José L. Avalos
Assistant Professor
Chemical and Biological Engineering
Princeton University
United States of America
Biography
We engineer organisms with new desirable traits to address challenging problems in human health, sustainable energy, industry, and the environment. Our research interests span metabolic engineering, organelle engineering, synthetic biology, structural biology, and protein engineering. We take a two-pronged approach to our research. On one hand, we engineer cells forging established methods with new technologies developed in the lab. On the other, we address fundamental questions of protein structure and function, cellular physiology, and metabolism that either currently limit our capabilities in cellular engineering, or that offer opportunities for new technologies. These two facets of the lab complement and fuel each other, as technological developments give rise to new fundamental questions, and basic research opens avenues for new technologies.
Research Interest
Metabolic engineering, organelle engineering, synthetic biology, structural biology, and protein engineering
Publications
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Hoff, K., Avalos, JL., Sens, K. and Wolberger, C., 2006, Insights into the sirtuin mechanism from ternary complexes containing NAD+ and acetylated peptide, Structure, 8, 1231-40
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Tao X, Avalos JL, Chen J, MacKinnon R., 2009, Crystal structure of the eukaryotic strong inward-rectifier K+ channel Kir2.2 at 3.1 A resolution, Science, 5960, 1668-74
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Avalos JL, Fink GR, Stephanopoulos G,2013, Compartmentalization of metabolic pathways in yeast mitochondria improves the production of branched-chain alcohols, Nature Biotechnol,4, 335-41
