Jay D. Keasling

Professor; Philomathia Distinguished Chair in Alternative Energy

Dept of Bioengineering

Dept of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

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(510) 642-4862

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Research Bio

Jay Keasling is the Philomathia Distinguished Chair in Alternative Energy and a Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and of Bioengineering. The research in the Keasling Laboratory focuses on the metabolic engineering of microorganisms for the environmentally friendly synthesis of biofuels, commodity and specialty chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. To that end, they have developed a number of new genetic and mathematical tools to allow more precise and reproducible control of metabolism. These tools are being used in such applications as synthesis of biodegradable polymers, biofuels, flavors and fragrances, and pharmaceuticals.

Research Expertise and Interest

chemical engineering, biochemical engineering, metabolic engineering of microorganisms, environmentally friendly synthesis, biodegradable and recyclable polymers, production of biofuels and bioproducts, natural products

In the News

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Indigenous Knowledge Helps Biotech Find New Drugs.

Many drugs stem from Native-used plants, and a UC Berkeley student says they should share the benefits.

woman with sleeve rolled up being injected with a needle by a person in a white coat

An Adjuvant Made in Yeast Could Lower Vaccine Cost and Boost Availability

Biosynthesis in yeast produces a cheaper immune-boosting ingredient of many vaccines.

2024 Bakar Prize Recipients Target Skin Disease, Spintronics and Tree Bark

Five UC Berkeley faculty members have been awarded the 2024 Bakar Prize, which is designed to give a boost to campus innovators as they translate their discoveries into real-world solutions.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae, also known as brewer’s yeast, has been dyed blue to be seen under a microscope.

An Anti-Cancer Drug in Short Supply Can Now Be Made by Microbes

The supply of a plant-derived anti-cancer drug can finally meet global demand after a team of scientists from Denmark and the U.S. engineered yeast to produce the precursor molecules, which could previously only be obtained in trace concentrations in the native plant. A study describing the breakthrough was published today in Nature.

A “living treatment” may ease a severe skin disease

Netherton Syndrome is a rare, genetic skin disease that can be fatal to neonatal patients. It's caused by a mutation in a gene for an enzyme known as LEKTI. There is no cure. With support from the Bakar Fellows Program, bioengineer Jay Keasling aims to employ a harmless bacterium to deliver the LEKTI enzyme that Netherton children lack, restoring the natural cycle that assures healthy skin and giving them a chance for a normal life.

Scientists chart course toward a new world of synthetic biology

Genetically engineered trees that provide fire-resistant lumber for homes. Modified organs that won’t be rejected. Synthetic microbes that monitor your gut to detect invading disease organisms and kill them before you get sick. These are just some of the exciting advances likely to emerge from the 20-year-old field of engineering biology, or synthetic biology, which is now mature enough to provide solutions to a range of societal problems, according to a new roadmap released today (June 19) by the Engineering Biology Research Consortium, a public-private partnership partially funded by the National Science Foundation and centered at the University of California, Berkeley.

Yeast produce low-cost, high-quality cannabinoids

UC Berkeley synthetic biologists have engineered brewer’s yeast to produce marijuana’s main ingredients—mind-altering THC and non-psychoactive CBD—as well as novel cannabinoids not found in the plant itself.

American Academy of Arts and Sciences elects nine Berkeley faculty members

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences today announced the election of 213 new members, including nine UC Berkeley faculty members.

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Life-Saving Dividends for Synthetic Biology Research: Microbial-Based Antimalarial Drug Shipped to Africa

A project begun some 13 years ago by Jay Keasling, the Associate Laboratory Director for Biosciences at Berkeley Lab and the CEO of the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), was culminated with an announcement on August 12 from the partnership of Sanofi, the multinational pharmaceutical company, and PATH, the nonprofit global health organization.

black and white microscopic view of cells

Malaria milestone ‘took a village’

On April 25, World Malaria Day, the nonprofit Zagaya released a video Illustrating why, in the words of UC Berkeley synthetic biologist Jay Keasling, “it took a village” to create an accessible treatment for malaria that will be essential to eradicating the disease.

man sitting with 7 youths outside in grassy area

Launch of antimalarial drug a triumph for UC Berkeley, synthetic biology

Twelve years after a breakthrough discovery in his University of California, Berkeley, laboratory, professor of chemical engineering Jay Keasling is seeing his dream come true.

Campus poised to join Obama’s BRAIN initiative

Three UC Berkeley scientists were among a gathering of the nation’s top scientists at the White House this morning (Tuesday, April 2) as President Barack Obama announced a major national initiative to develop new tools to create real-time traffic maps of the human brain.

Jay Keasling: Using microbes to create the next generation of fuel

Jay Keasling, UC Berkeley chemical engineer and leader in the field of synthetic biology, is featured on CNN’s “The Next List” for his work on using microbes to create the next generation of fuel.

Pilot program to bolster biophysical sciences’ innovation pipeline

The new Bakar Fellows Program is designed to help early-career Berkeley faculty commercialize promising research discoveries.

technical illustration of a cell with a valve and valve meter, shapes moving through the cell

New synthetic biology technique boosts microbial production of diesel fuel

Joint BioEnergy Institute researchers have developed a dynamic system for regulating metabolic pathways

technical illustration of green circular orbs with changes in wave frequencies. Text reads "Modeling Environment", "Experimental Environment" and "Target Chemicals and Fuels".

CAD for RNA

Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) researchers have developed computer assisted design (CAD)-type tools for engineering RNA components to control genetic expression in microbes. This holds enormous potential for microbial-based production of advanced biofuels, biodegradable plastics, therapeutic drugs and a host of other goods now derived from petrochemicals.

Bacteria turn switchgrass into advanced biofuels

Jay Keasling and his colleagues at the Joint BioEnergy Institute have engineered bacteria to turn switchgrass – a hard to digest plant – into gasoline, diesel and jet fuels. This could vastly reduce the cost of producing plant-based fuels to replace fuels from oil and coal.

The Future of Metabolic Engineering – Designer Molecules, Cells and Microorganisms

Jay Keasling, a leading authority on metabolic engineering, envisions a future in which microorganisms are tailor-made to produce specific chemical products, such as biofuels and pharmaceuticals, from inexpensive and renewable starting materials. He has written a paper on the subject for the journal Science.

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NSF grant to launch world's first open-source genetic parts production facility

Bioengineers from the UC Berkeley and Stanford University are ramping up efforts to characterize the thousands of control elements critical to the engineering of microbes so that eventually, researchers can mix and match these "DNA parts" in synthetic organisms to produce new drugs, fuels or chemicals.

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