UC Berkeley

RERUN: Using CRISPR to Fight Climate Change with Professor Kris Niyogi


When plants photosynthesize, they temporarily remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Could we use gene editing technology CRISPR to enhance photosynthesis and increase the amount of carbon dioxide they remove? UC Berkeley biology Professor and photosynthesis expert Kris Niyogi thinks so, and he says it could fight climate change and enhance food production at the same time. In this episode, Climate Break speaks to Professor Niyogi about his lab’s early-stage research into CRISPR, photosynthesis, and applications to climate change.

Rerun: Could Windows Be A Source of Solar Power? with Professor Stephen Forrest


Office buildings, high rises, and greenhouses are covered in windows. What if we used all that window space to capture solar energy and add to the grid’s renewable energy supply? Listen to University of Michigan engineering professor Steven Forrest explain how a change in the semiconducors used in solar panels could allow us to transform windows into power sources — without sacrificing light and transparency.

The Clean Energy Potential of Nuclear Fusion, with Annie Kritcher

Unlike nuclear fission made famous by the atomic bomb, nuclear fusion produces energy by fusing together hydrogen isotopes. It’s been an elusive but ultimately unattainable goal. That is until a recent breakthrough at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. Physicist Annie Kritcher led the team that made this advance.