Keasling Malaria Remedy
Featured on Local News

The Swiss drug company Novartis announced a 20 percent price cut for its treatment of malaria. And it may be related to research developed by Berkeley Lab Physical Biosciences Director Jay Keasling. Malaria is currently treated with an expensive extract from the plant Artemisinin. Keasling’s technology would lower the cost, making it an affordable cure around the world. Full story.

T. Rex, Chickens Share Molecular Structure

Using a novel method, protein retrieved from a 68-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex bone closely resembles the main protein in chicken and ostrich bones and is only distantly related to lizards', strengthening the popular idea that birds, and not reptiles, are the closest living relatives of dinosaurs, according to a new study. "It's very exciting if they really are getting proteinaceous material from these terrifically ancient samples, because in some ways these sequences are time machines," said Eddy Rubin, head of Berkeley Lab’s Genomics Division and the Joint Genome Institute. "We can't go back in time, but these samples tell us things about these creatures that we can't tell from their bones and other features." Full story.

Berkeley Site Office
Manager Gets Award

Richards

Aundra Richards, Berkeley Site Office Manager, was among many DOE employees and contractors recognized in the inaugural Secretarial Honor Awards Ceremony held recently by Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman. Richards received the Excellence Award for her “extraordinary dedication, commitment and leadership in her role as the Berkeley Site Office Manager and her willingness to take on a dual role as the Stanford Site Office Manager for virtually all of FY 2007."

CITRIS Prize for Wind, Deferrable Load Proposal

The UC Berkeley branch of CITRIS recently held a student-led white-paper competition, and a Berkeley Lab employee was among the team members that won third place. Shmuel Oren, with the Environmental Energy Technologies Division, and his group were awarded $5,000 for their project on “Coupling Wind Generators with Deferrable Loads.” This proposal builds upon the fact that a significant proportion of the energy consumed is dedicated to duties which can be postponed. This flexibility creates a great opportunity for wind. Go here for more information.

Architects Win Honor
For Foundry Design

The American Institute of Architects, San Francisco chapter, recently announced the winners of the 2008 AIA San Francisco Design Awards program. The Smith Group was a merit winner in the “Energy + Sustainability” category for their design of Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry. The foundry received a LEED Gold Rating last year for its high ratings in water efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and energy efficiency.