Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)

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Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
MS 90-1070
Berkeley, CA 94720
United States
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Description

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has been a leader in science and engineering research for more than 70 years. Located on a 200-acre site in the hills above the University of California's Berkeley campus, adjacent to the San Francisco Bay, Berkeley Lab holds the distinction of being the oldest of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Laboratories. The Lab is managed by the University of California, operating with an annual budget of more than $500 million (FY2004) and a staff of about 3,800 employees, including more than 500 students. Berkeley Lab conducts unclassified research across a wide range of scientific disciplines with key efforts in fundamental studies of the universe; quantitative biology; nanoscience; new energy systems and environmental solutions; and the use of integrated computing as a tool for discovery. It is organized into 17 scientific divisions and hosts four DOE national user facilities.

Mission

LBL's role is to serve the nation and its scientific, educational, and business communities through research and development in the energy, life and general sciences, and to develop productive relationships between LBL research programs and industry.

Technology Disciplines

Technologies
Displaying 1 - 10 of 640
 
5-Carbon Alcohols for Drop-in Gasoline Replacement EIB-2392, EIB-3112
Description:
Jay Keasling and Howard Chou of Berkeley Lab and the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have invented a fermentation process to produce 5-carbon alcohols from genetically modified E. coli host cells regardless of the feedstock used. This is the first time isopentanol has been synthesized from the isoprenoid pathway. The resulting isopentanol has an energy content of 107.7 MJ/gallon—higher than ethanol (79.4 MJ/gallon) and butanol (102.1 MJ/gallon) and approaching the energy content of gasoline (121.0 MJ/gallon). In addition, isopentanol does not require the use of flexible fuel vehicles or engine modifications. This technology provides a gasoline replacement that is competitive with other alternative fuel products. Production costs for electricity and water use are lower than those for ethanol because the Berkeley Lab fuel can be processed in a centrifuge or siphoned off rather than distilled. Because the new fuel is less soluble in water than ethanol or butanol, less energy intensive processes may be required to separate the fuel from the fermentation broth during production. Low water solubility offers further cost advantages by enabling shipment of the fuel in the existing petroleum pipeline infrastructure. Finally, production need not compete with food crops for land and natural resources. The 5-carbon alcohols produced from the genetically modified host cell are 3-methyl-2-buten-1-ol; 3-methyl-3-buten-1-ol; or 3-methyl-butan-1-ol. These alcohols have the potential to replace up to 100% of the 5-carbon hydrocarbons that comprise as much as 20% of gasoline, thus offering up to a 20% replacement of gasoline. The Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI, www.jbei.org) is a scientific partnership led by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and including the Sandia National Laboratories, the University of California campuses of Berkeley and Davis, the Carnegie Institution for Science and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. JBEI’s primary scientific mission is to advance the development of the next generation of biofuels.
Benefits
Higher energy content than ethanol and butanol - Compatible with standard vehicles and engines - Potential for lower cost, less energy-intensive production than other fuels - Low water solubility enables distribution via pipeline
Details
Internal Lab Reference ID
EIB-2392, EIB-3112
Patent Status
U.S. Patent #7,985,567. Available for licensing or collaborative research. To learn more about licensing a technology from LBNL see http://www.lbl.gov/Tech-Transfer/licensing/index.html.
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A Cell Injection System Using Carbon Nanotubes IB-2323, IB-2333
Description:
Alex Zettl and Carolyn Bertozzi of Berkeley Lab are the first to develop a mechanism to introduce molecules into a biological cell without harming the cell itself. The nanoinjector they devised is a single, multi-walled carbon nanotube (CNTs), called a nanoneedle, attached to the tip of an atomic force microscope (AFM) probe. Carbon nanotubes are hollow wires of pure carbon about 50,000 times slimmer than the finest human hair but stronger than steel, making them ideal needles. The cargo is released in the reducing environment within the cell’s interior, The nanoneedle is then retracted by AFM control. Apart from the more obvious advantage of nanoinjection of keeping a cell intact, the chemical attachment of the cargo also eliminates the need for a carrier solvent that adds undesirable volume to the cell. Furthermore, the amount of cargo released within the cell can be adjusted by varying the amount of time the nanoneedle remains in the cell. Finally, molecular probes such as the quantum dot can be inserted into the cell and thus probe the cell’s interior for fine details such as the presence of a specific molecule. In fact, the Berkeley team has already been proven successful in delivering small numbers of protein-coated quantum dots into a line of mammalian cells. The ability to attach arbitrary cargo to the nanoneedle system makes it a versatile and practical technology for researchers performing single cells studies. The Berkeley team is exploring other cargo loading and release mechanisms that will facilitate the nanoneedle’s use as a “plug-and-play” technology for a variety of cargos.
