This week: CRISPR-Cas9 superstar Jennifer Doudna, Ph. D.

This Thursday 2-23 from 7-8 PM  Jennifer Doudna, Ph. D. will speak in Room 431 of Berkeley City College.  This event free and open to the public.
More information here:

http://www.berkeleycitycollege.edu/wp/sci-biotech/science-seminar-series/

http://news.berkeley.edu/2017/02/15/berkeley-statement-regarding-patent-boards-decision-on-crispr-cas9-gene-editing-technology/

Through the looking glass - 2017 update

Here’s some of what I saw this year at BiOS and represents only a small fraction of what was there.  I’ll put up a few more links soon.  It is fascinating to see all these amazing developments in biophotonics, biomedical optics, and imaging being made at such a rapid pace.  Thanks to all who graciously let me point my little camera at them.  Please visit their linked websites to learn more about what is outlined here.

In the order that they appear in the video we present:

Dipl. - Phys. Uwe Ortmann of  PicoQuant returned this year from Berlin with the latest Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging (FLIM) development to capture motion in cells at 10 frames per second (FPS). 

http://www.picoquant.com/

Aileen Chen of Vista Optronics Inc. came to San Francisco from China and demonstrated a tiny endoscope (1.5mm outside diameter) - not much larger than an acupuncture needle. 

www.VistaOptronics.com

Justin Harris Ph.D. of  NanoHybrids Advanced Imaging Solutions came from Austin, Texas and explained how gold and light are used for non-invasive cancer diagnosis and treatment.

www.NanoHybrids.net

Markus Geiser Dr. sc. ETH of  IRsweep came from Zurich Switzerland and demonstrated a new spectrometer with  bandwidth of up to 150 cm^-1 in the mid-IR range of 5 µm (2000 cm^-1) to 10 µm (1000cm^-1).

www.irsweep.com

Ben Alexander of Caliber Imaging and Diagnostics from Lakeway, Texas demonstrated a new technology for quickly scanning and stitching together confocal microscope images of biological samples up to 80 x 120 mm.

www.caliberid.com

SPIE BiOS 2017 this weekend in San Francisco

A world class event showcasing the biological applications of light is once again illuminating The Moscone Center in San Francisco.  Part of the huge Photonics West Expo, BiOs is an annual event. Here under one roof we can see many of the latest developments in technologies such as biophotonics,spectroscopy, microscopy, optogenetics, laser surgery, and much more.  We shot a video at last year's bios, which will give a basic idea of some of the technology shown there: 

http://nenufarmolecules.blogspot.com/2016/02/through-looking-glass.html


more on SPIE BiOS 2017


http://spie.org/conferences-and-exhibitions/photonics-west/bios


and Photonics West:

http://spie.org/conferences-and-exhibitions/photonics-west/photonics-west-exhibition

Biomanufacturing major at Laney College in Oakland, CA

This is an excellent program for learning the correct laboratory procedures used in molecular biology labs.  Classes start next week so enroll now.

http://www.laney.edu/wp/biomanufacturing/

Ebola Vaccine proves effective against Zaire strain

Usually most of the daily news is bad but today we woke up to very good news.  rVSV-ZEBOV, a recombinant, replication competent vesicular stomatitis virus-based candidate vaccine expressing a surface glycoprotein of Zaire Ebolavirus has completed phase 1 human trials in Guinea, West Africa.  Vaccine efficacy was 100%  Fast track this one please (Merck has 300,000 doses ready in case of an outbreak).  We are highly impressed by this work and hope it will serve as a model for the future of rapid drug development and deployment in response to emerging epidemics.   

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)32621-6/fulltext

blog of interest

With final exams looming large I am not updating this blog too much right now -  I recommend checking out Jean Peccoud's blog here. I'll be back😸.

Women Scientists speak out against ignorance in high places

https://500womenscientists.org/#our-pledge