In addition to its annual lectures, ChBE hosts a weekly seminar throughout the year with invited lecturers who are prominent in their fields. Unless otherwise noted, all seminars are held on Wednesdays in the Molecular Science and Engineering Building ("M" Building) in G011 (Cherry Logan Emerson Lecture Theater) at 4:00 p.m. Refreshments are served at 3:30 p.m. in the Emerson-Lewis Reception Salon.

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Cell engineering for the production of biofuels

Rising petroleum costs, trade imbalances, and environmental concerns have stimulated efforts to advance the microbial production of biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass. Two main challenges in this process are the cost-effective depolymerization of lignocellulosic biomass, and the high titer microbial production of biofuels with physicochemical properties similar to petroleum-based fuels. In this seminar, we will discuss cell engineering approaches that address these two challenges. First, the development of a high-throughput selection for cellulase enzymes and its application to the directed evolution of cellulases. Second, the engineering of microbial platforms for the production of a terpene-based biofuel directly from simple sugars. These projects illustrate an interdisciplinary approach to cell engineering that combines chemistry, genetics, enzyme and metabolic engineering, and synthetic biology for the production of biofuels.