QnAs with Sang Yup Lee

Abstract

Sang Yup Lee tries to solve worldwide problems with some of Earth’s tiniest inhabitants: microorganisms. Lee, a systems metabolic engineer and dean and distinguished professor in the department of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, harnesses biotechnology to create microorganisms that perform desired tasks. Those tasks include producing useful compounds, such as biofuels, chemicals, polymers, and medicinal compounds, as well as degrading toxic chemicals. His group has developed microorganisms that can mass-produce gasoline, plastics, and spider silk protein stronger than steel. He has pioneered technologies to efficiently and inexpensively create such microfactories. Lee, elected as a foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences in 2017, recently spoke with PNAS about his career and the creation of a biosensor that may help produce natural compounds important for preventive medicine. Sang Yup Lee. Image courtesy of Sang Yup Lee. > PNAS:How did you enter this field, and what motivates your work? > Lee:I graduated from the department of chemical engineering, which focuses on making low-value raw materials into high-value materials. Back then, much of the work focused on the petrochemical process. But thanks to advances in biology and biotechnology, we were able to apply the approaches and strategies …