James C. Liao (Chinese: 廖俊智) is the Parsons Foundation Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles[1][2] and is the co-founder and lead scientific advisor of Easel Biotechnologies, LLC.[3]
He is best known for his work in metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, and bioenergy. Liao has been recognized for the biosynthesis and production of higher alcohols such as isobutanol from sugars, cellulose, waste protein, or carbon dioxide.
Liao and his team are researching protein based biofuels which use proteins, rather than fats or carbohydrates, as a significant raw material for biorefining and biofuel production. The benefit of using protein is that the protein metabolism is much faster than fatty acid metabolism such as algae biofuels, which leads to higher production.[7]
Electrofuelsedit
Liao's lab recently participated in the US Department of Energy's Electrofuels program. They proposed converting solar energy into liquid fuels such as isobutanol.[8] A new bioreactor could store electricity as liquid fuel with the help of a genetically engineered microbes and carbon dioxide. The isobutanol produced would have an energy density close to gasoline.[9]
Non-oxidative glycolysisedit
Liao has also worked on the creation of a non-oxidative glycolysis pathway.[10] Natural metabolic pathways degrade sugars in an oxidative way that loses 1/3 of the carbon to CO2 in fermentation. The Liao laboratory has developed a pathway, called Non-oxidative glycolysis (NOG), that allows 100% carbon conservation in various fermentation processes.
Awards and honorsedit
Samson-Prime Minister's Prize for Innovation in Alternative Energy and Smart Mobility for Transportation, Israel, 2020
^Li, H.; Opgenorth, P. H.; Wernick, D. G.; Rogers, S.; Wu, T.-Y.; Higashide, W.; Malati, P.; Huo, Y.-X.; Cho, K. M.; Liao, J. C. (2012). "Integrated Electromicrobial Conversion of CO2 to Higher Alcohols". Science. 335 (6076): 1596. Bibcode:2012Sci...335.1596L. doi:10.1126/science.1217643. PMID 22461604. S2CID 24328552.
^"Final Report | Second-Generation Isobutanol Producing Biocatalyst | Research Project Database | Grantee Research Project | ORD | US EPA".
^Bogorad, Igor W.; Lin, Tzu-Shyang; Liao, James C. (2013). "Synthetic non-oxidative glycolysis enables complete carbon conservation". Nature. 502 (7473): 693–697. Bibcode:2013Natur.502..693B. doi:10.1038/nature12575. PMID 24077099. S2CID 4465336.
^Lin, Chia-nan (18 December 2019). "World science academy elects three Taiwanese". Taipei Times. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
^"James C Liao receives NAS Award for the Industrial Application of Science — UCLA Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering". Archived from the original on 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2014-09-23.
^"UCLA's James Liao receives Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award from EPA — UCLA Engineering". Archived from the original on 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2014-09-23.
^"Alpha Chi Sigma Award for Chemical Engineering Research". 2012-03-28.
^"BIOT Awards". Archived from the original on 2015-03-12. Retrieved 2014-09-23.
^"Professor James Liao receives 2009 Marvin J. Johnson Award — UCLA Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering". Archived from the original on 2010-07-11. Retrieved 2014-09-23.
^"Professor James Liao receives Merck Award — UCLA Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering". Archived from the original on 2010-07-14. Retrieved 2014-09-23.
^"Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Division Award in Chemical Engineering". 2012-03-28.