Biosciences Area at Berkeley Lab

Researchers used a catalyst containing polyoxometalate (POM) salts to break down lignin’s carbon-based backbone, resulting in the production of a standardized source material for biomanufacturing processes. (Illustration by Bianca Susara)

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...

Accelerating Science with Digital Twins Researchers at Berkeley Lab are building digital twins that link physical systems with AI-informed models to accelerate discovery.

Read more about how digital twins being deployed Berkeley Lab: go.lbl.gov/digital-twins

What Is a Digital Twin? YouTube video by Berkeley Lab

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...

2025 Progress Report | Joint Genome Institute Learn more about the JGI's 2025 accomplishments, including research and data output.

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

Illustration depicting how a curated community of microbes found on and around plant roots can help plants better recover from drought stress. (Credit: Celisa Cortes)

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

Graphic showing logos for American Society for Microbiology and American Academy of Microbiology. Text reads "Class of 2026 American Academy of Microbiology Fellow." Inset headshot of Emiley Eloe-Fadrosh.

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

Schematic of a new AI-designed mini-TCR mimic (light blue) tightly bound to a tumor peptide (yellow). The high-resolution crystal structure of this complex, obtained at ALS Beamline 8.2.1, provided fine detail on protein–protein interactions required to confirm the new mimic’s specificity for its target. The precision and strength of this bond was capable of activating a cancer-fighting immune response. (Credit: Karsten Householder/Stanford)

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

Biosciences Area FY26 LDRDs by the numbers: 31 lead and co-PIs, 9 new projects, 10 ongoing projects, 5 early-career researchers, 4 multi-Area projects.

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!

AI, Automation, and Biosensors Speed the Path to Synthetic Jet Fuel - Biosciences Area Two breakthrough strategies are rewriting the playbook for designing microbes that make synthetic aviation fuels.

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 hand wearing a purple protective glove pipettes solution into the port of a fabricated ecosystem (EcoFAB 2.0), a clear plastic box approximately the size of a take-out container, in which a small plant can be seen growing. (Credit: Thor Swift/Berkeley Lab)

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

User-Centered Design of the BioCircular Valley Data Portal with NSJV Stakeholders YouTube video by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

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

Headshots of Berkeley Lab's Harshi Mukundan (top) and Los Alamos's Carrie Manore (bottom) against a blue background displaying logos of the two national laboratories.

"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!

BEAM Circular Acquires State-of-the-Art Gas Fermentation Pilot System To Anchor California Bioeconomy Innovation Campus — BEAM Circular BEAM Circular Acquires State-of-the-Art Gas Fermentation Pilot System To Anchor California Bioeconomy Innovation Campus

🚀 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!

DoS visualizations of predicted (AlphaFold, top) and experimental (NMR, bottom) interdomain orientation distributions for CASP16 target T1200 Staphylococcus aureus Protein A. (Credit: Allen McBride/Duke University)

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

Mechanical Engineer Nick Wenner, a member of the Engineering Small Project Support (EsPS) team, demonstrates the method for sealing each well in the small high-throughput pressure reactor he designed and built for use in specialized experiments. (Credit: Thor Swift, Berkeley Lab)

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.

Headshot of Yasuo Yoshikuni with a quote from him on a background image from the study of green and read fluorescent shapes, "The serendipitous part is this yeast already had similar molecular mechanisms. Just mild tweaking was sufficient to convert the yeast into a cell factory for hydroxyapatite."

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!