Benefits
Unlike microinjection, nanoneedle injection does not damage the cell membrane - Overcomes other limitations associated with microinjection: - Eliminates need for a carrier solvent - Not limited to larger cells - Provides nanometer-scale control of nanoneedle position for targeted cargo delivery - Allows control of the number of cargo released by adjusting incubation time of nanoneedle within the cell - Enables probing of cell’s interior for specific molecules or properties
Details
Internal Lab Reference ID
IB-2323, 2333
Patent Status
Issued US Patent 8257932 available at www.uspto.gov. Available for licensing or collaborative research. To learn more about licensing a technology from LBNL see here.
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A Diagnostic Test to Personalize Therapy Using Platinum-based Anticancer Drugs JIB-2441
Description:
Platinum-based anticancer drugs, such as the US approved drugs cisplatin, carboplatin, and oxaliplatin, are among the most active anticancer agents. These platinum compounds are known to bind to DNA and trigger cell cycle arrest and apoptosis of cancer cells. These drugs appear to have similar anticancer mechanism(s), but vary in their anticancer spectrum and toxicity. For example, oxaliplatin generally has comparable or superior anticancer activity but significantly lower nephrotoxicity compared to cisplatin. The drug is active against colorectal cancers, for which cisplatin and carboplatin are essentially clinically inactive. The clinical application of these platinum compounds, however, is still limited by their toxicity and chemoresistance. Thus, there remains a need for improved platinum-based anticancer therapies. Researchers at Berkeley Lab and the University of California, San Francisco, have identified a class of proteins that play a critical role in the anticancer mechanism of oxaliplatin. Presence of these proteins increases the pharmacological effect of oxaliplatin, which can potentially lower the effective concentration to achieve equal or greater therapeutic effects with reduced systemic toxicity. Furthermore, this identified protein class would be good therapeutic targets to understand and prevent chemoresistance of oxaliplatin and other platinum-based drugs. Diagnostic tests could be developed based on the identified protein class to personalize platinum-based therapy and predict prognosis. Diagnostic tests would allow doctors to determine: 1. What types of cancer will better respond to which class of platinum-based therapy, which is dependent on the expression or activity level of the protein in the tumor tissue. 2. Which patients, based on their genotype for the identified protein, will better respond to certain therapies, where patients with genetic mutations of the protein (resulting in reduced protein expression or activity) might display chemoresistance.
Benefits
Can be used to tailor cancer treatments to individual patients - Reduces unnecessary cancer treatments and the associated side effects - Enables new therapeutic strategies for cancer
Details
Internal Lab Reference ID
JIB-2441
Patent Status
Patent pending. Available for licensing or collaborative research.
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A Long Non-Coding RNA Expressed in Aggressive Cancer 2014-109
Description:
Berkeley Lab researchers have developed technologies to evaluate levels of the long, non-coding RNA to assess the aggressiveness of a cancer and to modulate levels of the long non-coding RNA. This invention addresses the need to identify patients with potentially metastatic tumors versus non-metastatic tumors. For more details, see Published PCT patent application 2015/031431.
Details
Internal Lab Reference ID
2014-109
Patent Status
Published PCT Patent Application 2015/031431. Available for licensing or collaborative research.
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A Novel 12-Gene Prognostic Signature for Breast Cancer 2016-181
Benefits
Determines most effective treatment options for patient quality of life - Standardizes breast cancer prognoses
Details
Patent Status
Patent pending. Available for licensing or collaborative research.
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A Novel CETP Inhibitor for Cholesterol Control IB-3143
Description:
Berkeley Lab researchers Gang Ren and Lei Zhang have developed new inhibitors of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP), which has been the focus of research into drugs that regulate levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL), also known respectively as “good” and “bad” cholesterol. CETP is thought to play a critical role in raising good cholesterol and reducing bad cholesterol levels by transferring the fatty substances from HDL to LDL. Using a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) protocol called optimized negative-staining (OpNS) and cryo-positive-staining (Cryo-PS), Ren and his team observed images of HDL and LDL molecules connected as if by a bridge of the two ends of banana-shaped CETP. These images supported a model in which CETP serves as a tunnel that pipes cholesteryl esters from HDL to LDL. Based on that imagery, the Berkeley Lab researchers screened for antibodies that could bind to and block either end of the banana-shaped CETP. Laboratory tests showed that when the antibody H300 blocked one end, the C-terminal (Figure 1), HDL molecules retained their diameter during incubation with LDL and CETP. In the absence of that antibody, the HDL molecules decreased in size, suggesting that the cholesteryl esters within them had been transferred to LDL. In addition, Antibody-N, which was custom-designed to