The Cirino Group at Penn State
Front two: ShuangYan Tang and Patrick Cirino
Behind, from left to right: Jonathan Chin, Lexan Lhu, Hossein Fazelinia, Bolaji Akinterinwa, Chris Frei, Reza Khankal
Research in my laboratory interfaces Chemical Engineering with the biological sciences, with emphases in biomolecular engineering, metabolic engineering, and biocatalysis. Nature provides a vast collection of biological systems which have evolved mechanisms to achieve catalysis, regulation, molecular recognition, and energy utilization with incredible efficiency. Our ability to successfully re-design and harness these elegant systems is integral to realizing a future of cost-effective "green" chemistry and renewable fuels, bioremediation, and "next-generation" therapeutics. We apply biological design principles at the molecular level (e.g., engineer proteins) as well as the systems level (e.g., engineer metabolic pathways) to achieve our goals.