The Grainger College of Engineering
Bioengineering

Yong-Su Jin

Yong-Su Jin
Yong-Su Jin
  • Professor
(217) 333-7981
1105 Institute for Genomic Biology

Primary Research Area

  • Synthetic Bioengineering

For More Information

Biography

Yong-Su Jin is Professor of Food Microbiology in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition and a faculty member of the Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB). He is a principal investigator of the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), and is also a member of the Center for Advanced BioEnergy Research (CABER) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Dr. Jin received B.S. (1996) and M. S. (1998, advisor: Prof. Jin-Ho Seo) degrees in Food Science and Technology from Seoul National University and received Ph. D. degree (2002, advisor: Prof. Thomas Jeffries) in Food Science and Bacteriology (minor) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After completing a post-doctoral training (2003-2005, advisor: Prof. Greg Stephanopoulos) in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he served as an Assistant Professor (2006-2008) in the Department of Food Science and Biotechnology at the Sungkyunkwan University in Korea.

Dr. Jin’s research is centered on metabolic engineering of microorganisms to produce biofuels and chemicals from renewable biomass. His research aims to identify, characterize, and engineer beneficial genetic perturbations eliciting rapid and efficient production of target products, such as biofuels, nutraceuticals, and food ingredients. In addition, his group performs food safety related research: rapid methods for food pathogen detection, elucidation of bactericidal mechanisms by antimicrobial compounds, and investigation of cellular toxicity caused by nanomaterials. Dr. Jin was a Faculty Fellow of National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) for 2009-2010 and received the ACES College Faculty Awards for Excellence in Research.

Education

  • Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison
  • M.S., Seoul National University, Korea
  • B.S., Seoul National University, Korea

Academic Positions

  • Assistant Professor, Sungkyunkwan University, Korea, 03/01/2006-08/15/2008

Research Interests

  • Metabolic engineering, which draws upon the key engineering principles of integration and quantification, is a platform technology that provides solutions to various biological problems in the context of systems and synthetic biology. In particular, we are interested in developing and applying systematic and combinatorial methods for strain improvement for the production of fuels, chemicals, and nutraceuticals. Also, we would like to extend these methods for studying fundamental biology problems, such as aging and stress response. The overall goals of our research are (1) to develop useful/efficient computational and experimental tools for the dissection of complex metabolic networks in microbial cells, and (2) to create optimal strains for biotechnological processes using these developed tools.
  • Probing, characterizing, and engineering cellular state through systems and synthetic biology; Metabolic engineering for production of value added products (fuels, chemicals, and nutraceuticals)

