Molecular and Cell Biology

University of California, Berkeley

This is an archived copy of the 2019-20 guide. To access the most recent version of the guide, please visit http://guide.berkeley.edu.

Overview

The teaching and research activities of the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology (MCB) concern the molecular structures and processes of cellular life and their roles in the function, reproduction, and development of living organisms.

This agenda covers a broad range of specialized disciplines, including biochemistry, biophysics, molecular biology, structural biology, genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, cell biology, developmental biology, tumor biology, microbiology, immunology, pathogenesis and neurobiology.

The types of living organisms from which the departmental faculty draws its working materials are as diverse as its disciplinary specializations — ranging from viruses and microbes through plants, roundworms, annelids, arthropods, and mollusks, to fish, amphibia, and mammals.

The faculty of the department is organized into five divisions: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Cell and Developmental Biology; Genetics, Genomics, and Development; Neurobiology; and Immunology and Pathogenesis.

Research Facilities

The Cancer Research Laboratory is a research institute on the Berkeley campus that carries on a research, teaching, and service program designed to foster interdepartmental participation in cancer research. Some of the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology faculty are also members of the Cancer Research Laboratory. The central research program represents a multidisciplinary approach to an understanding of the mechanism of neoplastic transformation using a variety of systems. Graduate student and postdoctoral research programs are supported in various areas of tumor biology, biochemistry, cell biology, endocrinology, genetics, immunology, molecular biology, and tumor virology. The Cancer Research Laboratory also operates three research facilities:

  1. Flow Cytometry Facility
  2. Molecular Imaging Center
  3. Gene Targeting Facility

Instrumentation in the facilities is operated by highly trained staff, and training is offered in methods and techniques associated with each facility. For more information, visit the CRL website.

The Functional Genomics Laboratory at Berkeley enables researchers to conduct state-of-the-art research in functional genomics, with a focus on using Next Generation sequencing technologies. These technologies include the sequencing of entire genomes of selected model systems and the ability to survey genome-wide patterns of gene expression and now allow the dissection of biological processes at unprecedented levels of detail. In particular, this research facility provides the infrastructure, technologies, and computational resources for the performance of DNA microarray experiments, which allow the analysis of mRNA expression from tens of thousands of genes at a time. The Functional Genomics Laboratory currently possesses all the equipment necessary for conducting DNA microarray experiments, including thermal cyclers; fluidics robots; microarray printing robots; laser-scanning microscopes for microarray scanning; an Affymetrix workstation and scanner; and dedicated computers for data analysis and storage of informatics databases. For more information, go to this website.

The Robert D. Ogg Electron Microscope Laboratory is an instructional and research unit of the College of Letters and Science. It houses equipment for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The staff is skilled not only in the operation and maintenance of instruments but also in standard and most specialized techniques of sample preparation. Qualified undergraduates and graduate students, postdoctoral associates, faculty, and research staff in biological and physical sciences, once trained, may make arrangements for use of the instruments in research. Instruction is provided both in classes and in individual training. Registered students and faculty are not charged for training. Nominal charges are made for use of the laboratory for individual research work. With permission from the director, non-UC personnel can be accepted for training or laboratory use. Equipment can be used outside normal hours. The laboratory provides demonstrations of the electron microscope and preparative techniques for on-campus classes and can make special arrangements for tour groups. For more information, go to this website.

Undergraduate Programs

Molecular and Cell Biology: BA

Graduate Program

Molecular and Cell Biology: PhD

Visit Department Website

Courses

Molecular and Cell Biology

Faculty and Instructors

+ Indicates this faculty member is the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award.

Faculty

Hillel Adesnik, Associate Professor. Neural basis of perception, neuroscience, neurobiology .
Research Profile

