The balance between two types of white blood cells is disrupted in autoimmune diseases. Using protein crystallography, scientists have identified a human antibody that locks interleukin-2, a signaling protein, in a conformation that preferentially activates one cell type to restore the balance and treat autoimmune diseases. Read more »
ALS in the News (October 2018)
- Congress accelerates work on long-awaited light and neutron source upgrades
- With toxin, bacteria prove old dogs can learn new tricks
- Creating more sustainable water systems by taking lessons from the energy industry
- Scientists present new clues to cut through the mystery of Titan’s atmospheric haze
- Lab connections to 2018 Nobel Prize winners
- To change a catalyst’s electrochemical properties, just “shuffle”
- Scenes from ‘A New Light for Berkeley Lab’ celebration
Bob Gassaway Receives 2018 Tim Renner User Services Award
Bob Gassaway was awarded the 2018 Tim Renner User Services Award for his longstanding commitment to simultaneously supporting the ALS user community and advancing electrical safety at the ALS. Gassaway is an electronics engineering technologist who has been at Berkeley Lab for 30 years. Read more »
Noah Schwartz, User Office Supervisor
Noah Schwartz has worked at Berkeley Lab for 13 years, joining the ALS as User Services Office Supervisor in August. He jumped right in to help plan the User Meeting in October and will continue to work to improve the overall user experience. Read more »
Alex Hexemer, Senior Scientist and Computing Program Lead
Alex Hexemer leads the newly formed Computing Program at the ALS. His previous experience as a postdoc and beamline scientist at the ALS has prepared him for the challenges and opportunities in computing for high volumes of data. Read more »
Nanoscale Characterization of Iron and Calcium in the Alzheimer’s Brain
The amyloid plaques that accumulate in Alzheimer’s disease contain stores of iron. Using scanning transmission x-ray microscopy, researchers have characterized the iron’s chemical states in unprecedented detail. Their nanoscale analysis revealed excessive chemical reduction of the iron, which can release damaging free radicals. Read more »
New Manganese Materials Bolster Cathode Capacity
The most expensive component of a battery, the cathode, requires rare transition metals like cobalt. Previous attempts to replace cobalt with inexpensive and non-toxic manganese delivered insufficient performance. Now, researchers have optimized the composition of high-energy-density, high-capacity manganese-based cathodes. Read more »
2018 Shutdown Recap
Users have returned to the ALS after a six-week summer shutdown. Among the many small and large changes, we performed a major upgrade of the HVAC system that will stabilize the temperature throughout the experimental hall. None of the changes will affect the delivery of light. Read more »
Jeff Neaton, Energy Sciences Associate Laboratory Director
Jeff Neaton is the Energy Sciences Associate Laboratory Director. He joined Berkeley Lab as a postdoc at the Molecular Foundry in 2003 before becoming a staff scientist. While maintaining his research program, he has also taken on many leadership responsibilities at the Lab. Read more »
Open and Shut: Pain Signals in Nerve Cells
Researchers used x-ray data to define the structure of a closed protein gate important for neuronal signaling. Comparing the closed gate with previously known structures of the same gate when open, researchers now have a comprehensive picture of proton-dependent channels in neurons. Read more »