bind to CETP at its other end —the N-terminal —, also prevented HDL-cholesterol transport to the LDL molecule. Cholesterol-regulating drugs are potent weapons in the effort to prevent heart disease. Statins that reduce levels of LDL are among the most successful pharmaceuticals ever made; but efforts to develop drugs that increase levels of HDL have failed. Those drugs were based on a different and previously accepted model that presumed that CETP shuttled these esters from HDL to LDL, like a freighter collecting and delivering its cargo — and did so docked parallel to the much larger lipoproteins, rather than pushing into them from both ends as revealed by the TEM imagery observed in the Berkeley Lab research. The Berkeley Lab research indicates that either H300 or Antibody-N, as well as small molecules of similar surface morphology, will block the cholesteryl ester transfer mechanism, and that blocking either end of CETP could serve as the basis for effective drugs that will raise levels of good cholesterol.
Benefits
A new and refined target for CETP inhibition - Highly specific receptor site - Pathway for small-molecule therapeutics
Details
Internal Lab Reference ID
IB-3143
Patent Status
Published patent application WO/2013/075040 available at www.wipo.int. Available for licensing or collaborative research.
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A Universal Approach to Integrate and Express Pathways in a Broad Range of Bacteria 2016-024
Description:
Berkeley Lab researchers including Yasuo Yoshikuni, Gaoyan Wang, Zhiying Zhao, and Jan-Fang Cheng have developed a strategy to chromosomally integrate and express DNA constructs comprising single genes to complex pathways in a broad range of bacterial hosts. By comparing traditional product and pathway specific modifications to host strains in a high-throughput format, the Berkeley Lab technology reduces the time and cost of identifying candidate production strains in a significant way. Strain-to-strain variation can be minimized due to the use of a pre-defined chromosomal integration site. This development is a major technical step forward in the wholesale transfer of heterologous biosynthetic pathways to bacterial organisms derived from various environments across human, livestock, and plant microbiomes. The technology has been demonstrated to work across a wide variety of bacterial hosts. The Berkeley Lab technology allows for rapid and efficient transfer and integration of biosynthetic pathway-encoding gene clusters of up to 50 kb and is applicable across many bacterial hosts. Other methods exist to do this, such as the use of plasmid based expression, homologous recombination, or transposition-based chromosomal integration, but at much lower efficiencies and lacking consistent, site-specific integration for relevant comparison across transformants and various bacterial strains.
Benefits
Enables high-throughput, stable, accurate, efficient gene integration and expression of very large DNA constructs (e.g., pathways) - Applicable for broad range of bacteria hosts - Lower-priced approach can be automated
Details
Patent Status
Patent pending. Available for licensing or collaborative research.
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Acceleration of Carbon Dioxide Mineralization for Geological Carbon Sequestration IB-2889
Description:
Ronald Zuckermann and a team of researchers from Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry have developed a simple polymer that significantly accelerates the capture of CO2 in a mineral form suitable for underground storage. The polymer is a low molecular weight peptoid that catalyzes the conversion of CO2 into a mineral form known as calcite (CaCO3). Test results show this peptoid accelerates the process by 20- to 40-fold, compared to other materials, which can only achieve a 1.5-fold acceleration. The peptoid is also effective at very dilute (nanomolar) concentrations. Peptoids in general are more stable and resist degradation, compared to proteins and other peptides. Finally, since the peptoids act as catalysts, they can be recaptured and re-used. Peptoids are a novel class of non-natural polymers that mimic both structures and functionalities of peptides and proteins, and bridge the gap between biopolymers and bulk polymers. Sequence-specific peptoids are efficiently synthesized using automated solid phase synthesis, starting from chemically diverse amine building blocks. The team designed and synthesized a suite of peptoids and screened them for control over calcite morphology and growth rate. Results demonstrated that the peptoids exhibit a high degree of morphological control and extreme levels of acceleration, making them practical for industrial application for CO2 sequestration. Developing techniques to efficiently capture and store carbon dioxide has become significantly important in the fight against global warming. Current strategies include capturing CO2 in a liquid form and storing it in underground reservoirs. In recent years, many materials have been invented to promote CO2 capture for sequestration, including alkylamine-containing liquids for chemisorption and porous materials for physical adsorption. Although results look promising, these materials must overcome significant challenges in the underground geological environment, including their instability, toxicity, and inability to store CO2 under geologic temperatures and pressures. In addition, large quantities of these materials are required to store CO2 in the amounts necessary for sequestration. The Berkeley Lab technology represents a welcome new approach to this field.
Benefits
Accelerated capture of carbon dioxide - Effective at extremely dilute (nanomolar) concentrations - Reusable
Details
Internal Lab Reference ID
IB-2889
Patent Status
