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Accelerating the engineering of chemical-producing microbes
We develop foundational technologies to more effectively engineering biological systems for chemical synthesis |
GPCR-based
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Microbial synthesis of alkaloids
Alkaloid-derived pharmaceuticals are commonly semi-synthesized from plant extracted starting materials, which often limits their availability and final price. Recent advances in synthetic biology have enabled the introduction of complete plant pathways into microbes for the production of plant alkaloids. We focus on the production of modified alkaloids, which has the potential to accelerate the semi-synthesis of alkaloid-derived drugs by providing advanced intermediates that are structurally closer to the final pharmaceuticals and could be used as advanced intermediates for the synthesis of novel drugs.
ACS Synth Biol, 2015
Nat Chem Biol, 2017 |
Microbial synthesis of fuels and chemicals
A third area in the laboratory focuses on converting lignocellulosic biomass into high-energy density fuels and commodity chemicals. Recently we have engineered microbes to produce a biosynthetic alternative to the high energy density fuel JP10.
ACS Synth Biol, 2014
Curr Opin Biotechnol, 2017 Nat Biotechnol, 2017 |
