Natural products remain one of the richest sources of bioactive molecules for therapeutics, agriculture, and food innovation, yet traditional discovery approaches recover only a fraction of their true diversity. Microbial genomes encode vast, unexplored biosynthetic potential, offering a transformative opportunity to reshape how we discover, engineer, and translate natural products.
My research program integrates genome mining, biosynthetic pathway elucidation, and synthetic biology to systematically convert microbial genomic information into new molecules and mechanisms. By combining large biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) datasets with predictive annotations, we identify high-value clusters linked to antimicrobial, anticancer, virulence, or ecological functions. These pathways are reconstructed and expressed using modular heterologous systems to uncover cryptic or new chemical entities.
A core component of this platform is the interrogation and engineering of biosynthetic enzymes, which act as molecular machines that generate chemical diversity. By repurposing and redesigning these enzymes, we create novel analogues and perform late-stage diversification that complements medicinal chemistry, enabling rapid structure–activity exploration and expanding molecular space. We then use these molecules and engineered enzymes to probe biological function, including roles in microbial antagonism, plant and human pathogenesis, chemical ecology, and host–microbe interactions. Finally, because genomic discovery reveals not only molecules but also their production machinery, we apply microbial engineering and biomanufacturing to scale promising compounds for translational applications in therapeutics, agrochemicals, and functional food systems.
Together, this genome-to-natural-product framework demonstrates how unlocking microbial biosynthetic potential can drive innovation across health and food sectors, providing sustainable routes to new molecules, mechanisms, and applications.