Contact: Lynn Yarris (510) 486-5375, LCYarris@lbl.gov
Scientific Contact: Edward Rubin at EMRubin@lbl.gov

BERKELEY, CA —The veil of mystery surrounding our extinct hominid cousins, the Neanderthals, has been at least partially lifted to reveal surprising results. Scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the Joint Genome Institute (JGI) have sequenced [...]

Contact: Lynn Yarris (510) 486-5375, lcyarris@lbl.gov

BERKELEY, CA — The stickiness of human neurons may have been a key factor in why the human brain evolved beyond the brains of our primate relatives. In a study comparing the genomes of humans, chimpanzees, mice and other vertebrates, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National [...]

Contact: Lynn Yarris (510) 486-5375, lcyarris@lbl.gov

BERKELEY, CA — With genome sequencing having reached nearly a mass-production mode and new genes being identified on a regular basis, there is a growing demand for faster methods of identifying the structures of the proteins and nucleic acids being produced by these genes. Two new grants to researchers [...]

Contact: Paul Preuss, (510) 486-6249, paul_preuss@lbl.gov

BERKELEY, CA — The newly established Berkeley Cancer Genome Center, led by members of the Life Sciences Division in the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, is one of seven Cancer Genome Characterization Centers to receive awards from the National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research [...]

Contact: Paul Preuss, paul_preuss@lbl.gov

Sequencing the human genome is a major challenge; although a first draft was published in 2001, the details are continually being refined. Quite another challenge is to find all the human genes, about 30,000 in number; that process too is ongoing. Much more complex than either of these tasks, however, is to [...]

Contact: Lynn Yarris (510) 486-5375, lcyarris@lbl.gov

BERKELEY, CA — Some aspects of evolution are like the real estate business in that it’s all about location, location, location! Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the DOE Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) have shown [...]

Contact: David Gilbert, degilbert@lbl.gov

Already biodiesel Volkswagens are driving around Berkeley, California, reeking of French fries from recovered veggie oil — a low-tech response to President Bush’s plea to break the nation’s oil addiction.

The Berkeley Biodiesel Collective sponsors veggie-powered car shows.

In nearby Walnut Creek the approach is a bit more sophisticated. Work is underway at [...]

Contact: Dan Krotz, dakrotz@lbl.gov

Imagine a car racing along a track at 300 miles per hour. Now imagine the car spinning and spiraling as it careens, each blurred movement perfectly coordinated.
Such are the acrobatics performed by protein structures during DNA [...]

Contact: David Gilbert, (925) 296-5643, degilbert@lbl.gov

BERKELEY, CA – Despite the perception that the genetic diversity among animals, ranging from humans to worms, is enormous, the reality is that it pales [...]

Contact: Paul Preuss, paul_preuss@lbl.gov
Picture the crew of a big 19th-century square-rigger in action, with hundreds of sailors swarming over the rigging, setting and trimming the sails, each with a specific task but all working [...]