Primary Research Area

  • Synthetic Bioengineering

Selected Articles in Journals

  • Google Scholar Link for recent publications
  • Kwak, S., Yun, E. J., Lane, S., Oh, E. J., Kim, K. H., and Jin, Y. S. (2020) Redirection of the Glycolytic Flux Enhances Isoprenoid Production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Biotechnology journal 15, e1900173
  • Sun, L., Kwak, S., and Jin, Y. S. (2019) Vitamin A Production by Engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae from Xylose via Two-Phase in Situ Extraction. ACS synthetic biology 8, 2131-2140
  • Liu, J. J., Zhang, G. C., Kwak, S., Oh, E. J., Yun, E. J., Chomvong, K., Cate, J. H. D., and Jin, Y. S. (2019) Overcoming the thermodynamic equilibrium of an isomerization reaction through oxidoreductive reactions for biotransformation. Nature communications 10, 1356
  • Liu, J. J., Lee, J. W., Yun, E. J., Jung, S. M., Seo, J. H., and Jin, Y. S. (2019) L-Fucose production by engineered Escherichia coli. Biotechnology and bioengineering 116, 904-911
  • Yu, S., Liu, J. J., Yun, E. J., Kwak, S., Kim, K. H., and Jin, Y. S. (2018) Production of a human milk oligosaccharide 2'-fucosyllactose by metabolically engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Microbial cell factories 17, 101
  • Wei, L. J., Kwak, S., Liu, J. J., Lane, S., Hua, Q., Kweon, D. H., and Jin, Y. S. (2018) Improved squalene production through increasing lipid contents in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Biotechnology and bioengineering 115, 1793-1800
  • Liu, J. J., Kwak, S., Pathanibul, P., Lee, J. W., Yu, S., Yun, E. J., Lim, H., Kim, K. H., and Jin, Y. S. (2018) Biosynthesis of a Functional Human Milk Oligosaccharide, 2'-Fucosyllactose, and l-Fucose Using Engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae. ACS synthetic biology 7, 2529-2536
  • Xia, P. F., Zhang, G. C., Walker, B., Seo, S. O., Kwak, S., Liu, J. J., Kim, H., Ort, D. R., Wang, S. G., and Jin, Y. S. (2017) Recycling Carbon Dioxide during Xylose Fermentation by Engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae. ACS synthetic biology 6, 276-283
  • Kwak, S., Kim, S. R., Xu, H., Zhang, G. C., Lane, S., Kim, H., and Jin, Y. S. (2017) Enhanced isoprenoid production from xylose by engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Biotechnology and bioengineering 114, 2581-2591
  • Kim, S. R., Skerker, J. M., Kong, II, Kim, H., Maurer, M. J., Zhang, G. C., Peng, D., Wei, N., Arkin, A. P., and Jin, Y. S. (2017) Metabolic engineering of a haploid strain derived from a triploid industrial yeast for producing cellulosic ethanol. Metabolic engineering 40, 176-185
  • Xia, P. F., Zhang, G. C., Liu, J. J., Kwak, S., Tsai, C. S., Kong, II, Sung, B. H., Sohn, J. H., Wang, S. G., and Jin, Y. S. (2016) GroE chaperonins assisted functional expression of bacterial enzymes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Biotechnology and bioengineering 113, 2149-2155
  • Ha, S. J., Galazka, J. M., Kim, S. R., Choi, J. H., Yang, X., Seo, J. H., Glass, N. L., Cate, J. H., and Jin, Y. S. (2011) Engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae capable of simultaneous cellobiose and xylose fermentation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108, 504-509
  • Liu, J. J., Kong, II, Zhang, G. C., Jayakody, L. N., Kim, H., Xia, P. F., Kwak, S., Sung, B. H., Sohn, J. H., Walukiewicz, H. E., Rao, C. V., and Jin, Y. S. (2016) Metabolic Engineering of Probiotic Saccharomyces boulardii. Applied and environmental microbiology 82, 2280-2287
  • Wei, N., Oh, E. J., Million, G., Cate, J. H., and Jin, Y. S. (2015) Simultaneous utilization of cellobiose, xylose, and acetic acid from lignocellulosic biomass for biofuel production by an engineered yeast platform. ACS synthetic biology 4, 707-713
  • Tsai, C. S., Kong, II, Lesmana, A., Million, G., Zhang, G. C., Kim, S. R., and Jin, Y. S. (2015) Rapid and marker-free refactoring of xylose-fermenting yeast strains with Cas9/CRISPR. Biotechnology and bioengineering 112, 2406-2411
  • Wei, N., Quarterman, J., Kim, S. R., Cate, J. H., and Jin, Y. S. (2013) Enhanced biofuel production through coupled acetic acid and xylose consumption by engineered yeast. Nature communications 4, 2580
  • Kim, S. R., Skerker, J. M., Kang, W., Lesmana, A., Wei, N., Arkin, A. P., and Jin, Y. S. (2013) Rational and evolutionary engineering approaches uncover a small set of genetic changes efficient for rapid xylose fermentation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. PloS one 8, e57048
  • Lee, W. H., Pathanibul, P., Quarterman, J., Jo, J. H., Han, N. S., Miller, M. J., Jin, Y. S., and Seo, J. H. (2012) Whole cell biosynthesis of a functional oligosaccharide, 2'-fucosyllactose, using engineered Escherichia coli. Microbial cell factories 11, 48

Honors

  • 2009 NCSA faculty fellow, National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA)
  • 2013 Faculty Award for Excellence in Research, College of ACES, University of Illinois

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