Breast Cancer Story
To Air on KGO-TV

Breast cancer cell

KGO-TV reporter Carolyn Johnson visited the laboratory of Life Sciences Division Director Joe Gray last week for a story on molecular predictors of drug response in breast cancer. Three talks in this area are being presented at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting this week by Gray, Yinghui Guan, and Debopriya Das. The group is developing molecular assays that can select existing anticancer drugs that will be effective and allow experimental drugs to be tested first in patient subpopulations in which they will be most likely to be effective. The interview will air on KGO-TV's evening news program at either 5 or 6 p.m. today (Channel 7 locally).

Plants May Hold
Key to Solar Energy

Berkeley Lab scientists Gregory Engel and Graham Fleming have found that light-loving bacteria — and probably plants — rely on quantum physics to turn sunlight into usable energy rapidly and efficiently, overturning the standard explanation for how green living things get their energy. Armed with those quantum secrets, scientists could see faster progress in copying nature's machinery and harnessing the sun for human use. Full story.

Increasing Energy, Cost Efficiencies of Networks
By Tim Dunn

Nordman

Research on environmental sustainability at Berkeley Lab is not confined to new biofuel technology. A project led in part by Environmental Energy Technologies researcher Bruce Nordman is focusing on the development of energy and cost-efficient digital networks. The new research is centered on reducing the colossal amount of energy used and wasted by residential and commercial electronics, Nordman said. Current figures estimate that about 250 terawatt-hours of energy are spent on powering electronics per year. Based on standard energy prices, this translates to around $25 billion for American consumers, he said. Full story.

Berkeley Rep Helios
Talks Start Monday

A three-lecture series on Berkeley Lab's development of alternative fuels begins Monday with Lab Director Steve Chu discussing "The Energy Problem: What the Helios Project Can Do About It" at 5:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Repertory Theater. Associate Lab Director Paul Alivisatos will speak on "Nanoscience at Work: Creating Energy From Sunlight" on May 14, and Jay Keasling, Physical Biosciences Division director, will talk about "Renewable Energy From Synthetic Biology" on June 4, same time and location (2055 Addison St.). Admission is free.