Patent pending. Available for licensing or collaborative research.
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Accurate Identification, Imaging and Monitoring of Fluid-Saturated Underground Reservoirs IB-1663
Description:
Thin porous layers are effectively invisible to current seismic methods used for reservoir imaging. Since gas and oil deposits are usually attributed to fluid-saturated porous layers, Gennady Goloshubin and Valeri Korneev have developed an imaging method that provides a more accurate determination of saturation character for subsurface reservoirs. Berkeley Lab’s new technique that takes into account a low frequency seismic response will allow improved imaging of thin porous liquid saturated layers (containing gas, water, oil, etc.), and substantially improve the accuracy of imaging of any porous rocks using surface and/or borehole seismic measurements. Use of seismic low frequencies has strong potential for prognoses of fluid content and mapping of productive highly permeable zones of reservoirs. The low-frequency effects are especially important when no noticeable fluid signature is found in the high-frequency domain of seismic reflections from the oil-saturated reservoirs. Frequency-dependent seismic imaging allows the characterization of the subsurface fluid reservoirs in situations where other approaches fail. To date, the low frequency imaging approach has been applied to a variety of data sets. It worked well in about 80% of the cases, while in other cases the interpretation outcome was uncertain. The limits and conditions of the method need to be further investigated so that the imaging procedure can be adapted to each case depending on the geology, data quality, frequency content, etc. This technique will find applications in the search for and contouring of gas and oil deposits, as well as in underground water reservoir imaging, estimation of the size and shape of contamination zones, monitoring of underground liquid and gas storage, and, generally, in the global CO
Benefits
Allows characterization of subsurface fluid reservoirs in situations where other approaches fail - Improves imaging of thin, porous saturated layers - Substantially improves the accuracy of imaging of any porous rocks using surface and/or borehole seismic measurements - Enables differentiation between oil and water - 80% success rate with a variety of data sets
Details
Internal Lab Reference ID
IB-1663
Patent Status
Available for licensing; - U.S. Patent #6,941,227 and Published Patent Application To learn more about licensing a technology from LBNL see here.
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Acid Hydrolysis of Biomass and Increased Sugar Recovery by Solvent Extraction EJIB-3030
Description:
Researchers at the DOE Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have developed a technology to preferentially produce and extract sugars produced by the direct acid hydrolysis of biomass from an aqueous solution of ionic liquids such as 1-ethyl-3-methylimidaolium chloride. JBEI researchers have extracted over 80% of hexose and pentose sugars, indicating that the JBEI approach is a significant improvement in the field of biomass saccharification using ionic liquid. The JBEI invention uses solvent extraction technology, which is based on the chemical affinity of boronates or other organic acids to complex sugars, to extract sugars from the aqueous phase. Solvent extraction technology has been shown to successfully remove sugars from aqueous solutions in the paper pulping industry. JBEI researchers have optimized this proven technology for the recovery of sugars from biomass pretreatment processes utilizing ionic liquid pretreatment techniques also developed at JBEI. In this particular case, compared to EJIB-2750, http://www.lbl.gov/Tech-Transfer/techs//lbnl2750/, a low pH aqueous solution was not needed to strip the sugars from the organic phase. Chemical hydrolysis of biomass in ionic liquid has been known to rapidly accelerate the hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose into their component sugars. However, the process has been hampered by the need to separate the water soluble sugars from the ionic liquid. In the past, proposed solutions to this problem, such as affinity chromatography, were not found to be scalable and/or cost-effective. The JBEI technology overcomes these earlier limitations. The Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI, www.jbei.org) is a scientific partnership led by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and including the Sandia National Laboratories, the University of California campuses of Berkeley and Davis, the Carnegie Institution for Science and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. JBEI’s primary scientific mission is to advance the development of the next generation of biofuels.
Benefits
Selective production and extraction of sugars - Over 80% yield of C6 and C5 sugars - Eliminates the need for high cost cellulase and hemicellulase enzymes to liberate monomeric sugars from biomass - Facilitates ionic liquid recycling to reduce process costs
Details
Internal Lab Reference ID
: EJIB-3030
Patent Status
Published US Patent Application US20120301948 available at uspto.gov. Available for licensing or collaborative research.
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Facilities
Displaying 1 - 10 of 32
88-inch Cyclotron
Address:
1 Cyclotron Road
Berkeley, CA 94720
United States
Region:
Far West
P: 510-486-4389E: MBJohnson@lbl.govSecurity Clearance : Non Security Lab
The 88-Inch is a K=140 sector-focused cyclotron with both light- and heavy-ion capabilities. Protons and other light-ions are available at high intensities (10-20 p?A) up to maximum energies of 55 MeV (protons), 65 MeV (deuterons), 170 MeV (3He) and 140 MeV (4He). Most heavy ions through uranium...