Georjana Barnes, Professor. Biochemistry, genetics, cancer, biology, microtubule cytoskeleton, cell cycle controls, cellular imaging.
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Gregory M. Barton, Professor. Immunology, cell biology, infectious disease, innate immunity.
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Helen Bateup, Assistant Professor. Molecular and cellular neuroscience, neurodevelopmental disorders, autism, epilepsy.
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Diana Bautista, Associate Professor. Ion channels, sensory physiology, chemosensation, touch, thermosensation, somatosensory system.
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Eric Betzig, Professor. Imaging microscopy, biophysics.
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David Bilder, Professor. Genetics, cancer, Drosophila, cell biology, cell polarity, tumor suppressor, epithelial architecture, polarity, and proliferation control.
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Michael R. Botchan, Professor. Eukaryotic gene expression, drosophila chromosomes, papilloma viral DNA, chromosomal dynamics.
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Gloria Brar, Assistant Professor. Meiosis, translation, sORFs, stress responses.
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Steve Brohawn, Assistant Professor. Neurobiology.
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Carlos J. Bustamante, Professor. Nanoscience, structural characterization of nucleo-protein assemblies, single molecule fluorescence microscopy, DNA-binding molecular motors, the scanning force microscope, prokaryotes.
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Jamie Cate, Professor. Molecular basis for protein synthesis by the ribosome, RNA, antibiotics, a thermophilic bacterium, escherichia coli.
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Christopher J. Chang, Professor. Chemistry, inorganic chemistry, neuroscience, bioinorganic chemistry, general physiology, organic chemistry, new chemical tools for biological imaging and proteomics, new metal complexes for energy catalysis and green chemistry, chemical biology.
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Michelle Chang, Associate Professor. Biochemistry, enzymology, synthetic biology, biophysics .
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Kathleen Collins, Professor. RNA, telomerase, Telomere function, Telomere replication.
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Jacob E. Corn, Assistant Adjunct Professor.

Laurent Coscoy, Associate Professor. Immunology, viruses, viral infection, immune responses, immune evasion.
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Jeffery S. Cox, Professor. TB, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, M tuberculosis, genetics, proteomics, transcriptional profiling, host-pathogen interactions, host-directed therapy.
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Yang Dan, Professor. Neuronal circuits, mammalian visual system, electrophysiological, psychophysical and computational techniques, visual cortical circuits, visual neurons.
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Xavier Darzacq, Associate Professor. Transcription regulation during cellular differentiation Linking the biophysical rules of nuclear organization and gene expression control mechanism .
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Karen Davies, Assistant Adjunct Professor.
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Abby Dernburg, Professor. Genomics, chromosome remodeling and reorganization during meiosis, Down syndrome, DNA.
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Andrew Dillin, Professor. Endocrinology, genetics of aging.
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Jennifer A. Doudna, Professor. RNA machines, hepatitis C virus, RNA interference, ribosomes.
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David G. Drubin, Professor. Cellular morphogenesis, plasma membrane dynamics, microtubule cytoskeletons, cytoskeletal proteins, morphological development.
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Peter H. Duesberg, Professor. Genetic structure of retroviruses, carcinogenesis, aneuploidy, virology, HIV-AIDS.
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Michael DuPage, Assistant Professor. Immunology, cancer, tumor immunity, immune responses, chronic inflammation and cancer, tumor biology, epigenetics.
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Michael B. Eisen, Professor. Genomics, genome sequencing, bioinformatics, animal development.
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+ Dan Feldman, Associate Professor. Neurobiology, learning, neurophysiology, sensory biology.
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Marla B. Feller, Professor. Neurophysiology, developmental neuroscience.
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+ Gary L. Firestone, Professor. Cancer, steroid hormones, molecular endocrinology, tumor biology, growth factors, dietary compounds, tumor cells, glucocorticoids.
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John Gerard Flannery, Professor. Neurobiology, optometry, vision science, cell and molecular biology of the retina in normal and diseased states.
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Hernan G. Garcia, Assistant Professor. Biophysics.
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Gian Garriga, Professor. Developmental neurobiology, molecular genetics, development of nervous systems, cell division, cell migration, axonal pathfinding, caenorhabditis elegans.
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Britt Glaunsinger, Associate Professor. Virology, gene expression, herpesvirus.
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Ming Chen Hammond, Assistant Professor. Molecular biology, biochemistry, organic chemistry, synthetic biology, chemical biology.
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Iswar Krishna Hariharan, Professor. Growth regulation, regeneration, cancer.
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Richard M. Harland, Professor. Molecular biology, early vertebrate development, Xenopus, embryo development.
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Lin He, Associate Professor. Comparative genomics, developmental biology, cell biology.
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Rebecca Heald, Professor. Cell division, Xenopus, mitotic spindle assembly and function, size control of intracellular structures.
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Dirk Hockemeyer, Assistant Professor. Developmental biology, cell biology.
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James Hurley, Professor. Structural Biology, reconstitution, membrane biology, autophagy, HIV, x-ray crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy.
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Nicholas Ingolia, Assistant Professor. Ribosome Profiling, translation, genomics.
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Ehud Y. Isacoff, Professor. Ion channel function, synaptic plasticity, neural excitability, synaptic transmission, the synapse.
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Na Ji, Associate Professor. Neuroscience, microscopy techniques, in vivo imaging, biophotonics, biophysics, adaptive optics, optics.
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Gary H. Karpen, Adjunct Professor. Gene expression, cell biology, chromosome structure and function, drosophila melanogaster, centromere identity and function.
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Nicole King, Professor. Genetics, developmental biology, biology, choanoflagellates, multicellularity, evolution of animals, comparative genomics, eukaryotes, host-microbe interactions, bacterial signals.
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Douglas E. Koshland, Professor. Higher order chromosome structure, genome integrity, sister chromatid cohesion, chromosome condensation, desiccation tolerance, microbial genetics.
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Richard H. Kramer, Professor. Cells, synaptic transmission, chemical signaling between neurons, ion channels, electrical signals, chemical reagents, synapses.
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John Kuriyan, Professor. Structural and functional studies of signal transduction, DNA replication, cancer therapies, phosphorylation.
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Stephan Lammel, Assistant Professor. Neuroscience, Optogenetics, dopamine, addiction, depression.
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Polina Lishko, Assistant Professor. Reproductive and Developmental Biology, ion channels, Physiology of Fertilization and Early Embryo Development.
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Ellen Lumpkin, Professor.

