IB Assistant Professor Victor Ortega Jiménez and a team of researchers have documented how flamingos use their feet, heads and beaks to create a storm of swirling tornados in the water to efficiently trap and then eat their prey. Read more in the Berkeley News article here. 
 

Professor Liana Lareau is recognized for her revolutionary approach to treat retinitis pigmentosa and other dominant genetic diseases by combining CRISPR prime editing with machine learning.

Bioengineering PhD student Lordean Gustinvil will receive a 2024-25 Outstanding GSI Award from the UC Berkeley campus. Awards are given to the best GSIs of the year, nominated by the course instructor.

Bioengineering doctoral student Maria Astolfi and her colleagues argue for a new type of partnership with indigenous peoples to create a more ethical bioeconomy.

Narimane Chatar, a current NSF Postdoctoral Fellow in Jack Tseng’s lab, was awarded the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowship. Read more...

Computational modeling from Mofrad Lab gives us a peek inside these important microbial communities.

It is with great sadness that we report the death of Teaching Professor Emeritus Thomas J. Carlson, who passed away on 9 April 2025. Tom was a highly respected scientist and teacher who was beloved for his creative intellect, his kindness, and his humanity. Professionally, Tom’s career centered on two themes – botany and medicine. He held a Masters’ Degree in botany from the University of Michigan and was a Curator Emeritus in Berkeley’s University and Jepson Herbaria.

Congratulations to our new NSF Graduate Research Fellows! Among the winners are current PhD students Ashley Qin; incoming PhD students Erin Ahern, Daniel Antov, Marvin Collins, Lauren Iskander, Zachary Lee, Steven Robles Blasini; graduating undergraduates Monica Mendoza and Safaa Mouline; and undergraduate alumni Jacob Bryan, Emily Huynh, and Elaine Tong. Well done!

Our PhD program in bioengineering has been ranked #4 in the United States by the latest US News & World Report graduate schools ranking! Berkeley tied with Duke and Stanford for the #4 spot. 

Berkeley startup AsparaGlue, founded on science by Professor Phil Messersmith and postdoc Subhajit Pal, won an East Bay Innovation Award for their bioinspired surgical superglue.

Professor Aaron Streets has been named to the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). Streets was selected for “developing innovative technology to elucidate genome regulation with single-cell and molecule resolution, and for impactful leadership to diversify bioengineering.College membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to engineering and…

Bioengineering Chair Phillip Messersmith has been named to the 2024 class of fellows elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), one of the world’s largest general scientific societies and publisher of the Science family of journals. Messersmith was recognized for “distinguished contributions to the understanding of wet biological adhesion, and for…

Congratulations to José Pablo Vázquez-Medina for being co-awarded the 2025 David Blackwell Award. The Blackwell Award is given annually to a recently tenured professor in the College of Letters & Science who embodies the values and aspirations of the College in scholarship, teaching and mentorship, and service, and who serves as an inspiration to others in the campus community.

Professor of Integrative Biology, Robert Full and colleagues, published two complementary papers today revealing how squirrel agility inspired a robot to make a stable branch to branch landing.

Read more about squirrel and robot agility via this UC Berkeley News link here

Congratulations to Assistant Teaching Professor Michal Shuldman, who has been named a recipient of the 2025 Faculty Award for Outstanding Mentorship of GSIs!

Check out this video highlight of Professor Aaron Streets’ research, by the Pew Charitable Trust.

Professor of Integrative Biology, Noah Whiteman, was awarded the 2025 Genetics Society of America Medal. This award acknowledges Whiteman's outstanding contributions to the field of genetics. Read more about the Genetics Society of America Award recipients and Whiteman's research here. 

Co-founded by BioE alumnus Karsten Temme, Pivot is bringing cleaner nitrogen to American farmland.

Research led by Professor Patrick Hsu has produced Evo 2, the largest AI model in biology to date, which can accurately predict the effects of all types of genetic mutations.

Congratulations to David Schaffer, Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Bioengineering and Molecular & Cell Biology, on his election to the National Academy of Engineering!