ICB News | Institute for Collaborative Biotechnology (ICB)

Acquired Metabolism Opens Doorways to New Biological Lifestyles

May 16, 2022

A new study funded by the Army Research Office through the ICB investigates the competitive consequences when organisms adopt a non-genomic metabolism—trading cards in the game of life—with ramifications for a species’ evolution and ecology.

The ICB’s Craig Hawker Elected to the National Academy of Sciences

May 9, 2022

Inspirational project leader of two ICB projects and distinguished professor of Materials and Chemistry & Biochemistry at UCSB, Craig Hawker has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and takes his place among the academy’s 3,029 national and international members.

ICB team: Michael Mahan, Scott Mahan and Douglas Heithoff.

ICB Researchers Develop Early Detection Test That Could Save Thousands of Lives

March 28, 2022

ICB Project Leader Michael Mahan and a collaborative team have developed a new test that diagnoses sepsis—the body’s life-threatening extreme response to infection—soon after infection, potentially increasing patient survival rates in a condition that kills more than 250 thousand Americans annually.

Tumor-homing therapeutic bacteria remotely controlled by thermal focused ultrasound. Image credit: Shapiro lab.

Targeting Cancer Cells with Ultrasound-Directed Bacteria

March 24, 2022

New pioneering research conducted by scientists from the lab of Mikhail Shapiro, ICB project leader and Caltech professor of Chemical Engineering, has demonstrated a new mechanism for reducing cancerous tumor growth and overcomes the limitations of most current microbial cancer therapies with the use of genetically engineered therapeutic bacteria that are remotely controlled by thermal focused ultrasound (FUS).

Collaborative Team Led by ICB Researchers Enables Simple, Rapid, Accurate, Inexpensive Covid-19 and Influenza Testing in the Palm of Your Hand

January 28, 2022

Two ICB project leaders, UCSB Professors Michael Mahan and David Low along with a collaborative research team have developed a new SARS-CoV-2 detection test that is among the most rapid, accurate, affordable and scalable tests available, with the potential to solve the urgent need for accessible testing in remote and resource-limited countries and settings. The system also provides a reliable platform for inexpensive home-based testing.

Michelle O’Malley Receives the Prestigious Colburn Award for Excellence in Publications

July 5, 2021

ICB Systems and Synthetic Biology co-leader and project leader of four ICB projects, UCSB Chemical Engineering Professor Michelle O’Malley has received the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) 2021 Allan P. Colburn Award for Excellence in Publications by a Young Member of the Institute. The award recognizes significant contributions to chemical engineering through publications by younger members of the institute and is the most prestigious award for early-career chemical engineers given by the AIChE.

ICB Project Leaders Craig Hawker and Rachel Segalman.

ICB Project Leaders Segalman and Hawker are Elected to the National Academy of Engineering

February 12, 2021

The ICB is proud to announce that two highly distinguished ICB project leaders, UCSB Professors Craig Hawker and Rachel Segalman have been elected to the 2021 class of the National Academy of Engineers (NAE).

President-Elect Joe Biden Names Nobel Laureate Frances Arnold to White House Science Team

January 18, 2021

ICB Caltech project leader since 2003, Frances Arnold will serve as co-chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), along with Maria Zuber the E. A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics and vice president for research at MIT. They are the first women to serve as co-chairs of PCAST and will advise the president on matters involving science, technology, education, and innovation policy.

Craig Hawker Receives ACS Award for Entrepreneurial Success

August 18, 2020

Congratulations to Craig Hawker, ICB project leader and UCSB distinguished professor, for winning the 2021 Kathryn C. Hach Award for Entrepreneurial Success from the American Chemical Society (ACS). The award is in recognition of Hawker’s “innovative leadership in creating, developing, and commercializing revolutionary polymer-based therapeutics and personal-care products through multiple successful start-up companies.”

Mark Bathe and Team use DNA Origami Against HIV and Potentially Multiple Types of Coronaviruses

July 1, 2020

ICB Bio-Enabled Materials project leader and MIT professor of Biological Engineering, Mark Bathe and his colleague, MIT Professor Darrell Irvine are senior authors of the study, which appears today in Nature Nanotechnology, Role of nanoscale antigen organization on B-cell activation probed using DNA origami. By using a technique known as DNA origami to fold DNA into a virus-like structure, MIT researchers have designed HIV-like particles coated with HIV antigens in precise patterns, which may eventually be used as an HIV vaccine and potentially applied to other types of viruses.