Kunxin Luo, Professor. Signal transduction pathways, mechanisms controlling the receptor kinases, regulation of mammary epithelial cell differentiation, breast carcinogenesis.
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Michael A. Marletta, Professor. Chemical biology, molecular biology, structure/function relationships in proteins, catalytic and biological properties of enzymes, cellular signaling, nitric oxide synthase, soluble guanylate cyclase, gas sensing, cellulose degradation, polysaccharide monooxygenases.
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Susan Marqusee, Professor. Amino acids, determinants of protein structure and folding, biophysical, structural and computational techniques, translocation, protein synthesis.
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Andreas Martin, Associate Professor. Proteasome.
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Sabeeha Merchant, Professor.
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Barbara J. Meyer, Professor. Developmental biology, gene expression, genetic determination of sex, regulatory genes, chromosome dynamics, X-chromosome.
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Craig Miller, Associate Professor. Genetics, developmental biology, evolutionary biology, evolution, quantitative genetics, developmental genetics, evolutionary genetics, craniofacial development.
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Evan W. Miller, Assistant Professor. Biochemistry, biophysics, Structural Biology .
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Priya Moorjani, Assistant Professor. Human evolutionary genetics.
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John Ngai, Professor. Nervous system, molecular and cellular mechanisms of olfaction, detection of odors, odorant receptors, olfactory neurons, DNA microarray technologies, genome-wide patterns of gene expression.
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Eva Nogales, Professor. Biochemistry, complex biological assemblies, structure and regulation of the cytoskeleton, microtubule dynamics, human transcriptional initiation machinery, biophysics.
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Daniel Normura, Associate Professor. Chemistry, molecular and cell biology, nutritional sciences and toxicology, metabolism, chemical biology, cancer, drug discovery, chemoproteomics, metabolomics.
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Eunyong Park, Assistant Professor. Protein function, Structural Biology, biochemistry, membrane proteins.
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Nipam Patel, Professor. Genetics, evolution, crustaceans, insects, arthropods, homeotic (Hox) genes, segmentation, embryonic pattern formation, neural patterning.
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Daniel A. Portnoy, Professor. Mammalian cells, molecular and cellular basis of microbial pathogenesis, defense against infection, listeria monocytogenes, cell biology of infection, mechanisms of secretion.
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Michael Rape, Professor. Cancer, protein degradation, siRNA, Berkeley Screening Center.
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David H. Raulet, Professor. Biology, pathogens, viruses, T-cell development and function, natural killer (NK) cells, lymphocyte receptors, microorganisms, cancer cells, tumor immunity.
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+ Jasper D. Rine, Professor. Biology, cell biology, DNA replication, gene regulation, saccharomyces cerevisiae, genetic analysis, genome, cholesterol biosynthetic pathway, modification of proteins, prenylated proteins.
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Donald C. Rio, Professor. Molecular genetics, drosophila melanogaster, transposable elements, RNA splicing, nucleic acid rearrangement reactions, P elements and their cellular host, HIV, proteomic diversification, nucleoprotein complexes.
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Ellen Robey, Professor. Fate determination in the T-lymphocyte lineage, T cell development in the mouse, thymic development, cellular maturation, parasitic infection, chronic infection, host-pathogen interactions, Toxoplasma gondii.
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Henk Roelink, Associate Professor. Stem cells, neural development, embryonic induction.
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Daniel S. Rokhsar, Professor. Biology, collective phenomena and ordering in condensed matter and biological systems, theoretical modeling, computational modeling, behavior of quantum fluids, cold atomic gases, high temperature superconductors, Fermi and Bose systems.
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Kaoru Saijo, Assistant Professor. Neurodevelopmental disorders, neuropsychiatric disease, neurodegenerative disease, immunology, pathogenesis.
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David Savage, Associate Professor. Synthetic biology and metabolism.
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David Schaffer, Professor. Neuroscience, biomolecular engineering, bioengineering, stem cell biology, gene therapy.
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Randy W. Schekman, Professor. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, organelle assembly, intracellular protein transport, assembly of cellular organelles, Alzheimer's Disease.
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Kristin Scott, Professor. Nerve cell connectivity in developing nervous systems, taste perception in the fruit fly, taste neural circuits, sensory maps in the brain.
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Bill Sha, Associate Professor. B cell gene regulation, fate determination, gene regulatory pathways, antibody-secreting plasma cells, memory B cells, apoptotic cells, B7 costimulatory ligands.
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Sarah Stanley, Assistant Professor. Mechanisms of pathogenesis and immune subversion in tuberculosis, protective immunity to tuberculosis, metabolic interactions between hosts and pathogens, development of novel therapeutics for tuberculosis, scientific capacity building, tuberculosis.
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Jeremy W. Thorner, Professor. Biochemistry, molecular genetics, cell biology, signal transduction mechanisms, protein kinase function and regulation, GPCRs, membrane biology, control of cell growth/morphology and division, regulation of gene expression by extracellular stimuli.
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Denis Titov, Assistant Adjunct Professor.

