1 / 7

Cellular and Metabolic Engineering for Biomolecules, Fuels, and Pharmaceuticals

Explore the Alper Lab's research in engineering biology to produce biomolecules, fuels, and pharmaceuticals using metabolic and cellular engineering. Our approach combines traditional pathway engineering with protein engineering, novel genetic tools, and methodologies to improve cellular performance and expand substrate utilization. Join our lab for exciting research opportunities in biofuels production, complex phenotypes, and more.

tjamie
Download Presentation

Cellular and Metabolic Engineering for Biomolecules, Fuels, and Pharmaceuticals

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Laboratory for Cellular and Metabolic EngineeringEngineering biology to produce biomolecules, fuels, and pharmaceuticals Spring 2011, Alper Lab Graduate Students Hal Alper Department of Chemical Engineering halper@che.utexas.edu http://www.che.utexas.edu/alper_group/

  2. Contextual Background Metabolic and Cellular Engineering Substrate Product Employing metabolic and cellular engineering as an enabling technology to improve cellular performance. Our Approach: Traditional pathway engineering is uniquely merged with protein engineering, novel genetic tools, and novel methodologies.

  3. Realizing the goal of cellular engineering Native Organisms Limited Substrates (glucose) Limited, mixed Products (acids, alcohols) Engineered Organisms Re-wired Cells • Higher tolerance • Improved throughput Novel, diversified Products Expanded Substrates • Next-generation biofuels • Non-natural molecules • Commodity and specialty • chemicals • Pharmaceuticals • Lignocellulosic Biomass • Chemical Waste • Agricultural Byproducts • Non-conventional carbon

  4. Model systems and phenotypes Cell Models Cell Phenotypes Microbial Engineering (e.g.: Escherichia coli) • Production phenotypes • Ethanol/alternative biofuels • Hydrocarbons • Lipids and fatty acids • Protein drugs • Commodity chemicals Fungal Engineering (e.g.: Saccharomyces cerevisiae and other yeasts) Phototroph Engineering (e.g.: Synechococcus sp.) • Other Phenotypes of Interest • Chemical tolerances • Disease states • Biodegradation capacity • Alternative sugar utilization Mammalian Cell Engineering (e.g.: Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells)

  5. Examples of Ongoing Projects I E H D F Alkanes Commodity Chemicals Therapeutic Proteins A B C

  6. Current/Ongoing Research Areas • Engineering biofuels production • Production of novel hydrocarbons and fatty acids in yeast • Designing methods for improved biomass utilization • Developing methods for metabolic pathway engineering • Engineering proteins in pentose utilization pathway • Mammalian cellular engineering • Developing stable mammalian gene expression tools

  7. Laboratory for Cellular and Metabolic Engineering • The Alper Laboratory will be offering 2 graduate research assistant positions in Fall 2011. These positions will be in the areas of: • Engineering advanced biofuels production. • Developing approaches for eliciting complex phenotypes. For more information, contact: Dr. Hal Alper halper@che.utexas.edu http://www.che.utexas.edu/alper_group/

More Related