SSB

Razan Yahya successfully defended her thesis to her PhD committee today.

SSB lab member Malak Abdallah successfully defended her PhD thesis today.

Professor Lauersen won this year's KAUST Distinguished Teaching Award for his contribution to the Bioengineering program.

SSB Lab invited Prof. Ira “Ike” Levine to KAUST last week.

Prof. Lauersen, Melany Villegas Valencia, and Mauricio Masson attended the 13th International CeBiTec Research Conference, in Bielefeld, Germany, September 16th – 18th, 2024.

Prof. Lauersen presented the joint project “Demonstration facility for sustainable high-value proteins from low-value waste”.

Last week, following the successful kickoff of the KAUST Center of Excellence in Sustainable Food Security project 5934, the team held a productive second meeting at Saudi Radwa Food Co. Ltd facilities.

Prof. Lauersen visits Prof. Bogumil Karas at the University of Western Ontario.

Today, Prof. Lauersen visited the Biozone (Center for Applied Bioscience and Bioengineering) at the University of Toronto.

KAUST Center of Excellence in Sustainable Food Security project “Demonstration facility for sustainable high-value proteins from low-value waste” had its kickoff meeting today at KAUST.

SSB member Dr. Gordon Wellman travelled to Dresden for a 2-week research stay at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics.

SSB group member Sergio Gutiérrez successfully defended his PhD thesis today.

Professor Kyle Lauersen was recently assigned to the Editorial Board of the journal "Blue Biotechnology".

Prof. Lauersen presented the work of his group as part of the SynBYSS seminar initiative.

The group's recent article about microalgal-based production of fragrant oud compounds was showcased in the newspaper Arab News.

The research article by Gutiérrez et al. was selected as back cover by the journal Green Chemistry.

SSB Lab Professor Kyle Lauersen has joined the Early Career Board of the journal ACS Synthetic Biology.

Professor Kyle Lauersen was recently assigned to the Editorial Board of the journal "New Biotechnology".

The recent work of SSB Lab postdocs Dr. Barbara Freitas and Dr. Sebastian Overmans was featured in an article in the KAUST INSIGHT magazine.

Members of the SSB Lab visited the chocolate factory operated by Mars Inc. in nearby KAEC.

Prof. Kyle Lauersen gave an invited talk at his alma mater Bielefeld University.

Prof. Kyle Lauersen attended the Sustainable Biotechnology Symposium hosted by Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Prof. Kyle Lauersen gave an invited talk to members of the Faculty of Science and Technology at the University of the Basque Country

This week, the SSB group hosted Dr. Adrian Nievergelt from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (Dresden, Germany) at KAUST.

A project led by Prof. Lauersen and Dr. Claudio Fuentes-Grünewald that involves the cultivation of the microalga C. merolae for animal feed, is featured in KAUST NEWS.

Dr. Gordon Wellman traveled to Princeton University and Singapore to present his latest research.

PhD candidate Razan Yahya was awarded the Biotechnology Notes Prize at the Metabolic Engineering 15 Conference in Singapore.

PhD candidate Malak Abdallah presented her PhD research at the Metabolic Engineering 15 Conference in Singapore.

Prof. Lauersen was invited to give a student lecture and Departmental Seminar at the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn in Naples, Italy. His visit was organized by Dr. Sabrina Carella and PhD student Gabriele de Falco.

SSB group's postdoctoral fellow Dr. Sebastian Overmans gives a conference talk at this year's AlgalBBB meeting in Hawaii.

SSB student Mauricio Lopez-Portillo Masson attended the AlgalBBB conference in Hawaii to present his latest research results.

SSB group's PhD student Melany Villegas-Valencia presented a scientific poster at the Synthetic Biology: Engineering, Evolution & Design (SEED) Conference in Los Angeles.

PhD candidate Sergio Gutiérrez presented his work at three international conferences in the USA and Singapore this summer.

SSB postdoc Dr. Barbara Bastos de Freitas recently presented her research at the Chlamy2023 and AlgalBBB conferences.

