Lecture

Kyle J. Lauersen is an Assistant Professor at KAUST, and his primary research focuses on engineering algae to be green cell factories. In this lecture, he will talk about synthetic biotechnology and how it looks at the chemical value from nature and uses biological resources to create more sustainable solutions for everyday consumer products. A shared foundation of biochemical reactions connects all life. In this lecture, Kyle will describe how the universal components of life's biochemistry are used to create the diversity of smells and sights we associate with the natural world and how living organisms use their metabolism to connect with each other and their environments. Moreover, he will describe how synthetic biology looks to use biological commonalities to capture this chemical value from nature and use biological resources to create more sustainable solutions for everyday consumer products.

Dr. Kyle J. Lauersen is an Assistant Professor at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. His group focuses on Sustainable & Synthetic Biotechnology, with their main research focused on engineering algae to be green cell factories. Kyle did his doctorate at Bielefeld University in Germany, and his Master's as well as Undergrad at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.