Huntingtin disease (HD) is a heritable neurodegenerative disorder affecting up to 1 in 10,000 people, with an average survival duration of 17-20 years post symptom onset. HD patients typically suffer from severe motor/coordination decline and weight loss. There is no cure for HD, and traditional small molecule drugs only address symptom management. Prior approaches to treatment have failed for several reasons. Protein-targeting approaches such as ubiquitin ligase lack specificity, degrading both mutant and wild type huntingtin protein indiscriminately. Other approaches such as antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) can target mutant RNA but require many doses over the patient’s lifetime. The disorder affects the huntingtin gene (HTT), which is essential in transcription, reactive oxygen species detection, DNA damage repair, and axonal transport. HD is caused by a heterozygous polyglutamine repeat expansion in exon 1 of HTT. Genome editing is an attractive alternative therapy for HD, as it would require a single dose and is permanent. UC Berkeley researchers have developed a system for CRISPR-based genome editing for genetic diseases like HD. Allele specific excision is possible through two different mechanisms: heterozygous SNPs that create/remove a PAM site, and heterozygous SNPs that create a mismatch within the seed region. For patients with these genotypes, the invention allows selective excision of the pathogenic repeats from only that allele. Over 20% of HD patients can be treated with just one of our novel candidate pairs, and about half of all patients could benefit from one of our novel candidate pairs.

Most tumors are extremely complex, having many oncogene drivers and are, therefore, not as amenable to a CRISPR-mediated therapies. Pediatric low-grade glioma (pLGG) is a type of brain cancer that arises during childhood. Some interventions exist, including surgery and inhibitor drugs, but there is no cure for pLGG. In contrast to most types of cancer (which feature a host of driver oncogenes), pLGG tumors tend to arise due to a single driver oncogene mutation. This aspect makes pLGG a potential target for a genome editing intervention. Because CRISPR enzymes can precisely discriminate between wild-type and mutant sequences in a single cell, enzymes such as Cas9 can target a mutant oncogene site without impacting the corresponding wild-type locus in a non-cancer cell. UC Berkeley researchers have developed a CRISPR-based strategies for anti-cancer genome editing.  The invention consists of a suite of genome editing strategies with the capacity to selectively inactivate the oncogene underlying tumor pathology, for example, mutations in pLGG. Deployed via a delivery strategy with the capacity for broad genome editing of brain cells, our strategy will have the capacity to halt – and potentially reverse – tumor growth.

This invention is a portable retinal imaging device that images the fundus of the eye by coupling an ocular imaging device with a mobile device. It features ocular lenses, filters, a fixation display, and a light source for preview and image capture, with application programming on the mobile device controlling gaze and stitching images for a wider field of view.

Ribosomes, traditionally known for catalyzing amide bond formation, have been found to also promote reactions involving various non-canonical amino acids, alpha-hydroxy acids, and certain beta-hydroxy/amino acids. This document describes a new discovery: peptides containing a dehydrolactic acid motif can rapidly isomerize to a backbone-embedded α,γ-diketoamide via a spontaneous O to C acyl shift. This reaction introduces a newly formed backbone C–C bond as a ketone, addressing a long-standing challenge in generating internal C–C bonds within genetically encoded polypeptides.

      Microwave impedance microscopy (MIM) is an emerging scanning probe technique that enables non-contact, nanoscale measurement of local complex permittivity. By integrating an ultrasensitive, phase-resolved microwave sensor with a near-field probe, MIM has made significant contributions to diverse fundamental and applied fields. These include strongly correlated and topological materials, two-dimensional and biological systems, as well as semiconductor, acoustic, and MEMS devices. Concurrently, notable progress has been made in refining the MIM technique itself and broadening its capabilities. However, existing literature has focused exclusively on linear MIM based on homodyne architectures, where reflected or transmitted microwave is demodulated and detected at the incident frequency. As such, linear MIM lacks the ability to probe local electrical nonlinearity, which is widely present, for example, in dielectrics, semiconductors, and superconductors. Elucidating such nonlinearity with nanoscale spatial resolution would provide critical insights into semiconductor processing and diagnostics as well as fundamental phenomena like local symmetry breaking and phase separation.       To address this shortcoming, UC Berkeley researchers have introduced a novel methodology and apparatus for performing multi-harmonic MIM to locally probe electrical nonlinearities at the nanoscale. The technique achieves unprecedented spatial and spectral resolution in characterizing complex materials. It encompasses both hardware configurations enabling multi-harmonic data acquisition and the theoretical and calibration protocols to transform raw signals into accurate measures of intrinsic nonlinear permittivity and conductivity. The advance extends existing linear MIM into the nonlinear domain, providing a powerful, versatile, and minimally invasive tool for semiconductor diagnostics, materials research, and device development.

Glioblastoma is a malignant primary brain tumor that is highly invasive and infiltrative. Surgical resection and radiation therapy are not able to remove all tumor cells. Consequently, residual tumor is found in the majority of patients after surgery, causing early recurrence and decreased survival. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is routinely used in the diagnosis, treatment planning and monitoring of glioblastoma. The contrast-enhancing region identified with MRI is generally used to guide surgery and to provide a reference for radiotherapy planning. While edema and non-enhancing regions surrounding the tumor arepotential sites of tumor infiltration, usually they are not included in surgical resection as routine MRI cannot differentiate tumorous tissues in those regions. UC Berkeley researchers have developed a novel MRI technique that can identify, non-invasively and in-vivo, areas of altered iron metabolism associated with tumor activities in the edema tissue surrounding glioblastoma. The technique uniquely delineates a hyperintense area within the edema. The method can be used to guide surgery and radiotherapy and to monitor treatment response.

A method and apparatus of determining the condition of a bulk tissue sample, by: positioning a bulk tissue sample between a pair of induction coils (or antennae); passing a spectrum of alternating current (or voltage) through a first of the induction coils (or antennae); measuring spectrum of alternating current (or voltage) produced in the second of the induction coils (or antennae); and comparing the phase shift between the spectrum of alternating currents (or voltages) in the first and second induction coils (or antennae), thereby determining the condition of the bulk tissue sample.

Freeze-dried, non-hydrated scaffolds that are porous and contain bioactive components are advantageous for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine purposes.  UCB researchers have  developed a process to transform certain hydrogels into dehydrated scaffolds by cryogelation. These scaffolds provide greater ease of long-term storage and surgical insertion, while maintaining the polymeric structure required for cellular infiltration, growth, and tissue formation.  Other biologics such as drugs or exosomes can survive this processing and be retained in the scaffold. This invention serves to generate a powerful device for tissue engineering research, as well as for regenerative medicine to treat patients with significant loss of tissue injuries