Zhang Lab team at SIFBI 📷 Photo Gallery →

"We engineer microbial cell factories to produce chemicals, fuels, and food ingredients — turning renewable feedstocks into high-value products through precision metabolic design and synthetic biology."

Zhang Lab · SIFBI, A*STAR

Recent updates

📣 Recruitment · Open
Synthetic biology · Metabolic engineering

We are hiring PhD students

  • Singapore citizens/PRs: apply via AGS.
  • International students: A*STAR has no direct PhD scholarship. Join as an ARAP/SRAP attachment student if already enrolled in a PhD overseas, or apply via NUS, NTU or SIT.
Join the Lab →
Publication
29 Jul 2026 · Review

New review: glycolaldehyde as a synthetic biology hub for sustainable biomanufacturing ↗

Simon and Dr. Seohyoung Kim's new review in Systems Microbiology and Biomanufacturing positions glycolaldehyde as a metabolic hub linking C1 feedstocks, lignocellulose, and plastic waste to central metabolism.

In the News
6 May 2026 · Nature Spotlight

📰 Featured in Nature: Engineering resilient food systems in a warming world ↗

Simon is featured in a Nature Spotlight on synthetic biology and food security, discussing the lab's work engineering microorganisms to produce flavours, fragrances, and antioxidants — and to reduce dependence on petroleum-derived chemicals.

Editorial Role
May 2026 · Submissions open

🧪 Guest Editor — Scientific Reports Collection on Next‑Generation Biomanufacturing ↗

Simon joins Dr. Hyun Gi Koh and Dr. Takuya Matsumoto as Guest Editor for a Scientific Reports (Nature Portfolio) Collection on Next‑Generation Biomanufacturing. Submissions open until 12 January 2027.

Editorial Role
2026 · Elsevier Special Issue

🥗 Guest Editor — Special Issue on Bio-based Production of Functional Food Ingredients (BPFFI) ↗

Simon is serving as Guest Editor for an Elsevier special issue on microbial and enzymatic synthesis of functional food ingredients — nutraceuticals, flavours, sweeteners, and bioactives produced via fermentation and biocatalysis.

Milestone
14 Apr 2026

🎓 Xiao Hui defends her PhD thesis

Many congratulations to Dr. LIM Xiao Hui on successfully defending her PhD — a hard-earned milestone, and a proud moment for the lab.

Publication
2026

New paper in ACS Synthetic Biology: AUCS control system ↗

We report a new arabinose-inducible univariant control system (AUCS) that enables precise, tunable expression for microbial production of proteins, enzymes, and metabolites.

Engineering Biology for Sustainable Production

Our lab focuses on designing and optimizing microbial cell factories through metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, and systems biology approaches.

Selected Research Figures

Tap a figure to enlarge · swipe to flip

Publications & Patents

A selection of recent peer-reviewed papers and granted/pending patents. For the complete record, visit the Google Scholar profile or the A*STAR researcher page.

2026
Kim S., Zhang C.
Systems Microbiology and Biomanufacturing
2025
Zhou Y, Zhang J, You S, Zhang C, Qi W.
Biotechnology Advances
2025
Zhang C, Wibowo M, Shukal S, Basri N, Thong A, Heng MY, Chen X, Kanagasundaram Y, Ang EL.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
2025
Congqiang Zhang, Xixian Chen, Heng-Phon Too
US-12378561-B2 · Granted Aug 2025 · A*STAR, Singapore
2025
Jian Ting Leonard Ong, Chin Chin Lim, Congqiang Simon Zhang, Sudha Devi D/O Manbahal Shukal, Xixian Chen, Rehka T
US-2025188479-A1 · Pending · published Jun 2025 · A*STAR, Singapore
2025
Congqiang Zhang, Xixian Chen, Sudha Devi D/O Manbahal Shukal, Nicola Yen Min (Chen Yuanming) Tan, Jian Ting Leonard Ong, Chin Chin Lim
US-2025154451-A1 · Pending · published May 2025 · A*STAR, Singapore
2024
Shukal S, Ong L, Rehka T, Chen X, Zhang C.
ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
2024
Lim X, Zhang C, Chen X.
Engineering Microbiology
2023
Tan N, Ong L, Shukal S, Chen X, Zhang C.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

Showing the 11 most recent items here. The full publication list and earlier work are on Google Scholar.

People

A multidisciplinary team of biologists, chemists, and engineers united by the goal of sustainable biomanufacturing.

