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Biosciences and Biotechnology
Engineered yeast produce acids needed to refine rare-earth elements
From mining to magnet manufacturing, the process for refining rare-earth elements is complex and intensive. The supply chain for such critical materials is dominated by China — and so is the oxalic acid needed for the separation and purification stages. To move toward a U.S. supply chain for rare-earth element recovery, researchers from Lawrence Livermore National…
LLNL honors 36 as 2026 Distinguished Members of Technical Staff
Thirty-six Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers have been named Distinguished Members of Technical Staff (DMTS) in recognition of their extraordinary scientific and technical contributions, as affirmed by their professional peers and the broader scientific community. As distinguished citizens of the Laboratory and their respective fields, DMTS honorees…
LLNL, Meta co-develop groundbreaking polymer-chemistry dataset for training AI models
Polymers are fundamental to our daily lives, serving as the core components for a wide array of goods, including clothing, packaging, transportation infrastructure, construction materials and electronics. Advances in polymer science open pathways for recycling and upcycling waste materials into more valuable chemical feedstocks. They also can have an outsized environmental…
Pathogen-agnostic testing reveals hidden respiratory threats in negative samples
The COVID-19 pandemic brought the term “Polymerase Chain Reaction testing” into the mainstream. The PCR method is a type of nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) that detects a pathogen by finding and amplifying components of its genetic material, and it is widely used to detect SARS-CoV-2. But these types of tests have a weakness: you have to know exactly what pathogen…
Fentanyl or phony? Machine-learning algorithm learns to pick out opioid signatures
New forms of fentanyl are created every day. For law enforcement, that poses a challenge: how do you identify a chemical you’ve never seen before? Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) aim to answer that question with a machine-learning model that can distinguish opioids from other chemicals with an accuracy over 95% in a laboratory setting. The…
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…
Mass spectrometry solves mysteries and unearths new questions in the Big Ideas Lab podcast
Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) are solving cold cases and rewriting our knowledge of human history. Find out how the measurements made at the Laboratory’s Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (CAMS) enable these feats on the latest episode of the Big Ideas Lab, available on Apple and Spotify. CAMS is one of the most advanced and prestigious…
Carbon nanotube ‘smart windows’ offer energy savings
Half of the sun's radiant energy falls outside of the visible spectrum. On a cold day, this extra infrared light provides additional warmth to residential and commercial buildings. On a warm day, it leads to unwanted heating that must be dealt with through energy-intensive climate control methods such as air-conditioning. Visibly transparent “smart windows” that can…
Meet LLNL: Three interns on what makes the Lab special
Each summer, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) welcomes a new cohort of talented interns from all academic backgrounds, eager to contribute to groundbreaking research and real-world problem-solving. In this article, three interns share their unique perspectives on what makes LLNL a truly special place to learn and grow. From pioneering artificial intelligence…
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…
Big Ideas Lab podcast delves into Forensic Science Center cases, podcast nears milestone
In May 1999, Bulgarian customs officials seized a vial containing a small amount of highly enriched uranium (HEU) at a checkpoint on the Bulgarian/Romanian border. The material, about four grams of HEU, was hidden in a shielded lead container inside the trunk of a car being driven by a Turkish citizen. The driver had first attempted to sell the material in Turkey and then…
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…
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…
LLNL’s Matt Lyman receives Fulbright Scholarship in Brazil
Matt Lyman, a staff scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in the Biosciences and Biotechnology Division, has been selected for a Fulbright U.S. Scholar award in Brazil in 2025–2026. Lyman’s background in immunology and microbiology and work in biosecurity will provide a foundation for his project as a Fulbright Scholar, where he will explore the human…
New nucleotide database could improve microbe identification for science and medicine
Imagine creating a comprehensive, searchable index for a library containing hundreds of millions of books — a task that would take a single person a lifetime to complete. Now imagine discovering that many of these books contain mislabeled pages or paragraphs written by different authors than those credited. This dual challenge — creating an efficient system to quickly…
LLNL scientists use AI to optimize antibodies against mutations and accelerate pandemic preparedness
Researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), in collaboration with other leading institutions, have successfully used an AI-driven platform to preemptively optimize an antibody to neutralize a broad diversity of SARS-CoV-2 variants. This pioneering approach, published in the journal Science Advances, represents a significant leap in the fight against…
Innovating antibody design driven by artificial intelligence
Dr. Dante Ricci, a scientist in the Synthetic Biology group at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), is at the forefront of revolutionizing medical countermeasure development through artificial intelligence (AI).