Several SSB group members, including Melany Villegas, Razan Yahya, Malak Abdallah, Sergio Gutiérrez, and Dr. Gordon Wellman attended this year's Metabolic Engineering Conference in Singapore.

SSB group's PhD student Mauricio Lopez-Portillo Masson, Dr. Barbara Bastos de Freitas, Dr. Sebastian Overmans, and Prof. Kyle Lauersen attended this year's International Conference on Algal Biomass, Biofuels & Bioproducts (AlgalBBB) in Hawaii together with their close collaborators Dr. Mark Seger and Prof. Peter Lammers from AzCATI.

PhD student Sergio Gutierrez and Postdoctoral Fellows Dr. Barbara Bastos de Freitas and Dr. Gordon Wellman attended the International Conference on the Cell and Molecular Biology of Chlamydomonas at Princeton University.

SSB group PhD students Melany Villegas and Sergio Gutierrez presented their work at the 2023 Synthetic Biology: Engineering, Evolution & Design (SEED) Conference in Los Angeles.

Prof. Kyle Lauersen joins Justine Dees as part of her podcast series Joyful Microbe in an episode entitled "Algae in Nature and Biotechnology".

Call for papers on the topic "Metabolic engineering/synthetic biology of eukaryotic microalgae for better light-driven biosynthesis and production" in the journal Algal Research.

Prof. Lauersen was appointed to the Editorial Board of the journal Planta, where he will handle manuscripts relating to algal biotechnology.

The SSB Lab hosted BESE Dean’s Distinguished Lecture entitled "From genetics parts to synthetic genomes" by Prof. Patrick Yizhi Cai from the University of Manchester.

Amna Abdulshakoor Abdullah, Master student in the SSB Lab, successfully defended her Bioengineering MSc thesis entitled "Heterologous expression of two ice binding proteins fro the chloroplast genome of a high-density cultivation enabled Chlamydomonas reinhardtii strain".

SSB Lab student Fatimah Abualsaud successfully defended today her Bioengineering MSc thesis entitled "Engineering volatile isoprene production from the polyextremophilic red microalga Cyanidioschyzon merolae".

A bioprospecting project led by Prof. Lauersen that involves testing the potential of microalgae native to the central Red Sea region for biotechnology applications, is featured in the KAUST INSIGHT magazine.

Professor Lauersen gave a Zoom seminar for the Davis College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at the Institute for Genomics for Crop Abiotic Stress Tolerance at Texas Tech University.

Prof. Kyle Lauersen gave an invited talk at Stanford's Carnegie Institution for Science, following an invitation from Dr. Adrien Burlacot.

Prof. Kyle Lauersen was honored to be invited to give a talk at Apeel Sciences in Santa Barbara (California) today. Apeel is a food biotech company that developed a method to prolongue the shelf life of fruits and vegetables by applying a "second peel" composed entirely of purified monoglycerides and diglycerides.

The SSB lab visitors Dr. Jeffrey Moseley and Prof. Peter Lammers both gave a BioE seminar talk this week. Jeffrey discussed his academic journey in his talk entitled "There and Back Again: Algae Biology and Biotechnology in Industry and Academia", while Peter presented his work on extemophilic microalgae in his seminar "Metabolic engineering with Microalgae: exploiting the versatility of polyextremophiles".

This week, the SSB group welcomed three academic collaborators to KAUST, including Dr. Jeffrey Moseley from UC Berkeley, and Dr. Mark Seger and Prof. Peter Lammers from the Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation at Arizona State University.

SSB Lab research was presented by MSc students Fatimah Abdualsaud and Amna Abdullah, and by visiting highschool student Yazan Alflayyeh at the KAUST Research Open Week (KROW) poster session.

Prof Kyle Lauersen participated in the second EBRC Global Forum for Engineering Biology: Review of Synthetic Biology/Bioeconomy National Strategies (EBRC Global Forum 2.0), which was held on 20/21 February 2023 in Singapore in partnership with the Singapore Consortium for Synthetic Biology (SINERGY).

