Aditya Kunjapur
@kunjapur.bsky.social
Thomas Willing Early Career Assoc. Professor, U. Delaware | Otto Mønsted Visiting Professor, Denmark Technical University (Jun-Dec '25) | #Synbio with newer-to-nature building blocks |
Formerly @Texas @MIT @HMS
www.kunjapurlab.org
Formerly @Texas @MIT @HMS
www.kunjapurlab.org
I had an amazing time yesterday visiting @vdlorenzo.bsky.social and hearing about the many exciting projects underway in his lab. Our evening stroll through the heart of Madrid and dinner of tapas made for an unforgettable experience
November 5, 2025 at 5:34 PM
I had an amazing time yesterday visiting @vdlorenzo.bsky.social and hearing about the many exciting projects underway in his lab. Our evening stroll through the heart of Madrid and dinner of tapas made for an unforgettable experience
It's an honor to visit @vdlorenzo.bsky.social and colleagues at El Centro Nacional de Biotecnología in beautiful Madrid, España. Me alegra estar aquí
Glad to welcome @kunjapur.bsky.social to the @cnb-csic.bsky.social to enjoy his seminar on his latest research in Synthetic Biology!
November 4, 2025 at 8:09 AM
It's an honor to visit @vdlorenzo.bsky.social and colleagues at El Centro Nacional de Biotecnología in beautiful Madrid, España. Me alegra estar aquí
Interested in using microbes to degrade plastics?
We made the discovery that two breakdown products of PET, MHET and BHET, are readily taken up by E. coli cells
Our latest preprint exploits this surprise to realize improvements in cell-based upcycling
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We made the discovery that two breakdown products of PET, MHET and BHET, are readily taken up by E. coli cells
Our latest preprint exploits this surprise to realize improvements in cell-based upcycling
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Robust cellular transformations of PET deconstruction products by import of glycol esters
Efforts to transform polyethylene terephthalate (PET) deconstruction products using live cells have been limited by terephthalic acid (TPA) uptake. Here, we used an intracellular carboxylate reduction...
www.biorxiv.org
October 3, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Interested in using microbes to degrade plastics?
We made the discovery that two breakdown products of PET, MHET and BHET, are readily taken up by E. coli cells
Our latest preprint exploits this surprise to realize improvements in cell-based upcycling
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We made the discovery that two breakdown products of PET, MHET and BHET, are readily taken up by E. coli cells
Our latest preprint exploits this surprise to realize improvements in cell-based upcycling
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
My students have become very good at cloning. Now I can be in two continents at once this fall
August 13, 2025 at 12:58 PM
My students have become very good at cloning. Now I can be in two continents at once this fall
Reposted by Aditya Kunjapur
Excited to announce our new methods paper in Methods in Enzymology!
We share our pipeline for building high-diversity DNA libraries & exploring protein stability in E. coli.
Free access until Sept 4: authors.elsevier.com/a/1lRkeHRzCX...
Updated, companion preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We share our pipeline for building high-diversity DNA libraries & exploring protein stability in E. coli.
Free access until Sept 4: authors.elsevier.com/a/1lRkeHRzCX...
Updated, companion preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
authors.elsevier.com
July 17, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Excited to announce our new methods paper in Methods in Enzymology!
We share our pipeline for building high-diversity DNA libraries & exploring protein stability in E. coli.
Free access until Sept 4: authors.elsevier.com/a/1lRkeHRzCX...
Updated, companion preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We share our pipeline for building high-diversity DNA libraries & exploring protein stability in E. coli.
Free access until Sept 4: authors.elsevier.com/a/1lRkeHRzCX...
Updated, companion preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Exciting to see this collaborative work about modeling soil microbiomes from the Kuehn, Mani, and Tikhonov labs published today
Also delighted to have lead author Kiseok Lee start his postdoc in our lab
Check out the paper below!
Also delighted to have lead author Kiseok Lee start his postdoc in our lab
Check out the paper below!
Published in Nature today! Here, we sought to systematically ask how natural community's metabolism changes with the environment. A simple consumer-resource model can predict N-cycle metabolism (nitrate use) and, more importantly, the mechanism behind its change.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Functional regimes define soil microbiome response to environmental change - Nature
Experimental perturbation of soil pH leads to a generalizable model of the soil microcosm comprising three functional regimes with distinct mechanisms linking environmental change to metabolite dynami...
www.nature.com
July 17, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Exciting to see this collaborative work about modeling soil microbiomes from the Kuehn, Mani, and Tikhonov labs published today
Also delighted to have lead author Kiseok Lee start his postdoc in our lab
Check out the paper below!
Also delighted to have lead author Kiseok Lee start his postdoc in our lab
Check out the paper below!
