Category: synthetic biology

High fidelity DNA synthesis and high fidelity DNA polymerase are the drivers of modern synthetic biology

May 17, 2024

DNA synthesis is at the heart of modern synthetic biology because it affords researchers the freedom to design their protein and implement it through specific gene sequence changes at the DNA level. To afford this level of fine control requires high fidelity DNA synthesis technologies and high fidelity DNA polymerase that enable long read high … More High fidelity DNA synthesis and high fidelity DNA polymerase are the drivers of modern synthetic biology

Recap of my research journey (2004 to present)

April 19, 2024

My research journey started in May 2004 with a UROP (Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme) project on biosorption of copper using local marine seaweed in Prof. Chen Jiaping’s lab at National University of Singapore. Currently, I am working on developing quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay and device for detecting Helicobacter pylori in stomach gastric samples. … More Recap of my research journey (2004 to present)

Enzymes with broad substrate specificity may still be useful in specific contexts despite leading to undesired biotransformations in biocatalysis and metabolic engineering

April 8, 2024

Biocatalysis and metabolic engineering is built upon pushing carbon flux down a predetermined pathway route to yield a product. This necessarily require the enlistment of enzymes able to perform each step of the metabolic pathway designed. Typically, enzymes enlisted for the task should have narrow substrate specificity to reduce the possibilities of undesired biotransformations generating … More Enzymes with broad substrate specificity may still be useful in specific contexts despite leading to undesired biotransformations in biocatalysis and metabolic engineering

Plasmid extraction is essential for retrieving the plasmid for downstream applications in qPCR or transformation to another microbial host

April 5, 2024

Plasmid is a small circular piece of chromosome important for delivering genes into a microbial host to effect genetic engineering, and to confer the microbe with new metabolic functions and properties. Typically, an assembled plasmid is transformed into Escherichia coli DH5α to replicate the plasmid to higher copy numbers. Essentially, the E. coli cell is … More Plasmid extraction is essential for retrieving the plasmid for downstream applications in qPCR or transformation to another microbial host

Yeast extract is a rich source of vitamins and growth factors for microbial culture

April 1, 2024

In the formulation of many microbial culture medium, it is inevitable to find yeast extract as a significant component of the complex medium. In simple terms, yeast extract is a rich source of vitamins and growth factors that enhance the microbiological medium, enabling it to culture more types of microbes, as well as take the … More Yeast extract is a rich source of vitamins and growth factors for microbial culture

The need for more investment in bioseparation research in support of metabolic engineering and biotechnology

March 16, 2024

Metabolic engineering research has seen tremendous growth over the past 25 years, and has realised the production of many drugs and fuel compounds at least at the lab scale level. It uses a carefully choreographed series of genetic manipulations to endow microbial chassis cells with new and improved metabolic capabilities in aid of product formation. … More The need for more investment in bioseparation research in support of metabolic engineering and biotechnology

Carbon-13 isotope labelling experiments can be implemented in two different ways to track the metabolic route in utilisation of a substrate

February 2, 2024

To show that metabolic flux flows along a designated path in heterologous metabolic engineering or to understand carbon flow within endogenous carbon metabolism, one needs a method for tracking carbon flow along particular pathways. The dominant approach for achieving this task is through carbon-13 isotope labelling. In this method, substrates with labelled carbon-13 atoms provided … More Carbon-13 isotope labelling experiments can be implemented in two different ways to track the metabolic route in utilisation of a substrate

Innovations in protein design led to low extension temperature DNA polymerase for qPCR applications

November 27, 2023

Most commercial quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) mastermix uses Taq polymerase which needs an extension temperature of 72 oC. However, extensive research and innovations in protein design have led to the development of a range of low extension temperature DNA polymerase which has extension temperature as low as 60 oC. This helps reduce the temperature … More Innovations in protein design led to low extension temperature DNA polymerase for qPCR applications

My current research project in clinical diagnostics

November 15, 2023

Since June 2021, I have been working on a small synthetic biology project, and a bigger clinical diagnostic project in Professor Lim Chwee Teck’s lab at Department of Biomedical Engineering at the National University of Singapore. The synthetic biology project was on using microfluidic chip to enhance bacterial transformation efficiency for uptake of plasmids in … More My current research project in clinical diagnostics

Efforts to build an ethylene glycol utilisation system in Bacillus subtilis

November 12, 2023

Escherichia coli is the common chassis for synthetic biology, but I chose Bacillus subtilis as my platform for building an ethylene glycol utilisation system. Similar to the ethanol utilisation pathway that I previously worked on, the ethylene glycol utilisation pathway is also a two-gene pathway that regenerates two NADH per turn of the pathway. To … More Efforts to build an ethylene glycol utilisation system in Bacillus subtilis