Bo Wang

Bo Wang posed and smiling, wearing a blue polo and glasses.
Assistant Professor
[email protected]
208 Kaufert Lab

2004 Folwell Ave
St. Paul, MN 55108
United States

Bo Wang's Google Scholar
Education
  • B.E., Tsinghua University
  • M.E., Tsinghua University 
  • PhD, Arizona State University

 

Areas of Interest

Metabolic Engineering, Synthetic Biology, Biomanufacturing, Renewable Energy

Biography

Bo Wang received his B.E. and M.E. degrees in Chemical Engineering from Tsinghua University and earned his PhD degree in Biological Design from Arizona State University. Prior to joining the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow and research scientist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and as a research assistant professor at Vanderbilt University. Bo has extensive experience in microbial metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, metabolomics, and metabolic flux analysis. 

Teaching

  • BBE 3012 Trans in Biological Process
  • BBE 4713 Biological Process Engineering

Research

Bo's current research focuses on understanding and engineering the metabolism of microbial cells for biomanufacturing of bioproducts from renewable resources, such as sugar, CO2 and light.

Select Publications

1.    Bo Wang, Cristal Zuniga, Karsten Zengler, Michael Betenbaugh, Jamey D. Young*. Metabolic engineering of Synechococcus elongatus 7942 for enhanced sucrose biosynthesis. Metabolic Engineering 2023. 80, 12-24. (IF=8.4)
2.    Bo Wang, Jamey D. Young*. 13C-Isotope-assisted assessment of metabolic quenching during sample collection from suspension cell cultures. Analytical Chemistry 2022, 94, 7787−7794. (IF=8.0)
3.    Bo Wang*, Yao Xu, Xin Wang, Joshua Yuan, Carl Johnson, Jamey Young, Jianping Yu*. A guanidine-degrading enzyme controls genomic stability of ethylene-producing cyanobacteria. Nature Communications 2021, 12: 5150. (IF=14.9) 
4.    Bo Wang*, Jamey.D. Young, Yao Xu*. Reprogramming metabolic networks and manipulating circadian clocks for biotechnological applications. In book Circadian Rhythms in Bacteria and Microbiomes (edited by Carl H. Johnson & Michael Rust), p259 – 296. Publisher: Springer Nature, Cham. 2021.
5.    Bo Wang, Tao Dong, Aldon Myrlie, Liping Gu, Wei Xiong, PinChing Maness, Ruanbao Zhou, Jianping Yu*. Photosynthetic production of nitrogen-rich compound guanidine. Green Chemistry 2019, 21:2928-2937. (IF=10.2)
6.    Bo Wang#*, Wei Xiong#, Jianping Yu, Pin-Ching Maness, Deirdre R. Meldrum*. Unlocking the photobiological conversion of CO2 to (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate in cyanobacteria. Green Chemistry 2018, 20:3772-3782. (IF=10.2)
7.    Bo Wang, Carrie Eckert, Pin-Ching Maness, Jianping Yu*. A genetic toolbox for modulating the expression of heterologous genes in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. ACS Synthetic Biology 2018, 7:276-286. (IF=5.1)
8.    Bo Wang, Jianping Yu, Weiwen Zhang*, Deirdre R. Meldrum*. Pre-methylation of foreign DNA improves integrative transformation efficiency in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 2015, 81:8500-8506. (IF=4.1)
9.    Bo Wang, Shawn Pugh, David R. Nielsen, Weiwen Zhang*, Deirdre R. Meldrum*. Engineering cyanobacteria for photosynthetic production of 3-hydroxybutyrate directly from CO2. Metabolic Engineering 2013, 16:68-77. (IF=8.3)
10.    Bo Wang*, Jiangxin Wang, Weiwen Zhang, Deirdre R. Meldrum*. Application of synthetic biology in cyanobacteria and algae. Frontiers in Microbiology 2012, 3:344. (IF=4.3)

Honors and Awards

  • aPS2 Conference 2024 Department of Energy Travel Award (2024)
  • NREL Key Contributor Award (2018)
  • NREL Director’s Award (2016)
  • R&D 100 Award – NREL’s Cyanobacterial Bioethylene (Member of the Development Team, 2015)
  • Travel Grant from the ASU Graduate and Professional Student Association (2014)
  • Travel Fund from the Biological Design Graduate Program at Arizona State University (2014)
  • Travel Grant from the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University (2012)

Patents

1.    Bo Wang, Weiwen Zhang, Deirdre Meldrum. Premethylation of DNA for high efficiency transformation of cyanobacteria. Patent No.: US 10, 378,019 B2. Aug. 13, 2019.
2.    Bo Wang, Weiwen Zhang, Deirdre R. Meldrum, David R. Nielsen. Photosynthetic production of 3-hydroxybutyrate from carbon dioxide. Patent No.: US 9,944,955 B1. Apr. 17, 2018. 
3.    Jianping Yu, Bo Wang, Troy Paddock, Damian Carrieri, Pin-Ching Maness, Michael Seibert. Biological production of organic compounds. Patent No.: US 9,914,947 B2. Mar. 13, 2018.