Looking forward to the amazing program & making new connections at the 17th International Symposium on Biocatalysis and Biotransformations (Biotrans 2025) starting today in Basel
I'm honored to present our work on Tuesday at 15:15 in the non-canonical amino acids session
#biocatalysis
I'm honored to present our work on Tuesday at 15:15 in the non-canonical amino acids session
#biocatalysis
June 29, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Looking forward to the amazing program & making new connections at the 17th International Symposium on Biocatalysis and Biotransformations (Biotrans 2025) starting today in Basel
I'm honored to present our work on Tuesday at 15:15 in the non-canonical amino acids session
#biocatalysis
I'm honored to present our work on Tuesday at 15:15 in the non-canonical amino acids session
#biocatalysis
Reposted by Aditya Kunjapur
Wrapping up a fantastic #ME16 #Copenhagen — a success by all measures! Honored to co-chair the meeting w/I. Borodina, M. Chang, A. Mirończuk, C. Vickers, V. Šťovíček, Y. Zhou, M. Köpke & M. Herrgård & to work w/an outstanding team of colleagues, engaging communities & topics all around the world
June 22, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Wrapping up a fantastic #ME16 #Copenhagen — a success by all measures! Honored to co-chair the meeting w/I. Borodina, M. Chang, A. Mirończuk, C. Vickers, V. Šťovíček, Y. Zhou, M. Köpke & M. Herrgård & to work w/an outstanding team of colleagues, engaging communities & topics all around the world
Congrats on completing your PhD @kiseokmicro.bsky.social!
And welcome to our lab - very excited to work with you
And welcome to our lab - very excited to work with you
Graduation happened last week! So grateful for all the relationships I nurtured at uchicago. I will miss this place! Thank you Cathy for hooding me! Also, I am very excited to start postdoc tomorrow in Aditya Kunjapur @kunjapur.bsky.social lab in University of Delaware!
June 16, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Congrats on completing your PhD @kiseokmicro.bsky.social!
And welcome to our lab - very excited to work with you
And welcome to our lab - very excited to work with you
I'm enjoying the start of the International Metabolic Engineering 16 #ME16 meeting in Copenhagen this week
Thanks to the organizers for providing a chance to share our work
Thanks to my students for taking these pics
Looking forward to meeting other attendees
Thanks to the organizers for providing a chance to share our work
Thanks to my students for taking these pics
Looking forward to meeting other attendees
June 15, 2025 at 4:06 PM
I'm enjoying the start of the International Metabolic Engineering 16 #ME16 meeting in Copenhagen this week
Thanks to the organizers for providing a chance to share our work
Thanks to my students for taking these pics
Looking forward to meeting other attendees
Thanks to the organizers for providing a chance to share our work
Thanks to my students for taking these pics
Looking forward to meeting other attendees
Reposted by Aditya Kunjapur
Today in Nature we report a systematic strategy to activate & identify gene sets in plants. We identify 8 new genes from the yew tree's Taxol biosynthetic pathway, enabling us to engineer tobacco with 17- & 20-gene pathways to Taxol precursors baccatin III & deBz-deoxy-Taxol #SingleCell #secmet 🧬🧪🌾
Discovery of FoTO1 and Taxol genes enables biosynthesis of baccatin III - Nature
An approach that combines single-nucleus RNA sequencing and multiplexed perturbation identifies genes that enable the biosynthesis of direct precursors of the anti-cancer drug Taxol, whose curren...
www.nature.com
June 11, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Today in Nature we report a systematic strategy to activate & identify gene sets in plants. We identify 8 new genes from the yew tree's Taxol biosynthetic pathway, enabling us to engineer tobacco with 17- & 20-gene pathways to Taxol precursors baccatin III & deBz-deoxy-Taxol #SingleCell #secmet 🧬🧪🌾
It is a real honor and delight to be hosted by @pabnik.bsky.social at DTU Biosustain!
Looking forward to meeting folks & sharing info/ideas
Looking forward to meeting folks & sharing info/ideas
Happy to host @kunjapur.bsky.social as a sabbatical #professor at DTU Biosustain, supported by Otto Mønsteds Fond! We share a passion for using #SynBio to engineer #microbes with non-natural building blocks for advanced #biotechology. He’s in #Europe — drop a line to connect & discuss cool #Science!
June 9, 2025 at 10:27 AM
It is a real honor and delight to be hosted by @pabnik.bsky.social at DTU Biosustain!
