Jay Keasling, a University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumnus and leader in the field of synthetic biology, will deliver a Research Council Distinguished Lecture at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 24 in the Nebraska Union, Colonial Rooms A and B.
Keasling will discuss “Engineering Microorganisms for Production of Iosprenoid Natural Products and some Not-so-Natural Products.” An hour-long interactive session follows at 9:30 a.m.
In the talk, Keasling will explore tools and methods his team has developed for engineering microorganisms that produce important plant isoprenoids and others that create not-so-natural isoprenoid derivatives. Further, Keasling will examine challenges and opportunities that his team faces and discuss research successes in scaling and commercializing molecules.
The talk is organized by Nebraska’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Rajib Saha, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, is host for Keasling.
Keasling, who earned a Bachelor of Science in chemistry and biology from Nebraska, focuses his research on the metabolic engineering of microorganisms for degradation of environmental contaminants or for environmentally-friendly synthesis of drugs, chemicals and fuels.
He is the Philomathia Professor of Alternative Energy at the University of California, Berkeley, in the departments of bioengineering and chemical and biomolecular engineering. Keasling is also the senior faculty scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and chief executive officer of the Joint BioEnergy Institute.
