Biological Sciences

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $18.4 million to a group of scientists producing an extensive genetic database of Antarctic lifeforms. More than 250 Antarctic species’ genomes will be sequenced, including algae, mosses, invertebrates, birds, fish, and marine mammals. Scientists will also gather and sequence around 600 ecosystem samples representing tens of thousands of microbial and viral genomic datasets.

UC Berkeley integrative biology professor Rauri Bowie will serve as a co-...

In two connected papers published in the journal Science last week, researchers from the Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI) lab of Jennifer Doudna described the surprising discovery of an ancient progenitor of CRISPR systems that had been overlooked because it uses a never-before-seen coding system to find and bind to DNA.

In nature...

The International Balzan Foundation recognized Rasmus Nielsen, a professor of statistics and integrative biology at UC Berkeley, with its 2026 Balzan Prize for Molecular...

We would like to wrap up the 2025–2026 academic year by congratulating all of the current Cal Bears and recent alums who received nationally competitive scholarships and fellowships this academic year, as well as those who submitted strong applications for more than 30 scholarship and fellowship programs our office supports.