Looking forward to meeting folks & sharing info/ideas
Looking forward to meeting folks & sharing info/ideas
Trump Has Cut Science Funding to Its Lowest Level in Decades www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
^ Useful info in this article about the level of funding of various NSF directorates/programs relative to the 10Y avg by this time of year
^ Useful info in this article about the level of funding of various NSF directorates/programs relative to the 10Y avg by this time of year
Trump Has Cut Science Funding to Its Lowest Level in Decades
The lag in funding extends far beyond D.E.I. initiatives, affecting almost every area of science: chemistry, computing, engineering, materials and more.
www.nytimes.com
May 25, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Trump Has Cut Science Funding to Its Lowest Level in Decades www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
^ Useful info in this article about the level of funding of various NSF directorates/programs relative to the 10Y avg by this time of year
^ Useful info in this article about the level of funding of various NSF directorates/programs relative to the 10Y avg by this time of year
With the state of US scientific funding it seems like an inappropriate time to celebrate anything
But in the last week thanks to years of dedication from my students we were recognized through the Roberta Colman and Gerard Mangone awards, & tenure. Thank you to those who made it possible (1/3)
But in the last week thanks to years of dedication from my students we were recognized through the Roberta Colman and Gerard Mangone awards, & tenure. Thank you to those who made it possible (1/3)
May 23, 2025 at 7:31 PM
With the state of US scientific funding it seems like an inappropriate time to celebrate anything
But in the last week thanks to years of dedication from my students we were recognized through the Roberta Colman and Gerard Mangone awards, & tenure. Thank you to those who made it possible (1/3)
But in the last week thanks to years of dedication from my students we were recognized through the Roberta Colman and Gerard Mangone awards, & tenure. Thank you to those who made it possible (1/3)
If you're curious how the first 5 amino acids of newly generated protein N-termini can affect protein stability in E. coli, then check out our latest preprint
We find new patterns of exceptions to the usual N-end rule
Kudos to Sunny Sen & co-authors
#synbio #protein_degradation
We find new patterns of exceptions to the usual N-end rule
Kudos to Sunny Sen & co-authors
#synbio #protein_degradation
Protein degradation in E. coli via N-terminal degradation signals (degrons) defined by the @kunjapur.bsky.social lab. @ispt-proteinterm.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Combinatorial mutagenesis of N-terminal sequences reveals unexpected and expanded stability determinants of the Escherichia coli N-degron pathway
Although it is known that penultimate N-terminal residues can influence protein stability by the N-degron pathway, there has not been a comprehensive effort to document nor predict these effects for n...
www.biorxiv.org
May 23, 2025 at 7:05 PM
If you're curious how the first 5 amino acids of newly generated protein N-termini can affect protein stability in E. coli, then check out our latest preprint
We find new patterns of exceptions to the usual N-end rule
Kudos to Sunny Sen & co-authors
#synbio #protein_degradation
We find new patterns of exceptions to the usual N-end rule
Kudos to Sunny Sen & co-authors
#synbio #protein_degradation
Reposted by Aditya Kunjapur
Protein degradation in E. coli via N-terminal degradation signals (degrons) defined by the @kunjapur.bsky.social lab. @ispt-proteinterm.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Combinatorial mutagenesis of N-terminal sequences reveals unexpected and expanded stability determinants of the Escherichia coli N-degron pathway
Although it is known that penultimate N-terminal residues can influence protein stability by the N-degron pathway, there has not been a comprehensive effort to document nor predict these effects for n...
www.biorxiv.org
May 23, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Protein degradation in E. coli via N-terminal degradation signals (degrons) defined by the @kunjapur.bsky.social lab. @ispt-proteinterm.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Aditya Kunjapur
🚨OUT NOW
Engineered orthogonal and obligate bacterial commensalism mediated by a non-standard amino acid by @kunjapur.bsky.social et al.
#MicroSky 🦠🔧
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Engineered orthogonal and obligate bacterial commensalism mediated by a non-standard amino acid by @kunjapur.bsky.social et al.
#MicroSky 🦠🔧
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Engineered orthogonal and obligate bacterial commensalism mediated by a non-standard amino acid - Nature Microbiology
A genetically engineered microbial symbiosis based on synthetic auxotrophy is created, with potential implications as a biocontainment strategy.
www.nature.com
May 6, 2025 at 12:34 PM
🚨OUT NOW
Engineered orthogonal and obligate bacterial commensalism mediated by a non-standard amino acid by @kunjapur.bsky.social et al.
#MicroSky 🦠🔧
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Engineered orthogonal and obligate bacterial commensalism mediated by a non-standard amino acid by @kunjapur.bsky.social et al.
#MicroSky 🦠🔧
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A more accurate statement than my original post:
It seems there may be few known pairs of microbial species, outside of obligate intracellular symbionts/parasites, where one relies exclusively on another.
Using a blend of synthetic and chemical biology, we designed such an interaction
It seems there may be few known pairs of microbial species, outside of obligate intracellular symbionts/parasites, where one relies exclusively on another.
