Berkeley Lab scientists have coaxed polymers to braid themselves into wispy nanoscale ropes that approach the structural complexity of biological materials. Their work is the latest development in the push to develop self-assembling nanoscale materials that mimic the intricacy and functionality of nature’s handiwork, but which are rugged enough to withstand harsh conditions such as heat and dryness.

A stack of punch cards from a landmark study published in 1966, and the legwork to track down the study’s participants years later, has yielded the longest analysis of the effects of lipoproteins on coronary heart disease. The study tracked almost 1,900 people over a 29-year period, which is nearly three times longer than other studies that examine the link between different sizes of high-density lipoprotein particles and heart disease.

As part of the National Institutes of Health’s “model organism Encyclopedia of DNA Elements” (modENCODE) project, Berkeley Lab researchers have made major advances in understanding the complex relationships between the Drosophila genome as recorded by DNA and RNA base pairs and the patterns and physical organization of its chromosomes, both essential for producing a functioning fruit fly. These new insights into reading the genome apply to human beings and many other organisms as well.

Jay Keasling, a leading authority on metabolic engineering, envisions a future in which microorganisms are tailor-made to produce specific chemical products, such as biofuels and pharmaceuticals, from inexpensive and renewable starting materials. He has written a paper on the subject for the journal Science.

To a hungry fish on the prowl, the split-second neural processing required to see and gobble up prey is a matter of survival. To scientists, it’s a window into how our brain coordinates eye motions that enable us to make our way in a world full of danger and opportunity. This process is now better understood thanks to a team of scientists who imaged the activity of individual neurons in zebrafish.

The world’s foremost experts in ion-beam cancer therapy meet at Oakland’s Claremont Hotel October 26 through 29 to examine the international success of this unique therapy, explore future developments, and ask tough questions – including why this extraordinary medical advance is making great strides in Europe and Asia but is lagging in the country where it was invented and developed – principally at Berkeley Lab.

New clues emerge about how a molecular machine breaks down unwanted proteins in cells, a critical housekeeping chore that helps prevent diseases such as cancer. The insights, thanks to the first molecular-scale description of a giant enzyme called tripeptidyl peptidase II, could also inform the development of obesity-fighting drugs.

Microbes boast a broader and more diverse array of metal-driven chemical processes than scientists imagined. In fact, most have yet to be discovered, according to a first-of-its-kind technique that catalogs all of the metals in a microbe. The method could lead to innovative clean energy and bioremediation technologies.

Doing away with lenses is the secret to very high resolution images of the internal structures of biological specimens and complex materials. To prove the principle, the best such images yet of whole cells have been achieved using a beam of coherent soft x-rays at the Advanced Light Source’s beamline 9.0.1.