Robert T. Tjian, Professor. Eukaryotic molecular biology, biochemistry, cellular differentiation, chromatin function, RNA synthesis, single cell imaging, single molecule imaging.
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Elcin Unal, Assistant Professor. Gametogenesis, genetics, genomics and development.
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Russell E. Vance, Professor. Immunology, microbiology, infectious disease, molecular and cell biology.
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David A. Weisblat, Professor. Annelid developmental biology, leech embryo, evolution and development, cell fate determination, lineage tracingt.
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Matthew D. Welch, Professor. Biology, cell motility, the role of the actin cytoskeleton in cell locomotion, shape change, actin filament assembly, bacterial and viral pathogens.
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Astar Winoto, Professor. Cancer, genomics, apoptosis, innate immunity and infectious diseases, cell cycle, signal transduction, immune tolerance.
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Ahmet Yildiz, Assistant Professor. Single molecule biophysics, molecular motors, telomeres.
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Qiang Zhou, Professor. Biochemistry of HIV gene expression, transcriptional elongation, Tat activation, stage of transcriptional elongation, HIV replication, anti-HIV therapy.
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Roberto Zoncu, Assistant Professor. Biochemistry, biophysics, Structural Biology.
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Lecturers

Robin W. Ball, Lecturer.

P. Robert Beatty, Lecturer.

Natalia Caporale, Lecturer.

Isabelle Le Blanc, Lecturer.

Helen Lew, Lecturer.

David E. Presti, Senior Lecturer SOE.

Steve Takata, Lecturer.

Gary Joseph Wedemayer, Lecturer.

Visiting Faculty

Tamira M. Elul, Visiting Associate Professor.

Emeritus Faculty

Mark Alper, Professor Emeritus.

Bruce N. Ames, Professor Emeritus. Molecular biology, cancer, aging, mitochondrial decay, oxidants and antioxidants, micronutrient deficiencies and DNA damage, chronic inflammation and cancer.
Research Profile

Giovanna F.-L. Ames, Professor Emeritus.

Clinton E. Ballou, Professor Emeritus.

Steven K. Beckendorf, Professor Emeritus. Genetics, biology, organogenesis, Drosophila, salivary morphogenesis.
Research Profile

David R. Bentley, Professor Emeritus.

Phyllis B. Blair, Professor Emeritus.

Beth Burnside, Professor Emeritus. Cell biology of photoreceptors, cytoskeletal motors, morphogenetic events, photomembrane turnover.
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Richard Calendar, Professor Emeritus. Listeria monocytogenes, phage-based integration vector, Bacillus anthracis, vaccine.
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W. Zacheus Cande, Professor Emeritus. Genetics, cell biology, microbial biology, plant biology.
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M. J. Chamberlin, Professor Emeritus.

Alvin J. Clark, Professor Emeritus.