Using a blend of synthetic and chemical biology, we designed such an interaction
It seems there are no free-living organisms known to rely exclusively on one other organism for their survival
Until perhaps now
Check out our latest publication in @natmicrobiol.nature.com to see how we designed an exclusive microbial reliance using GCE
rdcu.be/ekepI
1/2
Until perhaps now
Check out our latest publication in @natmicrobiol.nature.com to see how we designed an exclusive microbial reliance using GCE
rdcu.be/ekepI
1/2
Engineered orthogonal and obligate bacterial commensalism mediated by a non-standard amino acid
Nature Microbiology - A genetically engineered microbial symbiosis based on synthetic auxotrophy is created, with potential implications as a biocontainment strategy.
rdcu.be
May 1, 2025 at 2:27 PM
A more accurate statement than my original post:
It seems there may be few known pairs of microbial species, outside of obligate intracellular symbionts/parasites, where one relies exclusively on another.
Using a blend of synthetic and chemical biology, we designed such an interaction
It seems there may be few known pairs of microbial species, outside of obligate intracellular symbionts/parasites, where one relies exclusively on another.
Using a blend of synthetic and chemical biology, we designed such an interaction
It seems there are no free-living organisms known to rely exclusively on one other organism for their survival
Until perhaps now
Check out our latest publication in @natmicrobiol.nature.com to see how we designed an exclusive microbial reliance using GCE
rdcu.be/ekepI
1/2
Until perhaps now
Check out our latest publication in @natmicrobiol.nature.com to see how we designed an exclusive microbial reliance using GCE
rdcu.be/ekepI
1/2
Engineered orthogonal and obligate bacterial commensalism mediated by a non-standard amino acid
Nature Microbiology - A genetically engineered microbial symbiosis based on synthetic auxotrophy is created, with potential implications as a biocontainment strategy.
rdcu.be
May 1, 2025 at 10:30 AM
It seems there are no free-living organisms known to rely exclusively on one other organism for their survival
Until perhaps now
Check out our latest publication in @natmicrobiol.nature.com to see how we designed an exclusive microbial reliance using GCE
rdcu.be/ekepI
1/2
Until perhaps now
Check out our latest publication in @natmicrobiol.nature.com to see how we designed an exclusive microbial reliance using GCE
rdcu.be/ekepI
1/2
This move could singlehandedly dismantle American leadership in science and technology innovation.
It goes into effect on Monday. How will universities adjust their budgets to support critical ongoing research?
It goes into effect on Monday. How will universities adjust their budgets to support critical ongoing research?
6. The policy does not just affect funding going forward. All existing NIH grants will have their indirect rates cut to 15% as of today, the date of issuance.
For a large university, this creates a sudden and catastrophic shortfall of hundreds of millions of dollars against already budgeted funds.
For a large university, this creates a sudden and catastrophic shortfall of hundreds of millions of dollars against already budgeted funds.
February 8, 2025 at 1:52 AM
This move could singlehandedly dismantle American leadership in science and technology innovation.
It goes into effect on Monday. How will universities adjust their budgets to support critical ongoing research?
It goes into effect on Monday. How will universities adjust their budgets to support critical ongoing research?
See here for an exciting development in genome engineering for genetic code expansion and for understanding the pliability of components involved in protein translational termination - from the Isaacs Lab
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Engineering a genomically recoded organism with one stop codon - Nature
Ochre, a strain of Escherichia coli engineered to have a single stop codon, enables reassignment of four codons for non-degenerate functions, such as incorporation of non-standard amino acids into pro...
www.nature.com
February 7, 2025 at 3:00 PM
See here for an exciting development in genome engineering for genetic code expansion and for understanding the pliability of components involved in protein translational termination - from the Isaacs Lab
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Aditya Kunjapur
2025-01-12 Issue of #engineeredlivingmaterials feed
biomed.news/bims-enlima/...
h/t @biomednews.bsky.social
includes @kunjapur.bsky.social lab's preprint @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social on combined biosynthesis and site-specific incorporation of phenylalanine derivatives in engineered bacteria
biomed.news/bims-enlima/...
h/t @biomednews.bsky.social
includes @kunjapur.bsky.social lab's preprint @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social on combined biosynthesis and site-specific incorporation of phenylalanine derivatives in engineered bacteria
January 17, 2025 at 12:32 PM
2025-01-12 Issue of #engineeredlivingmaterials feed
biomed.news/bims-enlima/...
h/t @biomednews.bsky.social
includes @kunjapur.bsky.social lab's preprint @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social on combined biosynthesis and site-specific incorporation of phenylalanine derivatives in engineered bacteria
biomed.news/bims-enlima/...
h/t @biomednews.bsky.social
includes @kunjapur.bsky.social lab's preprint @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social on combined biosynthesis and site-specific incorporation of phenylalanine derivatives in engineered bacteria
Bill Bentley from Maryland kicks off our microbial communities session by discussing mediated electrochemical probing for mAbs and cells
#MASBN
#MASBN
January 10, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Bill Bentley from Maryland kicks off our microbial communities session by discussing mediated electrochemical probing for mAbs and cells
#MASBN
#MASBN
