UC Berkeley Metabolic Biology

Two Berkeley Lab scientists—Jennifer Doudna and Nitash Balsara—have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, one of the highest honors for engineers. Their work spans #CRISPR gene editing and safer rechargeable batteries. @theNAEng @UCBerkeley newscenter.lbl.gov/2026/03/03/two…

The first approved GLP1 (Byetta) came from a desert reptile, the Gila monster. Inspired by this, our work on Burmese pythons 🐍🐍 is now out @NatMetabolism. An “extreme”-ly fun collaboration with Leinwand and @DrYongXu1. Congratulations @Shuke_Xiao! nature.com/articles/s4225…

Thanks to @NatureSMB for publishing a "Research Briefing" on our recent work, highlighting the discoveries and providing context on the story behind our research into how vitamin B2 metabolism regulates FSP1 stability to suppress ferroptosis.

1/3 Thrilled to see our paper led by Kirandeep Deol is out! We used CRISPR screens to uncover regulators of the ferroptosis suppressor FSP1. key discovery: vitamin B2 metabolism stabilizes FSP1 via FAD, revealing a new way vitamins regulate ferroptosis. nature.com/articles/s4159…

🚨We’re getting down to the wire!🚨 We need 75 more gifts to unlock the final $57,000 in #CalBigGive matching funds. Every gift—no matter the size—helps us reach our goal. Join our final push by making your gift before 9 pm: givingday.berkeley.edu/giving-day/108…

The #BerkeleyMCB community is coming together for a BIG impact on #CalBigGive! We’re on our way to our $40k goal! 🎉 Every gift fuels discovery, expands student research, & supports our community. ✅ Our goals bit.ly/BigGiveMCB26go… ✅ Click 🔗 bit.ly/BigGiveMCB26 to donate

Inspiration seminar from Mallika Singh, Senior Vice President at Revolution Medicines! Wow! 🤩

Great to welcome scientists from Amgen, Grifols, and Scribe Therapeutics to the @UCBerkeley MCB Industrial Affiliates Program symposium. Industry partners met with MCB grad students & postdocs, building bridges between academia and biotech innovation.

At @MTI_UCB, we invest in people who will build the next generation of therapeutics. From hands-on drug discovery training for Master of Biotech students to strategic advisory support for international female founders in life sciences, we are creating pathways from research to real-world impact. This year, we also launched our inaugural Parkinson’s Therapeutics Award Program, directly funding research aimed at advancing new treatments for Parkinson’s disease. Support this work during #CalBigGive: givingday.berkeley.edu/giving-day/108…

A new @Nature study from a team of @UCBerkeley scientists details how a previously unrecognized membrane-shaping protein regulates how liver cells store and secrete fat—processes central to the development of fatty liver disease. Learn more: mbn.berkeley.edu/news/berkeley-…

Professors @OlzmannLab and @apsarruda and colleagues have identified a previously unrecognized membrane-shaping protein that regulates whether fat is secreted or stored in liver cells. mbn.berkeley.edu/news/berkeley-…

Our department has a new name: Department of Metabolic Biology & Nutrition😍🤩 mbn.berkeley.edu/news/nst-renam…

Happy to share our perspective on the recently published paper by the Burkewitz Lab. @apsarruda @BerkeleyMetBio doi.org/10.1038/s41556…

“CLCC1 promotes hepatic neutral lipid flux and nuclear pore complex assembly.”@Nature🤩

Happy to share this collaborative work published in @Nature today: “CLCC1 promotes hepatic neutral lipid flux and nuclear pore complex assembly” by @OlzmannLab @apsarruda , led by co–first authors @alymathiowetz and @EmilyMeymand nature.com/articles/s4158…

Wonderful to celebrate our recent paper with these absolute super stars!! Love this team! 🤗 🥹

1/ Thrilled to share our new paper in @Nature: “CLCC1 promotes hepatic neutral lipid flux and nuclear pore complex assembly.” From our lab together with @apsarruda, led by co–first authors @alymathiowetz and @EmilyMeymand. 🥳 nature.com/articles/s4158…

Biophysical Journal congratulates Denis V. Titov on his 2025 Paper of the Year-Early-Career Investigator Award, to be presented at the BPS Annual Meeting in San Francisco! @BiophysJ @Denis_V_Titov #BPS2026 buff.ly/ZiPrX7X

Our paper on allosteric regulation of glycolysis was selected by @BiophysJ editors as the 2025 Paper of the Year! Woo hoo!

Most people eat small (~1-2% body weight) and frequent (2-3x/day) meals. But Burmese pythons 🐍🐍 can fast for >1 yr and eat 100% of their weight in a single meal. What happens in snakes after eating? What lessons they can teach us about human physiology? biorxiv.org/content/10.648…