Professor Kyle Lauersen joins Julia Van Etten for her podcast series Tiny Living Beings in an episode entitled "Genetic engineering of algae".

Prof Kyle Lauersen joined other experts in the field of algae culture for an international workshop co-organized by FAO, UN and DAB-MEWA to discuss the future of algae-based aquaculture and innovation.

A recent research article of SSB group member Dr Sebastian Overmans and Professor Kyle Lauersen that was published in Green Chemistry is showcased in the KAUST Discovery magazine.

High school student and MEWA intern Yazan Alflayyeh visited the SSB lab for a research stay to conduct analytical laboratory work in collaboration with Sergio Gutierrez and Dr Sebastian Overmans.

SSB Lab PhD students Malak Abdallah, Razan Yahya, and Sergio Gutierrrez were selected as recipients of the 2022 BESE Dean's award.

Professor Olaf Kruse from Bielefeld University, Kyle's former PhD supervisor, visited the SSB Lab and gave a seminar entitled: "Bioengineering microalgae for their application as green cell factories".

Professor Kyle Lauersen attended this year's Saudi Agriculture Business Forum to hear about current agriculture projects in KSA connect with researchers and stakeholders in this field.

Professor Claudia Vickers visited the SSB Lab and gave a Bioengineering Seminar entitled: "Eden Brew and synthetic biology for metabolic engineering in microbial organisms".

Professor Kyle Lauersen was an invited guest speaker at a Springer Nature webinar entitled "Chlamydomonas: Unlocking Discoveries in Sustainable Biotechnology.

Episode 22 of KAUST's Sciencetown podcast features algal experts Claudio Grünewald and Kyle Lauersen in conversation about their projects.

The innovative microalgae-based research projects led by Professor Kyle Lauersen are featured in an article in the "KAUST Insight" magazine.

Professor Paul Freemont from Imperial College London visited the SSB Lab from 11-13 June, and gave a distinguished lecture to the BESE Division entitled "Enabling the Transition to a Global Bioeconomy with Synthetic Biology - Opportunities and Challenges".

KAUST's microalgae bioprospecting research projects led by Professor Kyle Lauersen and Dr Claudio Grünewald are featured in a KAUST News article.

Professor Stephen Rader and Dr Martha Stark from the University of Northern British Columbia visited KAUST for a 2-week research stay at the SSB Lab. As experts in the field of the extremophile red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae, they shared their knowledge about the species's cultivation and transformation methods. Professor Stephen Rader also gave an invited BioEngineering Seminar entitled: "What have introns done for you lately? Investigations of the function and evolution of introns in a new model system, the red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae"

SSB Lab students Salma AlKaff and Manar Shlbi successfully defended today their Bioengineering MSc theses entitled "A comparison of solvents for their suitability as solvent-culture two phase systems for living extraction of microbial isoprenoids using the green microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as a model organism" (Salma) and "Investigation of heterologous expression of the non-ribosomal peptide blue pigment synthase and its activator from the nuclear genome of the model microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii" (Manar). We wish them both all the best in their future endeavors.

The SSB Lab was represented with a booth at this year's Research Open Week. Here, and during the poster session, members of the group showcased their latest microalgae research.

The Sustainable & Synthetic Biotechnology Lab was officially inaugurated today by KAUST President Tony Chan, Deans Pierre Magistretti and Samir Hamdan, and Professor David Keyes. After the official ceremony, several invited guests got a chance to join a guided tour of the state-of-the-art lab facilities.

Dr. Jonas Frohwitter is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Biberach University of Applied Science. He visited KAUST after being invited by the SSB lab as a speaker to deliver a talk titled "From Purple Bacteria to cell-free enzymatic systems: Industrial biotech in Biberach."

The SSB group was proud to be represented by Dr. Kyle Lauersen, Dr. Gordon Wellman and Lab Manager John Girgis at the Circular Carbon Initiative launch event. They presented 9 of the algal species that are currently being studied in the laboratory, and displayed a bioreactor prototype capable of cultivating high-value algal strains at high densities.

