Shuang-yan Tang

Biography

Education: Ph.D. 2006 Food Science, Seoul National University M.S. 1998 Biochemistry, Wuhan University B.S. 1995 Biochemistry, Wuhan University Employment: 2011-present  Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor 2006-2010    The Pennsylvania State University, Postdoctoral researcher 1998-2003    Yunnan Provincial Institute for Drug Control

Research Interest

1. Carbohydrate enzymes engineering  We are engineering microbial enzymes for novel or improved properties using combinatorial (evolutionary) as well as rational (structure-based) protein design techniques. We are especially interested in carbohydrate enzymes such as glycosidase and glycosyltransferase. The substrate or product specificity, catalytic activity and stability of these enzymes are engineered for extensive application.  2. Biosynthesis of high value small molecules  We are engineering the biosynthesis pathways of small molecules including pharmaceuticals, food additives and other commodity chemicals in E. coli. We aim at efficiently converting renewable and abundant natural resources into higher value products using microbes (especially E. coli). Combinatorial (evolutionary) techniques are mainly used to engineer the biosynthesis pathways to improve the product yields or pathway efficiencies.