We sadly announce that MCB Professor Emeritus Fred Wilt died on January 30, 2026, at the age of 91, after 62 years on the faculty at UC Berkeley. Fred was born December 12, 1934, in Nappanee, Indiana. Some of Fred’s ancestors had come to this continent well before the American Revolution, while others came from Germany in the 19th century. Fred was a third generation (or so) Hoosier. His father and maternal grandmother ran the Huffman Bakery in Nappanee, where Fred also worked as a youth. Notwithstanding this artisanal background, academics also ran strong in the Wilt family. Fred’s younger brother Alan F. Wilt was a distinguished World War II historian at the University of Iowa, and after moving to Arizona, their father Lisle taught at Arizona State University.

Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology Abby Dernburg, Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology Edward Penhoet and Professor of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development Noah Whiteman have been elected as 2025 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). 
 

Thank you to our incredible community for helping support our fundraising goals during Big Give! Your generosity, dedication, and participation were truly inspiring and are making a meaningful impact.

Because of you, we can continue to advance scientific discovery, broaden research opportunities for students, and support the wellbeing of our community.

This year was a great success — together, we raised $34,505 from more than 111 donors! Your support means so much and has made a lasting difference. On behalf of the entire Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, thank you for being part of this effort.

 

Go Bears!

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Professor of Molecular Therapeutics Jennifer Doudna is one of four UC Berkeley faculty elected to National Academy of Engineering (NAE). She was recognized for developing widely adopted DNA and RNA editing methods based on CRISPR-Cas9.
 

Learn about research from the lab of Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology Daniel Portnoy. 

UC Berkeley’s Molecular Therapeutics Initiative (MTI) has chosen three research groups to launch its first Parkinson’s Therapeutics Program, advancing promising academic discoveries toward potential treatments. Several MCB affiliates are among the research team awardees: 
 

Ross Wilson, Assistant Adjunct Professor of Molecular Therapeutics and Hanqin Li, Postdoc Hockemeyer Lab

Eunyong Park, Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology and Laurie Wang, PhD Candidate Park Lab

Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology, Susan Marqusee, has been elected to the leadership Council of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). The NAS Council serves as the organization’s governing board and is composed of five elected officers—president, international secretary, vice president, home secretary, and treasurer—along with 12 at-large members chosen from the membership. Marqusee is one of four councilors elected this year who will serve a three-year term in this leadership role.

We are excited to announce the recipients of the 2026 MCB Lisa Eshun-Wilson Community Award. This award recognizes outstanding contributions by MCB graduate students and postdocs who demonstrate exceptional leadership and a deep commitment to strengthening our department’s sense of connection and collaboration through community engagement and mentorship.
 

We are proud to present this year’s awardees:
 

Professors of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology David Bilder, Rebecca Heald, James Hurley and Gary Karpen have been named 2026-2027 Miller Research Professors by the UC Berkeley Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science.
 

Peter Duesberg (Photo credit: Alchetron)

On Tuesday January 13, 2026 MCB faculty member Peter Duesberg, a pioneering retrovirologist, public controversialist, and long-time member of the Berkeley community, passed away peacefully after a five-year struggle with stroke-induced aphasia.
 

Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology, Dan Portnoy, received the 2025 Excellence in Advising Outstanding Faculty Advisor award from Berkeley’s Council on Advising and Student Services.

Congratulations to MCB postdoc Joseph Lobel (Ingolia Lab) on receiving the 2026 RNA Society Scaringe Young Scientist Award. This internationally competitive award honors one postdoc annually who has made a significant contribution to the broad area of RNA research. Read more about the 2026 RNA Society Scaringe Young Scientist Award here. 

As the year draws to a close, we want to take a moment to express our deep gratitude for our MCB community of students, postdocs, staff, faculty, alumni and friends. 2025 has been a year marked by exciting discoveries, shared successes, and the remarkable resilience and dedication of our community. We hope you enjoy our year-end video highlighting some of our 2025 memories together. 

 

 

 

MCB microbiologists from the Portnoy lab team up with BASIS to run a microbiology outreach workshop at the Ellerhorst Elementary School.