Keasling Lab 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Peter and Graham discovered that GuUGT73F15, an enzyme from licorice plants, catalyzes C3 β-O-glycosylation reactions with a remarkably wide range of triterpenes/sterols and UDP-sugars. This method can be used to synthesize libraries of saponins as candidates for improved drugs.

Check out our latest research in @J_A_C_S from postdoctoral fellows Dr. @PeterWinegar and Dr. Graham Hudson, where they built a versatile synthetic method to diversify saponins! [1/2] doi.org/10.1021/jacs.6… #Biocatalysis #SyntheticBiology #NaturalProducts #ChemBio #Glycoscience

Excited to share our latest publication in @NatureComms! We developed a PKS-based platform for the controlled biosynthesis of high-energy fuel molecules with tunable cyclopropanation patterns. Congratulations to Dr. Kevin Yin for leading this work! nature.com/articles/s4146…

Happy to share our new paper out in #MetabolicEngineering! We developed a strategy to tie redox activity to the growth rate of E. coli. Growth coupling enables enrichment of high-activity variants from large mutagenesis libraries for protein engineering. sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

@SynBio1 🥖🥖🥖 when the yeast is making monoterpenes 🌹🌷🌿🌱🌼🌲🌴

When you work in a yeast lab and you pause a moment to enjoy the aromas of the yeast

Each year, the Keasling Lab gathers in Lake Tahoe to reflect on our progress, share goals, and think collectively about where our science can have the greatest societal impact. Proud of what we accomplished together—thank you to everyone who makes this work possible!

We are proud to have trained many generations of scientists, educators, founders, policymakers, and more! Happy Holidays from the Keasling Lab--with a record of attendees! 🎉 May 2026 be full of scientific achievements, education, and social impact. 🧬🌎 🧐: Can you find Jay?

Our latest manuscript, led by @PeterWinegar et al., highlights key advances in microbial terpenoid biosynthesis and how emerging technologies will drive the next generation of designed, new-to-nature molecules. Read it now: sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Our lab's new paper is out! We introduce ENTRAP-seq, a high-throughput in planta assay for multiplexed profiling of protein-coding libraries. Using ENTRAP-seq and machine learning, we discovered transcriptional regulators from ~1,500 plant viral genomes. go.nature.com/4pw5cL1

Excited to share the work of our PhD candidate, Leah Keiser. Leah engineered polyketide synthases (PKSs) to control stereochemistry. Her work provides insights into the biosynthesis of complex molecules with tunable stereocenters 👩‍🔬🧪Check it out: pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.10…

We're excited to share FolDE, a low-N protein optimization method. In simulation, we found that FolDE is 55% more likely to identify top-1% hits than current baseline methods. FolDE is open and can be set up on a personal computer with a single command. arxiv.org/abs/2510.24053

This work was led by @jacoberts in collaboration with @beneysenbach and @cathyji. It would not have been possible without funding from the United States federal government, via the NIH, NSF, DOE, and AFOSR.

This method is now built into Foldy, our lab's open-source protein engineering platform. Other updates: Foldy uses Boltz-2x for structure prediction, runs ESM family models, and is deployable with a single command. Setup instructions: github.com/JBEI/foldy

Cowan and his team achieved over 3 g/L of mevalonate from formate, demonstrating bioproduction through the electrical reduction of CO2 or by lignin depolymerization. Decarbonizing manufacturing is within reach! Read more here: nature.com/articles/s4146… (2/2)

We're thrilled to share the work by our very own PhD candidate, Aidan Cowan, on high-titer bioproduction from renewable C1 feedstocks in engineered bacteria. This work is fundamental for a sustainable bioeconomy. Read more here, live on @NatureComms (1/2): nature.com/articles/s4146…