Joshua Yuan is a scientist and engineer in sustainable technology development. He is the chair and the Lucy & Stanley Lopata Professor in the Department of Energy, Environmental, and Chemical Engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. Previously, he was a faculty member at Texas A&M University since 2008, served as the director for the Synthetic and Systems Biology Innovation Hub since 2015, and was appointed as the chair for Synthetic Biology and Renewable Products in 2018.[1]
Joshua Yuan | |
|---|---|
| Academic background | |
| Education | BSc, biology, 1997, Fudan University MSc, plant sciences, 2001, University of Arizona PhD, plants, insects, and soils with focus on functional genomics, 2007, University of Tennessee |
| Thesis | Investigating the molecular basis of volatile-mediated plant indirect defense against herbivorous insects using functional and comparative genomics (2007) |
| Academic work | |
| Institutions | Washington University in St. Louis Texas A&M University |
Early life and education
editYuan completed his Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Fudan University in 1997 before moving to the United States for his graduate degrees. He then completed his Master of Science degree in plant sciences from the University of Arizona in 2001 and his PhD in plants, insects, and soils with a focus on functional genomics from the University of Tennessee in 2007.[2] Yuan minored in international economics for his undergraduate study and statistics in his PhD study.
Career
editYuan's PhD thesis was co-advised by Dr. Feng Chen and Dr. C. Neal Stewart, focusing on plant secondary metabolites known as terpenes. He has shown broad interest in research even as a PhD student, where he developed a set of broadly applied statistical methods for QPCR analysis.[3] Upon completing his PhD, Yuan was supported by the SunGrant Fellowship to be trained by the National Renewable Energy Lab and the University of Tennessee for biomass processing and characterization. Yuan became an assistant professor at Texas A&M University from 2008 to 2013.[2] In this role, he began to develop new technologies for sustainability, renewable fuels and materials.[4]
In 2012, he led a team of scientists and engineers to develop new routes and synthetic organelles for diverting photosynthesis carbon to squalene, a terpene product.[5] The technologies were later licensed and commercialized by SynShark LLC.[6] He later continued to engineer cyanobacteria, known as blue algae, to produce another terpene, limonene.[7] The work eventually led to developing a type of algae that can auto-sediment, allowing the low-cost harvest. He combined this harvesting technology with artificial intelligence to set a new world record for producing algae as a reliable, economic source for biofuel and bioproduct.[8] The work also empowers algae to be better used for carbon capture and utilization.[9] Recently, he co-developed with Dr. Susie Dai a technology to integrate electrocatalysis and microorganism conversion to produce bioplastics from carbon dioxide, at a much higher efficiency than natural photosynthesis routes.[10]
Furthermore, his laboratory pursued a decade-long effort to define the structure-function relationship of lignin chemistry and its processing and products.[11] In 2013, his laboratory then began using the microorganisms in the Rhodococcus genus in order to turn lignin into lipids, or fats, which can be used to produce biodiesel.[12] Yuan later focused on converting lignin to plastics while also developing procedures to fractionate lignin for bioconversion.[13] The work eventually led to the development of new biorefinery procedures to use both carbohydrate and lignin efficiently, and lower the bioplastics cost from lignin.[14] Yuan's team also revealed that lignin chemical features such as molecular weight, uniformity, linkage, and functional groups could all impact lignin carbon fiber properties.[15] The discoveries eventually guide the design of a new type of lignin to substantially improve carbon fiber properties and enable new plastic applications.[16] As a result of his pioneering efforts of lignin conversion and photosynthetic hydrocarbon production, Yuan was recognized with a 2017 Innovation Award from Texas A&M Technology Commercialization.[17]
In 2022, Yuan left Texas A&M to become chair of the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis.[18] Later that year, he co-developed a novel bioremediation technology for cleaning up per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances chemical pollutants.[19] Yuan became a fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry in 2022.
References
edit- ^ "Yuan appointed Chair of Synthetic Biology and Renewable Products, and directs the Synthetic and Systems Biology Innovation Hub at Texas A&M". Texas A&M University. October 9, 2018. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
- ^ a b "Joshua S. Yuan". Washington University in St. Louis. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
- ^ Yuan, Joshua S.; Reed, Ann; Chen, Feng; Stewart, C Neal (February 20, 2006). "Statistical analysis of real-time PCR data". BMC Bioinformatics. 7. Biomedical Central: 85. doi:10.1186/1471-2105-7-85. PMC 1395339. PMID 16504059.
- ^ Phillips, Kathleen (May 23, 2017). "Researchers Use Waste Lignin to Make Carbon Fiber". Biomass Magazine. p. 3. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ^ "Fuel from Tobacco and Arundo donax". The U.S. Department of Energy. September 26, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ^ "NC Farmers Hope to Save Sharks With Tobacco". WBTV. July 29, 2015. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ^ Wang, Xin; Liu, Wei; Xin, Changpeng; Zheng, Yi; Cheng, Yanbing; Sun, Su; Li, Runze; Zhu, Xin-Guang; Dai, Susie Y.; Rentzepis, Peter M.; Yuan, Joshua S. (November 3, 2016). "Enhanced limonene production in cyanobacteria reveals photosynthesis limitations". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 113 (50). Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences U.S.A.: 14225–14230. Bibcode:2016PNAS..11314225W. doi:10.1073/pnas.1613340113. PMC 5167140. PMID 27911807.
- ^ "Artificial intelligence predicts algae potential as alternative energy source". Science Daily. March 4, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ^ "Department of Energy Invests $8 Million for Projects to Develop Algae-Based Technologies to Capture Carbon Dioxide for Use in Products". Science Daily. June 23, 2021. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ^ "System to create bioplastics". Science Daily. September 9, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ^ "Modified lignin creates improved carbon fiber". Materials Today. August 30, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ^ "Texas A&M AgriLife Research gets grant to crack biofuel production waste issue". Texas A&M University. January 10, 2013. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
- ^ Fannin, Blair (February 25, 2019). "Research uncovers potential sustainable refining method for lignin". Texas A&M University. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
- ^ Fannin, Blair (June 29, 2021). "'Plugging In' To Produce Environmentally Friendly Bioplastics". Texas A&M University. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ^ "Mountains of waste could lead to new US manufacturing, jobs". Science Daily. March 15, 2017. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ^ "By Design From Waste to next generation carbon fiber". The Source Washington University in St. Louis. August 18, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ^ "Two Texas A&M Faculty-Members Receive Innovation Awards". Texas A&M University. May 5, 2017. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
- ^ Miller, Beth (March 23, 2022). "Yuan named chair of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering". Washington University in St. Louis. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
- ^ "Texas A&M AgriLife develops new bioremediation material to clean up 'forever chemicals'". Texas A&M University. July 28, 2022. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
External links
edit- Joshua Yuan publications indexed by Google Scholar