds used in fragrances and flavorings, holds high promise as a biosynthetic alternative to D2 diesel fuel has generated keen interest in the green energy community and the trucking industry. Now a second team of researchers with the U.S Department of Energy (DOE)’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) has determined the three-dimensional crystal structure of a protein that is key to boosting the microbial-based production of bisabolane as an advanced biofuel.

The JBEI research team, led by bioengineers Paul Adams and Jay Keasling, solved the protein crystal structure of an enzyme in the Grand fir (Abies grandis) that synthesizes bisabolene, the immediate terpene precursor to bisabolane. The performance of this enzyme – the Abies grandis α-bisabolene synthase (AgBIS) – when engineered into microbes, has resulted in a bottleneck that hampers the conversion by the microbes of simple sugars into bisabolene. (more…)

The Next Big Step Toward Atom-Specific Dynamical Chemistry

By Guest PostJanuary 8, 2012Science2p orbitals, 2s orbitals, advanced light source, ali belkacem, america, atomic levels, atoms, berkeley lab, chemical bonding, chemical energy, chemistry, complex systems, components, electrical conductivity, electron, electronic spectroscopy, electronic states of neon, emergence, energy flow in photosynthesis, evolution of energy, fels, femtoseconds, free electron lasers, graham fleming, harmonics, high frequency x rays, molecular level, molecules, nonlinear, nonlinear multidimensional spectroscopy, nonlinear spectroscopic technique, orbitals, photon flux, positive charge, pulse, quadrillionths of second, s orbitals, spectroscopy, stimulated coherent raman scattering, sunlight energy, synchrotron light sources, table top laser, ultraviolet light, valence electrons, valence shell, x ray lasers, x ray photon, x ray spectroscopy, x-rays

*Berkeley Lab scientists push chemistry to the edge, testing plans for a new generation of light sources*

For Ali Belkacem of Berkeley Lab’s Chemical Sciences Division, “What is chemistry?” is not a rhetorical question.

“Chemistry is inherently dynamical,” he answers. “That means, to make inroads in understanding – and ultimately control – we have to understand how atoms combine to form molecules; how electrons and nuclei couple; how molecules interact, react, and transform; how electrical charges flow; and how different forms of energy move within a molecule or across molecular boundaries.” The list ends with a final and most important question: “How do all these things behave in a correlated way, ‘dynamically’ in time and space, both at the electron and atomic levels?” (more…)

New Take on Impacts of Low Dose Radiation

By Guest PostDecember 24, 2011Health, Scienceatomic bomb blasts, berkeley lab, biological damage, breast cell line, broken dna, cancer risks, christopher pham, dna damage response, dna repair mechanisms, Environment, epidemiological data, extrapolation, gy of radiation, human breast cells, human tissue, ionizing radiation, Japan, joel swenson, lawrence berkeley national laboratory, levels of ionizing radiation, linear no threshold hypothesis, lnt, low dose radiation, mammogram, mathematical modeling, mcf10a, mina bissell, primary breast epithelial cells, radiation induced foci, rafael gomez sjoberg, repair, rif, standard model, survivors, sylvain costes, teresa neumaier, time lapse imaging, world war II, xray microbeam

*Berkeley Lab Researchers Find Evidence Suggesting Risk May Not Be Proportional to Dose at Low Dose Levels*

Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), through a combination of time-lapse live imaging and mathematical modeling of a special line of human breast cells, have found evidence to suggest that for low dose levels of ionizing radiation, cancer risks may not be directly proportional to dose. This contradicts the standard model for predicting biological damage from ionizing radiation – the linear-no-threshold hypothesis or LNT – which holds that risk is directly proportional to dose at all levels of irradiation.

“Our data show that at lower doses of ionizing radiation, DNA repair mechanisms work much better than at higher doses,” says Mina Bissell, a world-renowned breast cancer researcher with Berkeley Lab’s Life Sciences Division. “This non-linear DNA damage response casts doubt on the general assumption that any amount of ionizing radiation is harmful and additive.” (more…)

Nanocrystals Go Bare: Berkeley Lab Researchers Strip Material’s Tiny Tethers

By Guest PostDecember 12, 2011Scienceanna llordes, april sawvel, berkeley lab, brett helms, carbon hydrogen bonds, chemical solution, delia milliron, devices, diodes, electronic conductivity, energy storage, environments, evelyn rosen, hydrocarbon, ink jet printer, lawrence berkeley national laboratory, ligand free nanocrystal, ligands, meerwein salt, metal oxides, metallic, molecular foundry, molecular vibrations, naked nanocrystals, nano ir, nanocrystal, nanoscale infrared spectroscopy, orders of magnitude, organic compound, organic ligands, organometallic molecules, oxidizing agents, photovoltaics, raffaella buonsanti, selenide nanocrystal, semiconductors, smart windows, solar fuels, spin, spray coating, stripping nanocrystals, strong acids, supercapacitor materials, surface ligands, tether like molecules, triethyloxonium tetrafluoroborate, universal technique, unstripped nanocrystal films, variety of applications

Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have discovered a universal technique for stripping nanocrystals of tether-like molecules that until now have posed as obstacles for their integration into devices. These findings could provide scientists with a clean slate for developing new nanocrystal-based technologies for energy storage, photovoltaics, smart windows, solar fuels and light-emitting diodes.

