News & Updates

Lab announcements, publications, recruitment notices, milestones, and lab-life moments — newest first.

📣 Recruitment · Open
Ongoing · Apply now

We are hiring PhD students

Interested in synthetic biology and metabolic engineering of microbial cell factories? Read about backgrounds we look for, scholarship pathways (AGS, ARAP, SRAP), and how to apply.

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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.

Lab Life
2–4 Apr 2026

🎢 Team bonding at LEGOLAND Malaysia

The whole group spent three days at LEGOLAND in Johor Bahru — rides, building competitions, and a chance to recharge together away from the bench.

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.

Research Highlight
2024 · A*STAR Research

Sniffing out scalable solutions for aromatic compounds ↗

Our work on engineering E. coli to produce rose-scent monoterpenes geraniol and geranyl acetate at high titer using innovative microaerobic bioprocesses.

Research Highlight
2023 · A*STAR Research

Mushroom blueprint scores biotech breakthroughs ↗

Structural elucidation of fungal terpene synthases opens new avenues for engineering linalool and nerolidol biosynthesis through rational enzyme design.

Research Highlight
2023 · A*STAR Research

Manufacturing nature's sweet smells ↗

High-yield microbial production of trans-nerolidol — a fragrance ingredient widely used in food and cosmetics — achieved from simple sugar and glycerol feedstocks.

Research Highlight
2021 · A*STAR Research

Bacteria turn nature's rainbow into therapeutics ↗

Engineering E. coli to biosynthesize glycosylated carotenoids including zeaxanthin and astaxanthin glucosides with potential nutraceutical and therapeutic applications.