Alcohol Dependent Hemiterpene Pathway

We have developed an artificial two-enzyme pathway to provide access to natural and new-to-nature isoprenoids. The pathway is being coupled to various downstream biosynthetic steps to afford isoprenoids relevant to medicinal chemistry and the biotechnology industry. The simplicity and modularity of this system are being leveraged by directed evolution to expand its synthetic capabilities.

Alkyl-Diversification of Natural Products

Many natural products derive their biological activity from small alkyl substituents that are difficult to modify using traditional chemical methods. We are engineering biosynthetic pathways to systematically diversify these groups, enabling rapid access to panels of analogues that would otherwise require lengthy chemical synthesis. This work bridges synthetic biology and medicinal chemistry to accelerate the exploration of natural product chemical space.