Conversion

Microorganisms are increasingly used to produce biofuels and chemicals. However, developing robust microorganisms for the economical production of biofuels and bioproducts from low-cost, often-recalcitrant feedstocks on a large scale with high titers, rates, and yields remains a significant challenge. Researchers in this theme are tackling this with non-model organisms.

The Challenges

  • Lack of known enzymes with desired activity and substrate specificity for the synthesis of target natural or non-natural compounds
  • Time-consuming and expensive design-build-test-learn cycle for metabolic engineering
  • Poor understanding of how native metabolism and physiology constrains the production of non-natural compounds
  • Difficulty identifying compounds that can be efficiently produced in living organisms

The Solutions

Researchers in the Conversion theme will further develop a versatile, automated “biofoundry” for rapidly engineering microbial strains that can efficiently produce diverse, high-value molecules such as biodiesel, organic acids, jet fuels, lubricants, and alcohols. Using the design-build-test-learn framework, research in the Conversion theme will overcome the challenges associated with engineering microbial cell factories to produce biofuels and bioproducts.

The Goals

  • Accelerate self-driving biofoundry for biosystems design (C1)
  • Advance AI/ML algorithms for biosystems design (C2)
  • Metabolically engineer non-model yeasts for greater production of fuels and chemicals (C3)
  • Progress quantitative, systems-level understanding of non-model yeast metabolism (C4)
  • Characterize and engineer genetic stability for large-scale fermentation (C5)
  • Develop an end-to-end pipeline for microbial production of fuels and chemicals (C6)

Theme Leader

Huimin Zhao

Steven L. Miller Chair of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
CABBI Theme

Deputy Theme Leaders

Joshua Rabinowitz

Professor of Chemistry and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University
CABBI Theme

Christopher Rao

Professor, Department Head, and Robert W. Schaefer Scholar of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
CABBI Theme

Lead Researchers

Brian Pfleger

Jay and Cynthia Ihlenfeld Associate Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin at Madison
CABBI Theme

Bruce Dien

Research Chemical Engineer, USDA
CABBI Theme

Costas Maranas

Professor of Chemical Engineering, Penn State University
CABBI Theme

George Huber

Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison
CABBI Theme

Heng Ji

Professor of Computer Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
CABBI Theme

Jonathan Sweedler

James R. Eiszner Family Endowed Chair and Professor of Chemistry, Director of School of Chemical Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
CABBI Theme

José Avalos

Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University
CABBI Theme

Melanie McReynolds

Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Penn State University
CABBI Theme

Ting Lu

Professor of Bioengineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
CABBI Theme

Vijay Singh

Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
CABBI Theme

Yasuo Yoshikuni

Biologist/Staff Scientist, Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
CABBI Theme

Yong-Su Jin

Professor of Food Microbiology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
CABBI Theme

Zengyi Shao

Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Jack R. and Carol A. Johnson Faculty Fellow, Iowa State University
CABBI Theme