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More
than bricks and mortar
Proposed
facilities unite disciplines to solve nation's health
problems
By
Diane Ainsworth, Public Affairs
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Two new health
science research facilities to enhance the pace at which scientists
are learning about the body's molecular machinery and genetic
blueprint have moved into the development stages as part of
the university's $500-million Health Sciences Initiative.
On the drawing
boards are two new buildings on the east and west sides of the
campus: a molecular engineering complex which would replace
Stanley Hall, and a center for biomedical and health sciences,
which would take the place of Warren Hall. Together these new
complexes will unite an interdisciplinary array of research
in the biological sciences, engineering, physics, chemistry,
computer sciences, environmental science and public health to
advance the science of human health.
The fusion
of biology, engineering, the physical and environmental sciences
and public health is an essential part of an ambitious reorganization
to keep Berkeley at the forefront of basic research and the
development of new techniques that will ultimately improve both
the length and quality of human life. This fusion will open
new doors in the understanding of disease and processes to detect
and treat disease.
"The two
new buildings will encourage this synergy by providing interdisciplinary
laboratories under the same roof, so that scientists can collaborate
with colleagues and stay on top of discoveries in other fields,"
said William Webster, vice provost of Academic Planning and
Facilities. "The molecular engineering complex will bring together
biologists, physicists, chemists and bioengineers in a unique
collaborative setting. These scientists will have state-of-the-art
laboratories for the study of the body's molecular machinery
and a place to develop new tools to understand, detect, repair
or replace the results of disease or accident. These developments
will dramatically change the way medicine is delivered in the
coming decades."
Health science
research has changed dramatically in the last several years,
noted Edward Penhoet, dean of the School of Public Health. "Scientists
in a broad range of disciplines are bringing their expertise
to the health care table to help solve the basic blueprint of
life," he said. "Breakthroughs in everything from bioinformatics
- the science of mining databases like the Human Genome Project
- to gene profiling will benefit once they are brought under
one programmatic roof."
The new building
that will house the center for biomedical and health sciences
will do just that.
"The most
exciting work in health care today is coming from research in
biomedicine and fields at the boundary of biology and molecular
science," Webster said. "We have decoded the human genome and
are about to embark on the next step, the cataloging and analysis
of every protein in the human body. New interdisciplinary studies
will solve riddles in the treatment and cure of cancer, help
researchers design drugs to stymie genetic and infectious diseases,
prevent AIDS or slow the onset of dementia and Alzheimer's disease."
Examples
of the rich tapestry of interdisciplinary studies already emerging
to address hundreds of diseases include:
- New strategies
in the fight against AIDS, which combine the tools of molecular
biology, immunology, infectious disease and epidemiology to
determine the ways in which viruses and parasites enter human
cells.
- Bioinformatics,
combining computer sciences with bioengineering, will permit
efficient sequencing of human proteins. This will be an essential
building block to the development of health care based on
an individual's genetic makeup, what will become truly personalized
health care.
- The union
of chemistry, physics and biology to explore how molecules,
the beads of heredity, interact in the body, and how these
interactions regulate the functioning and malfunctioning of
cells. State-of-the-art imaging techniques, such as electron
crystallography, which is capable of revealing the proteins
inside a cell, will aid drug designers in efforts to find
synthetic substitutes.
- Bioengineering
through development of sophisticated medical imaging techniques
and the manufacture of artificial tissue and joints and bio-MEMs
(micro-electro-mechanical systems) devices for microsurgery
and drug administration will provide new tools for the health
care profession that will enable a vast improvement in the
detection and treatment of disease.
- The principles
of chemistry, especially synthesis, are being combined with
the machinery of living cells to generate new properties and
functions not found in nature or in the laboratory. Such methods
can produce novel materials, sensors for chemical and biological
materials and microorganisms designed for specific functions.
Renewing
the Foundations of Excellence home
Health
Sciences Initiative news
Source:
Berkeleyan
Special Issue, Fall 2000
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