UC Science Today

Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley are designing a water filter made of a material so thin it’s 2-dimensional. Researcher Baoxia Mi makes these membrane filters by organizing the nanomaterial graphene oxide into single layers of carbon, then stacking those together.

"This material has a lot of properties that are suitable for membrane filtration, especially for water purification – disinfection, absorption, or some other properties that can help us enhance the removal of water contaminants."

Unlike current membrane filters, Mi’s design does not require as much energy to push the water through the membrane since water passes quickly across the graphene. So there could be several applications for use as a water filter.

"We can use it for wastewater reuse, for typical drinking water treatment. We’re still trying to see if we can make a desalination membrane from this material – that would be very exciting."

Citizen science initiatives, in which members of the public contribute to a particular study, have become a very valuable asset to researchers. Dr. Rob Knight of the University of California, San Diego is one of them. Knight co-founded the American Gut Project, a crowdsourced, crowdfunded initiative in which anyone can contribute mouth, skin or gut samples from themselves, family members and dogs – all for microbiome sequencing.

"The biggest value of these kinds of Citizen Science initiatives is that only with thousands, or perhaps hundreds of thousands of people, can we get a full idea of what range of microbes and what range of microbiomes are out there. And in particular, what’s fascinating about this type of study, this is more traditional than NIH-funded studies, where you’re looking at a very specific population, with very specific criteria. And so we’re finding all kinds of configurations of the microbiome, out there in health people and also out there in people with different diseases that we would have had no idea existed. So we’re getting this tremendously expanded view of what kinds of microbiomes are out there."

Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley are designing a water filter made of a material so thin it’s 2-dimensional. Researcher Baoxia Mi makes these membrane filters by organizing the nanomaterial graphene oxide into single layers of carbon, then stacking those together.

"This material has a lot of properties that are suitable for membrane filtration, especially for water purification – disinfection, absorption, or some other properties that can help us enhance the removal of water contaminants."

Unlike current membrane filters, Mi’s design does not require as much energy to push the water through the membrane since water passes quickly across the graphene. So there could be several applications for use as a water filter.

"We can use it for wastewater reuse, for typical drinking water treatment. We’re still trying to see if we can make a desalination membrane from this material – that would be very exciting."

Citizen science initiatives, in which members of the public contribute to a particular study, have become a very valuable asset to researchers. Dr. Rob Knight of the University of California, San Diego is one of them. Knight co-founded the American Gut Project, a crowdsourced, crowdfunded initiative in which anyone can contribute mouth, skin or gut samples from themselves, family members and dogs – all for microbiome sequencing.

"The biggest value of these kinds of Citizen Science initiatives is that only with thousands, or perhaps hundreds of thousands of people, can we get a full idea of what range of microbes and what range of microbiomes are out there. And in particular, what’s fascinating about this type of study, this is more traditional than NIH-funded studies, where you’re looking at a very specific population, with very specific criteria. And so we’re finding all kinds of configurations of the microbiome, out there in health people and also out there in people with different diseases that we would have had no idea existed. So we’re getting this tremendously expanded view of what kinds of microbiomes are out there."

Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley are designing a water filter made of a material so thin it’s 2-dimensional. Researcher Baoxia Mi makes these membrane filters by organizing the nanomaterial graphene oxide into single layers of carbon, then stacking those together.

"This material has a lot of properties that are suitable for membrane filtration, especially for water purification – disinfection, absorption, or some other properties that can help us enhance the removal of water contaminants."

Unlike current membrane filters, Mi’s design does not require as much energy to push the water through the membrane since water passes quickly across the graphene. So there could be several applications for use as a water filter.

"We can use it for wastewater reuse, for typical drinking water treatment. We’re still trying to see if we can make a desalination membrane from this material – that would be very exciting."

Citizen science initiatives, in which members of the public contribute to a particular study, have become a very valuable asset to researchers. Dr. Rob Knight of the University of California, San Diego is one of them. Knight co-founded the American Gut Project, a crowdsourced, crowdfunded initiative in which anyone can contribute mouth, skin or gut samples from themselves, family members and dogs – all for microbiome sequencing.

"The biggest value of these kinds of Citizen Science initiatives is that only with thousands, or perhaps hundreds of thousands of people, can we get a full idea of what range of microbes and what range of microbiomes are out there. And in particular, what’s fascinating about this type of study, this is more traditional than NIH-funded studies, where you’re looking at a very specific population, with very specific criteria. And so we’re finding all kinds of configurations of the microbiome, out there in health people and also out there in people with different diseases that we would have had no idea existed. So we’re getting this tremendously expanded view of what kinds of microbiomes are out there."

How related is breast cancer to say, prostate cancer? Researcher John Witte of the University of California San Francisco is looking at the shared genetic basis among different cancers with the hope that it will lead to more targeted treatment. This project ties in with President Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative by personalizing treatment based on genetics.

"All of cancer is a genetic disease. And I don’t mean that it’s all inherited, but even cancers that are caused by say, smoking or sun exposure, arise because there’s been DNA damage."

Witte and his lab are looking for the genetic mutations that different types of tumors share, no matter where in the body they’re located.

"For example, are hormonally based tumors, like breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer, are those arising from similar genetic mutations? And if so, maybe we could use similar treatments across different cancers."

How related is breast cancer to say, prostate cancer? Researcher John Witte of the University of California San Francisco is looking at the shared genetic basis among different cancers with the hope that it will lead to more targeted treatment. This project ties in with President Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative by personalizing treatment based on genetics.

"All of cancer is a genetic disease. And I don’t mean that it’s all inherited, but even cancers that are caused by say, smoking or sun exposure, arise because there’s been DNA damage."

Witte and his lab are looking for the genetic mutations that different types of tumors share, no matter where in the body they’re located.

"For example, are hormonally based tumors, like breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer, are those arising from similar genetic mutations? And if so, maybe we could use similar treatments across different cancers."

How related is breast cancer to say, prostate cancer? Researcher John Witte of the University of California San Francisco is looking at the shared genetic basis among different cancers with the hope that it will lead to more targeted treatment. This project ties in with President Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative by personalizing treatment based on genetics.

"All of cancer is a genetic disease. And I don’t mean that it’s all inherited, but even cancers that are caused by say, smoking or sun exposure, arise because there’s been DNA damage."

Witte and his lab are looking for the genetic mutations that different types of tumors share, no matter where in the body they’re located.

"For example, are hormonally based tumors, like breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer, are those arising from similar genetic mutations? And if so, maybe we could use similar treatments across different cancers."

Children with a condition called Sensory Processing Disorder, or SPD, struggle with how to process stimulation – and this includes a whole host of symptoms such as hypersensitivity to auditory and tactile sensations, poor fine motor skills and easy distractibility. So there’s a lot of misunderstanding about SPD and clinicians have even debated whether it constitutes its own disorder.

"We need more research, we need a lot more awareness and education in our community so that these kids get the help that they need without it being such a struggle, both for the kids and their parents."

That’s child neurologist Elysa Marco of the University of California, San Francisco. She’s part of a team of researchers who have found that there are measurable brain-based differences in affected children.

"I’m hoping that some of our earlier work is helping people to grasp. So I’m hoping in another couple years, there will be other labs who have replicated the work that we’ve done – we’ll be a bit more clear on both the structure and the function in our kids with sensory processing differences."