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Huimin Zhao Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Biophysics Ph.D. 1998, California Institute of Technology Directed Evolution of Enzymes and Pathways, Proteomics Huimin Zhao 215 RAL, Box C-3, MC-712 600 S. Mathews Urbana, IL 61801 217-333-2631 zhao5@uiuc.edu

Research in my group focuses on the development and applications of directed evolution technologies to engineering new proteins/enzymes, pathways and genomes. Directed evolution mimics the Darwinian evolutionary processes, mutation/recombination and screening/selection in the test tube, allowing for rapid and direct isolation of biomolecules based on their functional properties. The goal of my research is to develop genetically based bioproducts/bioprocesses for pharmaceutical, agricultural and industrial chemical applications and to understand their biochemical and biophysical mechanisms at the molecular level. A first focus is directed evolution of proteins. We are applying various directed evolution methods to engineer several practically important proteins or enzymes including haloalkane dehalogenase, antifreeze proteins, human estrogen receptor, human major histocompatibility complex molecules and human manganese superoxide dismutase. A second focus is directed evolution of biosynthetic pathways. Biosynthetic pathways have been widely used in the production of natural products that make up as much as 40% of the drugs in current use. We are developing new genetic engineering methods for efficient generation of novel natural products.