Researchers in Michael Yartsev's lab, led by postdocs Adam Lowet and Krishna Kasuba, built a digital twin of the bat hippocampus - an AI model trained on large-scale neural activity during natural flight. The model generated new, testable hypotheses about hippocampal organization that were confirmed by real-world data.

ARPA-H's BIOGAMI program aims to transform our understanding of protein dysfunction in the earliest stages of neurodegenerative disease by developing new approaches to detect and characterize protein misfolding. BioE PhD alumnus Nicolas Fawzi leads the Brown University team on this multicampus, led at Berkeley by the Innovative Genomics Institute.

Examining large-scale neural activity from the motor cortex of freely flying Egyptian fruit bats helps Michael Yartsev's lab understand how the brain supports very complex behaviors, like buttoning a shirt or playing piano.

Landen Gozashti is a 2026-27 Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellow from Peter Sudmant's lab who studies Mobile Genetic Elements (MGEs) as well as the molecular and evolutionary mechanisms that shape evolution. Read the full story here.

Lipid nanoparticles are great delivery vehicles for mRNA treatments, but their positive charge triggers high levels of inflammation. Now researchers led by Professor Niren Murthy have engineered a new lipid nanoparticle that can switch its charge from positive to negative and may avoid triggering inflammation while still able to deliver mRNA and other nucleic acids.

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

It is with great sadness that we recognize the passing of Dr. David Rempel, MD, MPH, CPE. A versatile expert in occupational health and long-time member of the Bioengineering Graduate Program, he was a Professor Emeritus of Medicine at UCSF and Bioengineering Berkeley. He will be missed.

In a new paper out in Nature Nanotechnology, researchers in Niren Murthy’s lab show that there is a simple way to remove the toxicity of lipid nanoparticles while maintaining their ability to effectively deliver therapies to specific cells in the body.

Former UC Berkeley postdoctoral fellow Juan Manuel Vazquez conducted a study in which the Myotis genus of bat was investigated for its exceptional ability to survive for long periods of time without disease closely linked to their members' hyperactive immune systems. Read the full story in Berkeley News.

Title: Fractal cane design on irregular surfaces Names: Derrick Ma, Briana Gonzalez, Hamreet Pannu, Mridini Vijay. Client:Dr. Janice Schwartz and Dr. Evie Kalmar, UCSF Geriatrics Division.

Postdoctoral fellow Jeffrey Groh led a study on the genetic explanation of avocado pollination. All avocado trees are hermaphrodites, but until now, it was unclear how avocado flowers function as female in the morning and male in the afternoon (A-type plants), while B-type plants follow the opposite pattern. Read the full story in UC Davis News.

IB professor Jack Tseng, former IB undergrad Leah Kahn, former visiting postdoctoral scholar Adolfo Pacheco-Castro, and collaborators at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles and the National Autonomous University of Mexico documented fossil evidence indicating that animals from different latitudes of North and South America intermingled before the formation of the Panamanian land bridge, which linked the two continents. Read the full story in Berkeley News.

Led by FAVE Lab NSF/Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow Narimane Chatar, alongside Huelsenbeck Lab PhD student Levi Raskin, former IB visiting scholars Alex Ramos and Melvin Vankelst, and IB professor Jack Tseng, the team published a paper on mammalian dental evolution. Read the full story, featured as the cover article in Science.

Congratulations to PhD student Maya Overton of Herr Lab, winner of Best Poster at the Single Cell Proteomics Conference (SCP2026)!