Dr. ZHANG Congqiang (Simon)

ZHANG Congqiang (Simon) 张聪强

Principal Investigator

Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (SIFBI), A*STAR

Dr. Zhang Congqiang (Simon) leads synthetic biology research at A*STAR's SIFBI, where he engineers microbes into "cell factories" for sustainable chemicals, food and energy. An NUS-MIT PhD graduate with extensive publications and patents, Simon actively influences the biotech landscape through his leadership in the BioEnergy Society of Singapore and as an editor for prestigious journals including Nature Portfolio, Elsevier, and Wiley-VCH.

Senior Scientists

KS
Senior Scientist
LY
Senior Scientist
TN
Senior Scientist

Scientist

LX
Scientist
SS
Lead Research Officer

Current Students

OL
ONG Jian Ting (Leonard)
PhD Student
LA
LEE Alvin
Student
SH
SIAH Hayden
Student
ES
Erdy Sam
Student
JM
John Min
Student

Former Staff

Dr. HUANG Ching-Ning Dr. DWIJAYANTI Ari Nicola TAN ONG Jing Sen LIM Chin-Chin Amy YAP CHAU Yong Hui Tiffany

Former Students

Dr. ZHANG Xinyi 张昕怡 WAN Qing 万青 Dr. ZHOU Yu 周煜 HE Yihui 何轶慧 LI Yixin 李一鑫 Dr. Aurélie BOUIN ZHANG Ruixuan 张蕊暄 Misaki TSUCHIDA Ying Lin CHEE SEAH Wan Teng Christalle Ruoheng LIAO Prabhakar SAH Kai Ting NG Sam Yee NG Shutong LIU Martynas BALTUSIS Kezia Kanaya CLAIRINE Junxian LIU George GOH WANG Sihang 王思航 QIU Jiahao 邱嘉豪

🚀 Join us — we are recruiting

We welcome motivated PhD students and visiting researchers. Backgrounds we look for, scholarship pathways (AGS, ARAP, SRAP), example projects, and how to apply — all on one page.

Joining the Lab →

Research Collaborators

We are fortunate to work with outstanding scientists and groups across Singapore and around the world. Our collaborations span synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, enzymology, and bioprocess engineering.

Primary Collaborator

CX
Dr. CHEN Xixian Key Collaborator 🇸🇬

Principal Investigator & Long-term Research Partner

Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (SIFBI), A*STAR

Dr. Chen Xixian is a close and longstanding collaborator whose work on terpenoid and carotenoid biosynthesis has been central to many of our joint publications. Together, our groups have co-authored more than 15 papers spanning microbial cell factory design, synthetic pathway engineering, CRISPR-based genome editing, and bioprocess optimization.

Singapore
🇸🇬
Dr. JI Lianghui
Senior Scientist
🇸🇬
Prof. ZHOU Kang
Associate Professor
🇸🇬
Prof. LEONG Susanna
Professor
🇸🇬
Prof. WONG Adison
Associate Professor
🇸🇬
Prof. POH Chueh Loo
Associate Professor
France
🇫🇷
Dr. LAUTIER Thomas
Researcher
🇫🇷
Dr. ANDRÉ Isabelle
Research Director
🇫🇷
Prof. SOUCAILLE Philippe
Professor
Germany
🇩🇪
Prof. RÜHL Martin
Professor of Fungal Biotechnology
China
🇨🇳
Prof. LI Xun 李迅
Professor
🇨🇳
Prof. QI Wei 齐崴
Professor
🇨🇳
A/P YOU Shengping 尤生萍
Associate Professor

Tools & Resources

Free, open-source web tools built in the lab to support our own experimental work. They run entirely in your browser — no sequence data is uploaded or stored.

Protein Engineering

PrimerForge

Designs site-directed mutagenesis primers for whole-plasmid inverse PCR. Supports NNK and NDT degenerate codons for saturation mutagenesis, host-specific codon usage (E. coli, S. cerevisiae, P. pastoris), nearest-neighbour Tm calculation, and automatic detection of shared primers across variants at the same site to reduce synthesis cost.

Runs in-browser · No installation · MIT licensed

Get in Touch

We welcome inquiries from prospective collaborators, students, and the media.

Lab Information

Address Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (SIFBI)
31 Biopolis Way, Nanos, Singapore 138669
📣 Prospective Students We are actively recruiting PhD students and visiting researchers. See the Joining the Lab page → for backgrounds, scholarship pathways (AGS, ARAP, SRAP), and how to apply.
Office Hours By appointment. Response within 5 business days.