Jay Keasling
| Jay Keasling | |
|---|---|
| Institutions | University of California, Berkeley, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Michigan |
| Alma mater | University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
| Doctoral advisor | Bernhard Palsson[1][2] |
| Known for | metabolic engineering |
| Notable awards | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant |
Dr. Jay D. Keasling is a Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley.[3][4] He is also Associate Laboratory Director for Biosciences at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Founding Head of the Synthetic Biology Department in the Physical Biosciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and chief executive officer of the Joint BioEnergy Institute.[5] He is considered one of the foremost authorities in synthetic biology, especially in the field of metabolic engineering. Other, related research interests include systems biology and environmental biotechnology.
Keasling's current research[6] involves the metabolic engineering of the Escherichia coli bacterium to produce biofuels and of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast to produce the anti-malarial drug artemisinin.[7][8] Although it is an effective, proven treatment for malaria, current methods of producing artemisinin (found naturally in the plant Artemisia annua) are considered too expensive to cost-effectively eliminate malaria from developing countries.[9]
By producing the drug from a microbe, rather than harvesting it from a plantation, the Keasling Lab intends to lower the cost of artemisinin production from $2.40 per dose to $0.25 per dose.[10]
In 2009, Keasling was awarded the first annual Biotech Humanitarian Award by BIO, the Biotechnology Industry Organization.[11] In 2004, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded a shared $42.5 million grant to the Keasling Lab, Amyris Biotechnologies, a company Keasling helped start[12] , and the Institute for OneWorld Health to develop and distribute the low-cost malaria treatment.[13] In 2006 Discover magazine awarded its first ever Scientist of the Year Award to Jay Keasling.[14] Keasling is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Jay Keasling received his Bachelor's Degree at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he was a member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity. He received his Ph.D from the University of Michigan in 1991. He is originally from Harvard, Nebraska and is openly non-heterosexual.[15]
[edit] References
- ^ http://gcrg.ucsd.edu/Researchers/Previous_Researchers Palsson laboratory alumni
- ^ Palsson, B. O.; Keasling, J. D.; Emerson, S. G. (1990). "The regulatory mechanisms of human immunodeficiency virus replication predict multiple expression rates". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 87 (2): 772–776. doi:10.1073/pnas.87.2.772. PMC 53348. PMID 2405389. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=53348.
- ^ http://cheme.berkeley.edu/faculty/keasling/ Jay D. Keasling Faculty Page at UC Berkeley
- ^ http://keaslinglab.lbl.gov/wiki/index.php/Main_Page The Keasling Lab Web Site
- ^ JBEI Leadership URL: http://www.jbei.org/about/leadership/jay-keasling.shtml
- ^ http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=jay+keasling Jay Keasling in Google Scholar
- ^ Ro, D. K.; Paradise, E. M.; Ouellet, M.; Fisher, K. J.; Newman, K. L.; Ndungu, J. M.; Ho, K. A.; Eachus, R. A. et al (2006). "Production of the antimalarial drug precursor artemisinic acid in engineered yeast". Nature 440 (7086): 940–943. doi:10.1038/nature04640. PMID 16612385.
- ^ Martin, V. J. J.; Pitera, D. J.; Withers, S. T.; Newman, J. D.; Keasling, J. D. (2003). "Engineering a mevalonate pathway in Escherichia coli for production of terpenoids". Nature Biotechnology 21 (7): 796–802. doi:10.1038/nbt833. PMID 12778056.
- ^ Specter, Michael (2009). Denialsim How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives. Penguin Group. p. 229. ISBN 978-1-59420-230-8.
- ^ Science@Berkeley May 30, 2006 Article: An Age-Old Microbe May Hold the Key to Curing an Age-Old Affliction URL: http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/sabl/2006/May/02-antimalarial.html
- ^ BIO Press Release, May 2009
- ^ Specter, Michael (2009). Denialsim How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives. Penguin Group. p. 231. ISBN 978-1-59420-230-8.
- ^ Gates foundation to promote synthetic biology URL: http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/sabl/2006/May/02-antimalarial.html
- ^ Discover 2006 Scientist of the Year: Jay Keasling. URL: http://discovermagazine.com/2006/dec/cover
- ^ UCSF News.
[edit] External links
- Jay Keasling on Twitter
- "Science@Berkeley Lab: An Age-Old Microbe May Hold the Key to Curing an Age-Old Affliction". http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/sabl/2006/May/02-antimalarial.html. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
- "Gates foundation to promote synthetic biology - CNET News". http://news.cnet.com/Gates-foundation-to-promote-synthetic-biology/2100-1008_3-5489245.html. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
- "At Berkeley: Intelligently designed molecular evolution". http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-02/dbnl-abi022306.php. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
- "11.15.2006 - Jay Keasling honored as Scientist of the Year". http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2006/11/15_discovery.shtml. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
- Jay Keasling talk given at PopTech conference