Dr. Kyle Lauersen was also invited to be one of the CCI on-screen presenters, with the video attached below.

Prof. Lauersen gave a talk at Macquarie University in Sydney Australia hosted by Prof. Ian Paulsen and Dr. Briardo Llorente. The talk was titled "Transforming Algae into a Sustainable Production Platform."

Prof. Lauersen gave a visiting lecture at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at University of Queensland, Brisbane, hosted by Prof. Ben Hankamer. His lecture was titled "Transforming Algae into a Sustainable Production Platform," and was focused on explaining the potential Algae hold as a biotechnology platform.

Liliana Calzadiaz Ramirez is a PhD Candidate at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology. Liliana currently studies enzyme engineering, and visited KAUST after being invited by the SSB lab as a speaker to deliver a talk titled "Testing, Screening and Evolving NADPH-regenerating enzymes with an E. coli NADPH-sensor strain."

Prof. Lauersen today had the chance to deliver a talk at a conference in Singapore on the topic of "Future Trends in Synthetic Biology: Asian Perspectives." His talk was titled "Transforming Algae into a Sustainable Production Platform," and represented the Saudi Arabian and Persian Gulf potential for joining the Synthetic Biology revolution.

Dr. Julian Wichmann is a Post-Doctoral Fellow, and was Prof. Lauersen's previous PhD student, at Bielefeld University. He visited KAUST after being invited by the SSB lab as a speaker to deliver a talk titled "Development of high-throughput process to optimise microbes for biofertilizer applications."Learning by building: Engineering light-driven green cell factories for the sustainable production of hydrocarbon chemicals enables understanding of metabolic architectures in eukaryotic algae".

Zeenat Rupawalla is a PhD Candidate in Professor Ben Hankamer's group in Australia. She and Prof. Lauersen met when they were working with Dr. Hankamer at the same time. Zeenat visited KAUST after being invited by the SSB lab as a speaker to deliver a talk titled "Development of high-throughput process to optimise microbes for biofertilizer applications."

In October, Prof. Lauersen had a chance to visit Dr. Claudia Vickers's team from Australia in Singapore, and then visited Australia directly, to learn more about the future of Synthetic Biology.

Prof. Lauersen had the absolute privilege of delivering The Red Sea Research Center's Open Science Conference Keynote Lecture, titled "Keynote Lecture: Exploring the potential of algae as a sustainable biotechnological production platform" today!

Today, Prof. Lauersen had an opportunity to speak at NEOM to help the planners and organizers imagine a biology-inclusive design with his talk titled "Sustainability, Synethic Biology, and Applied Biotechnology: A Vision for NEOM." Only good things can come from collaborations between people working towards a progressive and wild future.

Prof. Lauersen recently had the pleasure of speaking to a select few Post-Doctoral Fellows at NYUAD about his career trajectory and making the next jump in their academic careers. The food was plenty!

Prof. Lauersen had the absolute privilege of speaking about Algal medical applications, including wound healing and improving food quality, at the CBRC Digital Wellbeing conference today.

Dr. Dennis Dienst received his PhD from Humboldt University of Berlin, and is currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Uppsula University studying high density cultivation methods for microalgae. Dennis visited KAUST after being invited by the SSB lab as a speaker to deliver a talk titled "Towards improved microbial chassis for the photosynthetic production of terpenoids."

Dr. Boas Pucker just completed his PhD from Bielefeld University. He visited KAUST after being invited by the SSB lab as a speaker to deliver a talk titled "Computational approaches to study plant genomics and evolution."

Prof. Lauersen had the absolute privilege of speaking on a panel along with Prof. Mani Sarathy and Dr. Thomas Finkbeiner. The panel was part of KAUST's Sci-Café initiative and the topic was 'Circular Carbon Economy.'

On the latest “Young PIs” interview series, Konstantinos Vavitsas from EUSynBioS interviewed Prof. Lauersen based on his recent appointment as an Assistant Professor. Even though Konstantinos and Prof. Lauersen have published a paper together, it was their first chance to discuss science, algae, and the future at large together.