June 2004
Friends of the College of Engineering,
If you have the chance, I recommend reading the fascinating article in the May 2004 issue of Scientific American about the nascent field of synthetic biology. Simply put, synthetic biology concerns the design and construction of living systems that do things no natural organism can do. Leading the charge in this burgeoning area are Berkeley faculty Jay Keasling (chemistry) and bioengineering professor Adam Arkin. Adam is pioneering computer modeling tools and developing software for designing new living systems from a library of validated interoperable genetic "parts" with specific functions. This really takes me back! It feels just like the early days of electronic circuit design, only using 'wetware' rather than 'hardware.'
"Most genetic engineering is done by hook-or-by-crook," Adam Arkin says. "It takes a lot of trial-and-error to build simple things into cells, like the ability to produce a lot of a functional protein. Now though, we want to actually program cells as if they're computers so they can do much more complicated tasks." Working with our partners at Lawrence Berkeley National Labs (LBNL) , this is an area of research we are very excited about here at Berkeley. You can read more about this amazing new field in this month's Lab Notes.
Mechanical engineering professor Alice M. Agogino was recently recognized by the National Science Foundation (NSF) with the Director's Award for Distinguished Teaching Scholars , the foundation's highest honor for teaching and research excellence. Alice is one of only eight people to receive the 2004 award nationally. Congratulations Alice on this very well deserved and significant recognition!
On May 22nd , our new grads were treated to an inspiring commencement speech by alumnus Floyd Kvamme (B.S.'59). As I mentioned in last month's digest, among his various duties Floyd is co-chair of the President's Council of Advisers on Science Technology. It was a wonderful commencement presentation to our students and you can review it on our Web site.
Very best wishes for the summer from all of us in the College and Go Bears!
/rich
A. Richard Newton
Dean, College of Engineering and
the Roy W. Carlson Professor of Engineering
Lab Notes is published online by the Public Affairs Office of the UC Berkeley College of Engineering. The Lab Notes mission is to illuminate groundbreaking research underway today at the College of Engineering that will dramatically change our lives tomorrow.
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