Hot Rods, Coupes
Wanted For 'First Day'

For the third consecutive year, Berkeley Lab will honor the solstice with a classic car show and barbecue on Friday, June 18 at the cafeteria. Beginning at 11:30 a.m., the "First Day of Summer" picnic and car show features historic rods and coupes owned by employees, on display in the lower parking lot. Those interested in exhibiting their vehicles should contact Kevin Bradley at x4319. The Lab's Music Club will provide rock 'n' roll tunes.

New Mexico Nanotech Center Building Begins

The new Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies at the Department of Energy's Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories moved closer to reality with two groundbreaking ceremonies this week. The $76 million center is one of five new Nanoscale Science Research Centers to be built by the Office of Science to provide researchers with world-class facilities for the interdisciplinary study of matter at the atomic scale. One of these centers is located at Berkeley Lab. Full story.

Fisk

Mold Linked To Health Problems; Panel Says More Research Needed
By Sabin Russell

Damp or moldy buildings are linked to episodes of sniffles, coughing and wheezing in otherwise healthy people and pose a potential health threat to asthmatics already allergic to mold, a National Academies scientific panel concluded. But the panel also found insufficient evidence to blame indoor mold for a raft of other health problems. Panel member William Fisk, head of the Indoor Environment Department at Berkeley Lab, said there is not enough research available to determine if the toxins produced by some molds are dangerous in indoor environments. Full story.

Asf1: A Protein
In the Thick of Things

Kaufman

Picture the crew of a big 19th-century square-rigger in action, with hundreds of sailors, each with a specific task but all working in synchronization to keep the ship safely under way. It's not too different from the way a crew of proteins cooperates to keep cells afloat: they build scaffolding on which DNA winds itself to make chromatin; remodel the chromatin; regulate cell reproduction; and repair the DNA when it breaks. "One protein that's found at the nexus of many of these processes is a small, compact protein known as Asf1," says Paul Kaufman, a scientist in Berkeley Lab's Life Sciences Division. Full story.

Grizzly Gate Is Repaired

With repairs completed, Grizzly Gate is now back to its normal operation, open for inbound traffic from 6:30 to 9:30 a.m., and outbound 24 hours a day.