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Bioscience and Bioengineering
Three Lawrence fellows selected for 2026 cohort
This year’s three Lawrence fellows will pursue research that spans fusion science, emerging concepts for sensing and response and earth system science. Their work reflects both the breadth of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) mission space and the program’s commitment to enabling early-career scientists to take bold, multidisciplinary approaches to…
LLNL showcases AI-enabled science, national security and energy innovation at AI+ Expo
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) leaders, scientists and engineers joined national voices at the Special Competitive Studies Project’s (SCSP) AI+ Expo May 7-9 in Washington, D.C., highlighting how AI is reshaping science, security and energy innovation. The public Expo brought together government, industry, academic and Department of Energy (DOE) national…
Screening enzymes to break down plant waste and produce valuable biofuels
Locked away inside the walls of plant cells lies a valuable source of energy: sugar. But to access that sugar — which could provide a domestic source of bioenergy that strengthens U.S. energy security — researchers must first break down cellulose, the structural component of plant cell walls. A team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has designed two high…
New protein-screening platform accelerates rare-earth separation for U.S. supply chain
To ensure a robust domestic supply chain in the U.S., Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists are using bacterial proteins to separate the rare-earth elements that are ubiquitous in magnets, batteries and electronics. These proteins, called lanmodulin, evolved in bacteria that use rare-earth elements to power their metabolism. But to scale up and advance…
Grad student Wyatt Larrinaga explores how proteins bind to radioactive elements for fellowship at LLNL
As a fifth-year graduate student at the Pennsylvania State University, Wyatt Larrinaga investigates how proteins can be used to separate lanthanides. These elements, plus two others, make up the rare earth elements that are critical for technology, defense and a robust domestic energy supply. But somewhere along the way, Larrinaga grew interested in branching out. Or,…
Nanotubes with lids mimic real biology
When water and ions move together through channels only a nanometer wide, they behave in unusual ways. In these tight spaces, water molecules line up in single file. This forces ions to shed some of the water molecules that normally surround them, leading to the unique physics of ion transport. Biological channels are especially adept at this behavior, often choreographing…
Not all immune cells are created equal
Memory T cells are a special type of white blood cell that “remember” past infections and vaccines, helping our bodies to quickly respond if we encounter the same germs again. These cells are found throughout the body: some circulate in the blood, while others settle down as “residents” in tissues like the lungs, intestines and lymphoid organs (such as the spleen and lymph…
LLNL and partners launch record-breaking protein-folding workflow on world’s fastest supercomputer
Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and collaborators at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Columbia University have achieved a milestone in biological computing: completing the largest and fastest protein structure prediction workflow ever run, using the full power of El Capitan, the world’s fastest supercomputer. El Capitan is funded by the Advanced…
River ecosystem that converts air to fertilizer could hold clues for sustainable nitrogen production
Every living thing needs nitrogen, and the world uses a significant portion of its energy making nitrogen fertilizer for agriculture. Studying microorganisms that naturally capture atmospheric nitrogen — a process called nitrogen fixation — can inspire new sustainable methods to produce fertilizers, saving energy and reducing water pollution. In a new study, published in…
2025 LLNL summer programs inspire the next generation of innovators
This summer, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) hosted science education programs that provided students with hands-on experience related to several LLNL research themes. The science education offerings for this summer included three standout programs: the Manufacturing Workshop, STEM with Phones and the Biotech Summer Experience. The Manufacturing Workshop The…
First-of-its-kind microscope takes 3D ghost images of nanoparticles
Ghost imaging is like a game of Battleship. Instead of seeing an object directly, scientists use entangled photons to remove the background and reveal its silhouette. This method can be used to study microscopic environments without much light, which is helpful for avoiding photodamage to biological samples. So far, quantum ghost imaging has been limited to two dimensions,…
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory leads groundbreaking DeNOVO initiative in AI antibody design
In a pioneering project aimed at revolutionizing the design of antibodies and antibody-like molecules through the power of AI, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is working to transform medical countermeasure development and biologics discovery. The project is part of an interagency agreement between the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health and the…
Big Ideas Lab podcast visits the Forensic Science Center: part 2
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Forensic Science Center (FSC) is a unique place. It is the only forensic science center in the United States that could accept a truly mixed hazard sample — with a biological material, a chemical agent, explosives and nuclear material. It is one of only two laboratories in the United States — and among 30 in the world — that is…
LLNL and Purdue University accelerate discovery of medical countermeasures for emerging chemical threats
In a major advance for chemical defense and public safety, scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) Forensic Science Center (FSC) and Purdue University have developed and demonstrated a high-throughput, automated mass spectrometry platform. Their platform dramatically accelerates the discovery of medical countermeasure candidates against A-series…
Lasers measure liquid carbon structure for the first time
Carbon, one of the most abundant elements in the universe, constitutes many key components of life and technology. Because of this, the material is very well-studied — at least in its solid form. As a liquid, carbon structure is very difficult to measure because the state of matter only exists at extreme pressures and temperatures. In a recent study, published in Nature,…
Cancer drug candidate developed using supercomputing & AI blocks tumor growth without toxic side effect
A new cancer drug candidate developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), BBOT (BridgeBio Oncology Therapeutics) and the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNLCR) has demonstrated the ability to block tumor growth without triggering a common and debilitating side effect. In early clinical trials, the compound, known as BBO-10203, has shown…
LLNL, University of California host second-annual ALS workshop
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disease. While there is currently no cure, efforts are underway to change that — and to establish better treatments. Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the University of California (UC) system are addressing ALS challenges and opportunities at scale by…
LLNL researchers use AI to look for potential ALS treatments
Potential treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases may already be out there in the form of drugs prescribed for other conditions. A team of researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Stanford University and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) are using artificial intelligence and machine…
Novel assay tests antifungals against emerging human pathogens
When left out on the counter for too long, a loaf of bread grows mold. That mold is a common type of filamentous fungi, a microorganism that grows in thread-like structures that can ruin baked goods. But filamentous fungi can pose a much larger problem than just moldy toast. They can cause crop blights and harm human health, particularly by infecting immunocompromised…
One-pot protein screening accelerates bioscience, drug discovery
Machine learning and supercomputing have brought about a revolution in computational drug discovery. More therapeutic candidates, like antibodies that bind to and fight the SARS-CoV-2 virus, can be explored and simulated than ever before. But for practical, safe use, these computational candidates must be grounded in experimental validation. In a new study, published in…