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AC Test Chambers
Address:
1 Cyclotron Road
Berkeley, CA 94720
United States
Region:
Far West
P: 510-486-4540E: AWard@lbl.govSecurity Clearance : Non Security Lab
The Psychrometric Test Chamber’s primary purpose is to evaluate the performance of split type central air conditioners and heat pumps in the cooling capacity range of 12,000 to 70,000 Btu/h (1 to 5 ½ rated tons). It consists of side-by-side indoor and outdoor chambers with temperature, humidity and...
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Advanced Biofuels Processing Development Unit
Address:
1 Cyclotron Road
Berkeley, CA 94720
United States
Region:
Far West
P: 510-486-6053E: tpray@lbl.govSecurity Clearance : Non Security Lab
The ABPDU at LBNL has a unique mission to partner with industry, National Labs, Bioenergy Research Centers, and academia to optimize, integrate and scale production processes for advanced biofuels, bio-based chemicals and biomaterials. The ABPDU is a pilot facility with state-of-the-art development...
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Advanced Light Source (ALS)
Address:
1 Cyclotron Rd, MS6R2100
Berkeley
Region:
Far West
P: 510.486.4773Security Clearance : Non Security LabSquare Footage: 0
The Advanced Light Source (ALS), a world leader in soft x-ray science, generates light in the wavelengths needed for examining the atomic and electronic structure of matter. These two kinds of structure determine nearly all the commonly observed properties of matter, such as strength, chemical reactivity, thermal and electrical conductivity, and magnetism. A clearer understanding of atomic and electronic structure is the first step toward eventually designing new materials that better serve society, such as more compact electronics, more effective medicines, and more efficient solar cells.
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Advanced  Façade Testbed
Address:
1 Cyclotron Road
Berkeley, CA 94720
United States
Region:
Far West
P: 510-486-4540E: AWard@lbl.govSecurity Clearance : Non Security Lab
The advanced façades testbed enables investigations of system-level interactions between innovative façade systems and impacted lighting and HVAC systems using outdoor tests in three full-scale, side-by-side instrumented test chambers. Each chamber is thermally isolated so that window heat flow...
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Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research (ARM)
P: 301.903.0043 E: wanda.ferrell@science.doe.govSecurity Clearance : Non Security LabSquare Footage: 0
Lab Reps:
Wanda Ferrell
With heavily instrumented field sites around the globe, the ARM Climate Research Facility provides the world's most comprehensive outdoor laboratory and data archive for research related to atmospheric processes that affect Earth's climate system. The ARM Facility provides continuous data collections from fixed locations as well as sponsoring mobile and aerial facility deployments in under-sampled regions. ARM hosts on average more than 40 field campaigns a year and has over 6000 registered users at the ARM Data Archive from nearly every state and from more than 30 countries. Data from ARM are cited in approximately 200 journal articles per year. Nine U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories share the responsibility of managing and operating the facility in support of the DOE mission to provide for the energy security of the nation.
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Berkeley Lab Laser Accelerator (BELLA) facility
Address:
1 Cyclotron Road
Berkeley, CA 94720
United States
Region:
Far West
P: 510-486-7788E: wpleemans@lbl.govSecurity Clearance : Non Security Lab
The Berkeley Lab Laser Accelerator (BELLA) facility (formerly LOASIS) develops advanced accelerators and radiation sources. High gradient (1-100 GV/m) laser-plasma accelerators produce femtosecond-length electron bunches at GeV energies in centimeters, in progress towards 10 GeV and staged systems...
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Berkeley Low Background Counting Facility
Address:
1 Cyclotron Road
Berkeley, CA 94720
United States
Region:
Far West
P: 510-486-7848E: ydchan@lbl.govSecurity Clearance : Non Security Lab
Sensitive low background assay detectors and sample analysis are available for non-destructive direct gamma-ray assay of samples. Neutron activation analysis is also supported by the Facility. In the Building 72 facility, shielded by 1.5 m of low activity concrete sensitivities of 0.5 ppb U, 2.0...
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Berkeley Synchrotron Infrared Structural Biology Program (BSISB)
Address:
1 Cyclotron Road
Berkeley, CA 94720
United States
Region:
Far West
P: 510-486-7727E: sbailey2@lbl.govSecurity Clearance : Non Security Lab
The BSISB has constructed an infrared beamline at the Advanced Light Source to advance the imaging of living microbes relevant to DOE missions. Synchrotron radiation-based Fourier transform infrared (SR-FTIR) microscopy is a label-free, non-invasive molecular technique that couples the high...
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Center for X-ray Optics (CXRO)
Address:
1 Cyclotron Road
Berkeley, CA 94720
United States
Region:
Far West
P: 510-486-4394E: JJones@lbl.govSecurity Clearance : Non Security Lab
The Center for X-Ray Optics at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory works to further science and technology using short wavelength optical systems and techniques. CXRO creates and operates advanced experimental systems to address national needs, support research in material, life, and...
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Awards
News
Successes
Better, Brighter Displays

