​Our lab uses genetic engineering to expand the kinds of chemistry that microbes can perform.
​We perform fundamental and applied research related to industries ranging from chemical manufacturing to healthcare.

We are part of the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department, the Chemistry-Biology Interface Program, the Microbiology Graduate Program, and the Center for Plastics Innovation at the University of Delaware.

We are also affiliated with the Delaware Biotechnology Institute and the Delaware Environmental Institute.

At the national level, we are members of the Engineering Biology Research Consortium and the Manufacturing Innovation Institute  BioMADE .

Tools

Metabolic Engineering

The field of metabolic engineering has made tremendous strides over the last two decades, enabling commercialization of a diverse array of products. Yet, many functional groups remain difficult to introduce into small molecules.

Genome Engineering

Genome engineering, editing, and assembly technologies have advanced rapidly during the last decade. Natural microbial genomes contain many components that hinder our ability to expand biochemistry but can be edited using approaches such as MAGE and CRISPR-Cas9.

Protein Engineering

Proteins serve valuable roles as biocatalysts, biomaterials, and therapeutics. The ability to augment protein structures and functions through the incorporation of amino acids beyond the natural 20 can improve protein performance in each of these roles. 

Synthetic Biology

We are part of the synthetic biology community that strives to make biology easier to engineer. Examples of such efforts include the characterization of biological parts, the refinement of gene expression strategies, and the improvement of enabling technologies such as gene synthesis and sequencing. (Image from MIT RLE)

Vision

Imagine a future where we can harness our understanding of biology to improve every facet of our lives through biomolecular engineering - from the materials we touch, to the clothes we wear, to the food we eat, to the air we breathe, and to the health we experience. Biomolecular engineering can help make our society more sustainable, healthier, and more equitable. Advances in synthetic biology are helping us start to realize parts of this vision, but we are limited by the inability of biomolecular engineers to access a wider range of chemistry and by our reliance on centralized manufacturing paradigms. To help address both of these limitations for the betterment of human and environmental health, our lab programs cells to create and harness building blocks that are uncommon to nature. Join our team and help us bring this future closer to  reality.

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Recent Lab News

May 2023:
Neil's paper on programming cells to create and harness a nitrated amino acid was published in Nature Chemical Biology. Congrats, Neil!

Apr 2023:
Congrats to Ishika Govil for being awarded the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship!
Congrats to Miyu Mudalamane for being awarded the Barry Goldwater Scholarship!
Neil's paper on engineering resting whole cell biocatalysts to stabilize aldehydes was published in Metabolic Engineering. Congrats, Neil!

Mar 2023:
Madan's paper on designing enzyme cascades to valorize breakdown products of plastic waste was published in ACS Catalysis. Congrats, Madan!

Jan 2023:
Welcome new PhD students!
Austin Desmarais
Saloni Gupta
Welcome new undergraduates: Josh Bryan, Anu Buddhikot, Abby Spangler, and Vishal Somasundaram
Congrats to Neil for securing a DBI CAT grant and rising to the Develop Stage of Blue Hen Proof of Concept Funding, both for research towards commercialization.

Fall 2022:​
Aditya was honored to be awarded a 2022 NIH Director's New Innovator Award

Summer 2022:
Welcome new lab members! New postdocs: Surendar Jakka and Amanda Rosier. New undergraduates: Alexander Tiso and Miyu Mudalamane.
Congrats to D'Jana for being awarded a CBI G2 Fellowship!

Apr 2022:
Congrats to Amanda Forti and undergraduate lab member Sean Wirt for being awarded the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship!
Congrats to undergraduate lab member Ishika Govil for being awarded the Barry Goldwater Scholarship!
Aditya was honored to be awarded a 2022 Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award and a 2021 Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research New Innovator Award.

Jan 2022:
Congrats to Michaela for being awarded a GAANN Fellowship for Inclusive Teaching!
Congrats to Neil on being selected for the Philadelphia Section of the Nucleate Start-Up Mentoring Program!

Nov 2021:
Welcome new PhD students!
Avaniek Cabales
D'Jana Wyllis
Aditya was honored to be awarded the 2021 Langer Prize.

Aug 2021:
Welcome to our first post-doc Priyanka Nain!
Congrats to Neil on being accepted for the NSF I-Corps Sites program and the ACS BIOT Tank pitch competition!

Jun 2021:
Chris Mayhugh and Shelby Anderson joined the lab after their CBI rotations - welcome!
Congratulations to graduates of the lab - Soumili, Ryan, and Nathan!
Congrats to Michaela for being awarded the Fraser & Shirley Russell Teaching Fellowship, Sunny for receiving an AIChE award for outstanding graduate student leadership, and Neil and Morgan for Outstanding TA awards!

Nov 2020:
Welcome new PhD students!
Roman Dickey
Amanda Forti
Madan Gopal

Sep 2020:
Aditya is honored to be included among the 2020 AIChE 35 Under 35 Cohort.

Mar 2020:
Neil and Morgan both earn Honorable Mentions on their NSF GRFP submissions - congratulations!!

Jan 2020:
Aditya joined the Engineering Biology Research Consortium

Dec 2019:
Soumili Chattopadhyay joined the lab - welcome Soumili!

Dec 2019:
Morgan's review on biosynthesis of nonstandard chemical functional groups is accepted - congrats!

Oct 2019:
Neil's review on CARs is accepted - congrats!

May 2019:
Michaela Jones joined the lab after her CBI rotation - welcome Michaela!

Feb 2019:
Aditya was awarded an ELBI (Biosecurity) Fellowship

Jan 2019:
Lab opening

Nov 2018:
Welcome new PhD students -
Neil Butler
Sunny Sen
Morgan Sulzbach