Centre for Molecular Cell Biology: Guest Talk w/ Professor Tae Seok Moon
The professor will deliver a talk on "Systems and synthetic biology: constructing smart and programmable microbes and microbiota to address global problems".
Published:
The Centre for Molecular Cell Biology will be hostingProf Tae Seok Moon from J. Craig Venter Institute (www.jcvi.org/about/tae-seok-moon), who will give a talk on "Systems and synthetic biology: constructing smart and programmable microbes and microbiota to address global problems".
The past decade has witnessed the tremendous power of systems and synthetic biology in the creation of genetic parts, devices, and systems, which helps understand complex biological systems. However, its potential for real-world applications has not been fully exploited. One of its promising applications is the construction of programmable cells that integrate multiple environmental signals and implement synthetic control over biological processes. My research interests are focused on developing microbes and microbiota that can process multiple input signals and generate user-defined outputs. Specifically, I aim to build genetic programs to control various bacterial processes such as gene expression, chemical reactions, and evolution. I will present published and unpublished results of my selected research projects by discussing the potential and challenges of systems and synthetic biology to address global problems, including plastic and agricultural waste issues, non-invasive diagnostics and disease treatment using smart probiotics and microbiota engineering, sustainable bioproduction, and biocontainment of genetically engineered microbes.
About the Speaker
Tae Seok Moon is a full professor at J. Craig Venter Institute, an EBRC (Engineering Biology Research Consortium) Council Member, a SynBYSS (Synthetic Biology Young Speaker Series) Chair, a founder of Moonshot Bio, an Executive Board Member of the European Federation of Biotechnology, and an editor of 10 journals, including the Editor-in-Chief of New Biotechnology and the Co-EiC of Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology. He is also the director of NSF Global Center CIRCLE consisting of >20 companies and >40 academic investigators at 18 institutes from 6 nations.
He has expertise in Systems and Synthetic Biology. He aims to solve global agricultural, environmental, manufacturing, and health problems through engineering biology. His research projects have been supported by Gates Foundation, AIChE, and 15 other funding agencies (32 external grants), and he has secured >$16M ($46M for the entire teams since 7/1/2012). These projects and his prior research efforts have resulted in 108 publications (97 as the PI), 248 invited talks, 213 contributed conference presentations, and 12 patents. His achievements have also been recognized with many awards, including a Langer Prize for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Excellence (AIChE & MIT), a B&B Daniel I.C. Wang Award (Wiley & ACS), an NSF CAREER award, an ONR Young Investigator Award, a John C. Sluder Fellowship (MIT), an ILJU Foundation Award, an LG Chemical Fellowship, and the SNU President Prize.
He is deeply committed to spending the time required to promote the career development of his advisees and young researchers in the world. He has advised 116 young researchers who are diverse in race, gender, and nationality since 2012, including 22 students in other labs as a committee member, 29 undergrad researchers, 6 international Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition teams (not counted toward 115), 31 grad rotation students (excluding ones who joined his lab permanently), 18 PhD students (9 students graduated), 3 MS students (funded by him), 4 technicians, and 9 postdoctoral researchers. Among these 29 undergrad researchers, 12 students chose to pursue grad studies in STEM. Many lab members have received fellowships & awards for their research, and lab alumni are contributing to society in universities, national labs, and industries (e.g., one developed the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine). In addition, teaching kits have been developed and distributed to more than 40 high school science teachers and hundreds of K-12 students, broadening impacts on STEM education.
He is an active member of the global community of researchers who work in the fields of chemical engineering and bioengineering. He has actively participated in organizing many international conferences as a conference co-chair or organizer. He has also served as a reviewer, the editor-in-chief (New Biotechnology), the co-editor-in-chief (Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology), an associate editor (8 journals), or an editorial board member (7 journals) for >50 journals, including Nature/Science/Cell journals, Nucleic Acids Res., and PNAS. Notably, his global leadership efforts include 1) his activity and role at EBRC as a Council Member to provide the vision to address national and global needs through synthetic biology and 2) his service to SynBYSS as the Founding Chair to provide a weekly, virtual, and multi-year forum where a global thought leader gives an opening 5 min talk, followed by a 45 min, rising star’s talk, for >2,000 global audiences. The 462 speakers (as of Sep. 2025) include a Nobel Laureate, 26 National Academy Members, 44 funding agency directors, 20 Editors-in-chief, 11 Nature/Cell journal editors, and 224 rising stars.
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