Jay Keasling. Engineering Microbes to Solve Global Challenges

Filmed for iBiology 2016

Talk Overview

Dr. Jay Keasling discusses the promise of biological systems to create carbon-neutral products for a range of applications, including fuels, chemicals and drugs. Keasling discusses the application of these principles to the development of a microbial platform for the synthesis of the anti-malarial drug, artemisinic acid. This platform has helped stabilize the global supply. He also discusses additional applications of these techniques to fuel production, as well as some of the current challenges and possible solutions facing the metabolic engineering community.

About the Speaker: Jay Keasling

Jay Keasling is a Professor of Chemical engineering and Bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley, an Associate Laboratory Director for Biosciences at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and also chief executive officer of the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBIE). He received his PhD in Bernhard Palsson’s lab at University of Michigan and was a post-doc with Arthur Kornberg at Stanford University. The Keasling lab focuses on the bioengineering of microorganisms to enhance biofuel extraction from plant biomass and improve environmental clean-up strategies. Keasling has received numerous honors for his work over the years, including most recently the Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy and Employment (2012), the George Washington Carver Award (2013), and the ENI Renewable Energy Prize (2014). Dr Keasling was also elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2014.