New Pathway Development

view profile for Jay Keasling

Jay Keasling

Chief Executive Officer and Director of New Pathway Development

view profile for Robert Haushalter

Robert Haushalter

Deputy Director of New Pathway Development

view profile for Brett Helms

Brett Helms

Scientific Lead, New Pathway Development

view profile for Brent Shanks

Brent Shanks

Scientific Lead, New Pathway Development

view profile for Alberto Nava

Alberto Nava

Graduate Student Research Associate

view profile for Vincent Blay Roger

Vincent Blay Roger

Post Doctoral Researcher

The mission of the New Pathway Development Department is to select, develop, and demonstrate efficient conversion strategies to transform biomass-derived sugars and aromatics into infrastructure- and engine-compatible biofuels, as well as into drop-in and novel bioproducts. To develop biosynthetic and hybrid biological-chemical (semisynthetic) pathways to a variety of prioritized biofuels and bioproducts JBEI scientists are 1) developing a retrobiosynthesis pathway predictor that will enable prioritized selection of biological pathways and enzymes to produce a desired target; 2) developing high-throughput automated platforms to build and test a large number of novel pathways; 3) developing data-driven and mechanistic models to systematically guide metabolic engineering; and 4) developing biosynthetic pathways to the desired targets or to intermediates that can be converted using chemistry to expand the range of possible biofuel and bioproduct targets.

Projects

  • Development of a retrobiosynthesis pathway predictor that will enable prioritized selection of biological pathways, enzymes, and chemical transformations to produce a desired target
  • Development of synthetic biology pathways to the desired biofuel or bioproduct (or intermediates) using modular pathways such as the polyketide synthases
  • Development of mechanistic and data-driven models for optimizing flux through engineering metabolic pathways

Featured Media

Jay Keasling Receives Distinguished Scientist Fellow Award

Jay Keasling

Machine Learning Takes on Synthetic Biology: Algorithms Can Bioengineer Cells for You

Metabolic Engineering of Lipids Improves the Respiratory Function of Biofuels and Bioproducts Hosts

Faster, Cheaper, Better: A New Way to Synthesize DNA

Turning Sugar into High Performance Fuel: CNN’s The Next List Profiles Jay Keasling

 

 

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