Thomas W. Cline, Professor Emeritus. Drosophila melanogaster, developmental genetics, sex determination.
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R. David Cole, Professor Emeritus.

John Gerhart, Professor Emeritus. Developmental biology, Xenopus laevis, Spemann's organizer, cortical rotation, cell cycle after fertilization, vegetal materials, blastula stage, egg cytoplasm.
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Robert M. Glaeser, Professor Emeritus.

Alexander N. Glazer, Professor Emeritus. Photosynthetic systems, phycobiliproteins, design of fluorescent probes, protein structure-function relationships, macromolecular complexes, environmental sciences, natural resource management.
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Stuart M. Linn, Professor Emeritus. Biology, enzymology of DNA metabolism, DNA repair and replication in mammalian cells, mechanisms of DNA damage by reactive oxygen species, structure of iron: DNA complexes, DNA damage and repair, DNA polymerases.
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Robert I. Macey, Professor Emeritus.

Terry Machen, Professor Emeritus. Physiology pathophysiology secretory epithelial cells, airway, ion transport, cell regulationm, imaging microscopy, calcium pH redox, electrophysiology, green fluorescent protein, genetic targeting, innate immune defense.
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G. Steven Martin, Professor Emeritus. Cell biology, signal transduction pathways, tumor virology, cell division cycle, viral and cellular oncoproteins, breast cancer.
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Howard C. Mel, Professor Emeritus.

Hsiao-Ping H. Moore, Professor Emeritus.

Satyabrata Nandi, Professor Emeritus.

Alexander V. Nichols, Professor Emeritus.

Hiroshi Nikaido, Professor Emeritus. Membrane biochemistry, bacterial physiology, bacteria, channel-forming proteins of the outer membrane, the diffusion of lipophilic compounds, mechanism and regulation of multidrug efflux transport systems, mycobacterial cell wall.
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W. Geoffrey Owen, Professor Emeritus. Biology, nervous system, membrane biophysics, retinal neurophysiology.
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Edward E. Penhoet, Professor Emeritus. Public health, health policy and management.
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Mu-Ming Poo, Professor Emeritus. Neurobiology, cellular and molecular mechanisms, axon guidance, synapse formation, activity-dependent refinement of neural circuits.
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Gerald M. Rubin, Professor Emeritus. Molecular genetics, molecular neurobiology, mapping and sequencing of the drosophila genome, genome organization and function, development and evolution.
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Harry Rubin, Professor Emeritus. Tumor biology, cell biology, regulation of neoplastic development, epithelial cells, oncogenic mutations, tumor development, RNA and DNA tumor viruses.
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Howard K. Schachman, Professor Emeritus. Physical biochemistry, biological macromolecules, aspartate transcarbamylase, revisiting allostery, holoenzyme, mutations, polypeptide chains, helical regions.
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+ Nilabh Shastri, Professor Emeritus. Cancer cells, mechanims of immunesurveillance, microbial pathogens, antigen genes, autoimmunity.
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Herbert H. Srebnik, Professor Emeritus.

Frank S. Werblin, Professor Emeritus. Retina, biological image processing, visual neuroscience.
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Gerald Westheimer, Professor Emeritus. Neurobiology, psychophysics, primate visual cortex, neural circuits, brain mechanisms, response modifications, active perception, learning, stereoscopic vision, optometryoptics of the eye, ophthalmic instrumentation.
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Fred H. Wilt, Professor Emeritus. Molecular embryology, cell biology, the regulation of gene expression, of sea urchin embryos, blastomeres, endoskeletal spicule of the larva, glycoproteins, immunoelectron microscopy, fluorescent labeling.
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Leon Wofsy, Professor Emeritus.

Robert S. Zucker, Professor Emeritus. Synaptic transmission, cellular neurophysiology, synaptic biophysics, properties of neural circuits, photolysis, vital dyes of vesicle membrane, electrophysiological techniques, neuromodulator.
Research Profile

Contact Information

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology

142 Life Sciences Addition #3200

Phone: 510-642-2651

Visit Department Website

Department Co-Chair

David Drubin, PhD

606 Barker Hall

Phone: 510-642-3692

drubin@berkeley.edu

Department Co-Chair

Donald Rio

161A Koshland Hall

Phone: 510-642-1071

don_rio@berkeley.edu

Undergraduate Advising

Undergraduate Affairs Office

3060 Valley Life Sciences Building

Phone: 510-643-8895

mcbuao@berkeley.edu

Graduate Advising

Graduate Affairs Office

299 Life Sciences Addition #3200

Phone: 510-642-5252

mcbgao@berkeley.edu

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