Nanocrystals are typically prepared in a chemical solution using stringy molecules called ligands chemically tethered to their surface. These hydrocarbon-based or organometallic molecules help stabilize the nanocrystal, but also form an undesirable insulating shell around the structure. Efficient and clean removal of these surface ligands is challenging and has eluded researchers for decades. (more…)

Berkeley Lab Researchers Create First of Its Kind Gene Map of Sulfate-reducing Bacterium: Work Holds Implications for Future Bioremediation Efforts

By Guest PostNovember 13, 2011Environment, Scienceadam arkin, aindrila mukhopadhyay, anaerobic bacterium, bacteria, berkeley lab, biofouling, bioremediation, d vulgaris, dap chip, department of energy, desulfovibrio vulgaris, dna affinity purified chip, doe, ecological niches, Environment, environmental signals, eric luning, five senses, generate enzymes, genetic secrets of a bacterium, genomic dna, how bacteria respond to environmental changes, lara rajeev, lawrence berkeley national laboratory, mapping of the genes, microbial systems, model organism, molecular signaling systems, morgan price, network of a microbe, new gene map, non hazardous forms, oil drilling, paramvir dehal, potential for removing toxic and radioactive waste, researchers, sight, smell, sound, sulfate reducing bacteria, sulfate reducing bacterium, taste, touch, toxic heavy metals and radioactive nuclides

Critical genetic secrets of a bacterium that holds potential for removing toxic and radioactive waste from the environment have been revealed in a study by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). The researchers have provided the first ever map of the genes that determine how these bacteria interact with their surrounding environment.

“Knowing how bacteria respond to environmental changes is crucial to our understanding of how their physiology tracks with consequences that are both good, such as bioremediation, and bad, such as biofouling,” says Aindrila Mukhopadhyay, a chemist with Berkeley Lab’s Physical Biosciences Division, who led this research. “We have reported the first systematic mapping of the genes in a sulfate-reducing bacterium – Desulfovibrio vulgaris – that regulate the mechanisms by which the bacteria perceive and respond to environmental signals.” (more…)

Berkeley Lab to Build Cost Model for Fuel Cells

By Guest PostNovember 2, 2011Scienceadam weber, analytica, ballard power systems, benefits of fuel cells, berkeley lab, carbon cycle 2, chris marnay, coal, eric masanet, fossil fuels, fuel cell design, fuel cell manufacturer, fuel cells, geographic factors, human health benefits, ideal energy source, jim mcmahon, julie chao, kilowatts, lawrence berkeley national laboratory, max wei, model, power from hydroelectricity, powerful public tool, software platform, university of california, washington state, west virginia

*A $2-million award from DOE will help bring down the cost of next-generation fuel cells.*

Fuel cells seem like an ideal energy source—they’re clean, efficient, silent and don’t require transmission lines. The hitch? They can be costly. Now scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) hope to change that equation by building a sophisticated cost model that will take into account the total cost of ownership.

With a $2-million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, a team of scientists led by Eric Masanet will perform a detailed assessment of fuel cell design and manufacturing that takes into account both intrinsic and external benefits. The aim is to quantify not only traditional manufacturing costs but also benefits that may previously have been overlooked and may ultimately bring down the cost of fuel cells. (more…)

Berkeley Lab Scientists Develop New Tool for the Study of Spatial Patterns in Living Cells

By Guest PostNovember 2, 2011Scienceartificial membranes, berkeley lab, biology is a game of nanometers, breast cancer cells, cancer and the immune system, cancer metastasis, cellular molecules, chemical signals, chemist, fluid bilayer of lipid molecules, football, game of inches, geoff o donoghue, gold nanoparticles, golden membranes, hhmi, howard hughes medical institute, impact of spatial patterns on living cells, jay groves, lawrence berkeley national laboratory, mda mb 231, michael coyle, nanoparticles, natural lipid bilayer membranes, qian xu, sara triffo, spacing of proteins, substrate of solid silica, t cell immunology, theobald lohmuller

*Golden Membranes Pave the Way for a Better Understanding of Cancer and the Immune System*

Football has often been called “a game of inches,” but biology is a game of nanometers, where spatial differences of only a few nanometers can determine the fate of a cell – whether it lives or dies, remains normal or turns cancerous. Scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a new and better way to study the impact of spatial patterns on living cells.

Berkeley Lab chemist Jay Groves led a study in which artificial membranes made up of a fluid bilayer of lipid molecules were embedded with fixed arrays of gold nanoparticles to control the spacing of proteins and other cellular molecules placed on the membranes. This provided the researchers with an unprecedented opportunity to study how the spatial patterns of chemical and physical properties on membrane surfaces influence the behavior of cells. (more…)

Shaken, not Stirred: Berkeley Lab Scientists Spy Molecular Maneuvers

By Guest PostOctober 24, 2011Scienceandrew cho, atomic precision, babak sanii, berkeley lab, biomimetic materials, catalyze a reaction, development of peptoids, gloria olivier, james bond, langmuir blodgett trough, lawrence berkeley national laboratory, liquid, membrane for filtration, misfolded proteins, molecules, nanomaterials, nanoscale ropes, nanosheet, neeraja venkateswaran, peptoid nanosheets, peptoids, protein like structures, romas kudirka, ron zuckermann, shake, synthetic polymers, two dimensional nanomaterials

Stir this clear liquid in a glass vial and nothing happens. Shake this liquid, and free-floating sheets of protein-like structures emerge, ready to detect molecules or catalyze a reaction. This isn’t the latest gadget from James Bond’s arsenal—rather, the latest research from the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) scientists unveiling how slim sheets of protein-like structures self-assemble. This “shaken, not stirred” mechanism provides a way to scale up production of these two-dimensional nanosheets for a wide range of applications, such as platforms for sensing, filtration and templating growth of other nanostructures.

“Our findings tell us how to engineer two-dimensional, biomimetic materials with atomic precision in water,” said Ron Zuckermann, Director of the Biological Nanostructures Facility at the Molecular Foundry, a DOE nanoscience user facility at Berkeley Lab. “What’s more, we can produce these materials for specific applications, such as a platform for sensing molecules or a membrane for filtration.” (more…)