Widespread international use of electronic devices – from tablets and smartphones to laptops and high definition (HD) televisions – yields an increased demand for energy to power them. More energy efficient displays, with uncompromised color accuracy and brightness, are needed.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory discovered that spherical nanocrystals only 50 atoms wide made from a cadmium selenide core inside a cadmium sulfide shell could be made to emit multiple colors of light, depending on the nanocrystals’ size. With further research, LBNL scientists learned to manipulate these nanocrystals, called quantum dots, to emit extremely pure color at nearly 100% photo conversion efficiency.

LBNL’s quantum dot technology portfolio, a breakthrough in nanoscience, was licensed by startup Nanosys, Inc. for use in electronic displays. Nanosys then partnered with LG Innotek and 3M to develop Quantum Dot Enhancement Film™ (QDEF), introduced in 2011.

QDEF, an engineered sheet containing quantum dots, provides a 50% wider color spectrum for brighter, more vivid colors in electronic displays at a comparable price and 20% lower power consumption levels than a standard liquid crystal display (LCD). QDEF is the source of the high color accuracy display in the Kindle Fire HDX7, the Asus NX500 Notebook PC, and Vizio’s P-Series Quantum 4k HDR Smart TV.

The Nanosys plant in Milpitas, California is capable of producing enough quantum dots to build six million big-screen TVs annually. In 2014, Nanosys named LMS Co., Ltd. as the second major supplier of optical films based on QDEF. LMS will use the technology for its new Quantum Light Accumulation Sheet (QLAS) to improve brightness and vibrancy for LCDs.

To view the original LBNL success story, click here. 

Quantum dot technology developed by nanoscientists at LBNL and licensed by Nanosys, Inc. yields energy efficient yet bright, vibrant displays in the growing field of smartphones, HDTVs, laptops and tablet computers. Images courtesy of Nanosys, Inc.

A Better Test for Heart Attack Risk

An estimated eighty percent of people with coronary artery disease have cholesterol levels that fall within normal ranges. This suggests that standard cholesterol tests established over fifty years ago do not adequately identify a significant number of people at risk for heart attacks -- people who, if alerted, could take lifestyle and treatment steps to reduce their risk.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientists discovered a link between heart disease and the relative distribution of subclasses of cholesterol (HDL, LDL, IDL, and VLDL). They invented a gradient gel electrophoresis test to measure various cholesterol subclasses as well as ion mobility analysis to measure the size distribution and count of individual particles. This discovery enabled doctors to distinguish higher risk patients based on lipoprotein size distribution spectra.

A startup, Berkeley HeartLab, was founded on the LBNL technology. Berkeley HeartLab merged with Celera Corporation, which was acquired by Quest Diagnostics in 2011. Starting in 2009, Quest Diagnostics advanced widespread adoption of a specialized cholesterol test, called Cardio IQ – Lipid Subfractionation by Ion Mobility, based on the original LBNL invention.

DNA Damage Monitoring Made Easy

The public is gaining awareness of the effects of DNA damage on human health and the ability to repair some DNA damage through lifestyle and nutrition choices. Yet, there is no at-home blood test for assessing DNA damage and monitoring it over time. The only options for DNA damage testing are at clinical sites, and current assessment tools provide less precise information because they do not take the patient’s age into account when interpreting data.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientists developed an athome blood collection kit that requires only a few drops of blood and immediately fixes the biological activity of blood cells to enable non-toxic sample shipment or storage without changes in specific DNA markers. Samples are then assessed in an automated, highthroughput, reproducible process yielding results taking each patient’s age, health status, and radiation exposure history into account. In two trials conducted in 2013, researchers correlated DNA damage with subjects’ age, indicating the importance of including age in data assessment.

In 2013, startup Exogen Biotechnology recognized the potential for this technology to benefit the public and entered into an agreement with LBNL through the Startup America program. Exogen has raised over $100,000 in an online crowdfunding campaign that offered kits to citizen scientists for their own DNA damage monitoring. Over 215 kits will be shipped to funders in late 2014.

Partners Advancing Semiconductor Technology
Partners Advancing Semiconductor Technology

To stay competitive, companies in the multi-billion dollar semiconductor industry must conduct pre-competitive research years in advance to learn about the materials, process and chemistry required to continue shrinking circuit elements in computer chips.

A collaboration between SEMATECH, a consortium of semiconductor companies and chip makers, and the Center for X-ray Optics (CXRO) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, has yielded solutions to critical questions facing the semiconductor industry such as developing extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) techniques to shrink circuit elements to the nanometer scale. Recently, additional tools have been introduced at LBNL that enable researchers from around the world to make new discoveries in resists, processing and masks. The SHARP microscope (SEMATECH High-NA Actinic Reticle review Project), designed and built by CXRO staff and brought online in 2013, will advance miniaturization and complexity in chip making. A new SEMATECH Berkeley Microfield Exposure Tool (MET) will be available in 2015 at LBNL’s Advanced Light Source. Replacing the earlier MET, this new tool will enable semiconductor industry researchers to develop the next generation of photoresist materials.

Saving Time, Money in the Quest for Health and Energy Solutions

Researchers at medical, biotechnical, and bioenergy companies use decades-old, time consuming approaches to clone DNA. In 2010, constructing a combinatorial protein library with 243 constructs cost an estimated $125,000 and took 11 months with traditional cloning. Direct DNA synthesis, while providing results in about 2 months, cost $538,000.

Researchers at the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), a multi-institutional research center led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, initially developed j5 software to automate the construction of biofuels pathways from DNA building blocks. Researchers then created a modular technology applicable to a wide range of biotechnical applications that improved the accuracy, scalability and cost effectiveness of DNA synthesis. With j5, a 243-construct combinatorial protein library can be built for $30,000 in less than 2 months allowing companies to achieve their goals more rapidly, whether designing new medications, understanding the nature of disease, or developing new microorganisms for bioenergy solutions.

The j5 software was copyrighted and patent application was filed to protect the IP. The j5 was made available, at no cost, to government, nonprofit and academic research centers and today over 1,300 researchers working in 378 non-commercial institutions use the software. Recognizing the business potential for a technology that saves significant time and resources in the multibillion-dollar DNA synthesis market, startup TeselaGen licensed j5 and related software in 2011.TeselaGen has signed a multi-year deal with chemical industry leader Genomatica to speed development of organisms used in making chemicals from renewable feedstocks. The startup also teamed with Redbiotec to build a vaccine library that could lead to new or more effective vaccines against shingles, chickenpox and related illnesses.

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