James C. Liao

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. He was named the president of Academia Sinica, Taiwan, in June 2016.[4]

James C. Liao
James C. Liao in 2016
NationalityTaiwanese
CitizenshipAmerican
Alma materNational Taiwan University,
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Scientific career
Fieldssynthetic biology
InstitutionsEastman Kodak,
Texas A&M University,
University of California, Los Angeles

Education and training

Liao holds both Taiwanese and American citizenship.[5] After receiving his bachelor's degree from National Taiwan University in 1980, Liao earned his doctor of philosophy from University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1987 under the guidance of Edwin N. Lightfoot, co-author of Transport Phenomena. He worked as a research scientist for Eastman Kodak from 1987 to 1989. In 1990, he joined the Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University as an assistant professor and three years later he became an associate professor. In 1997, Liao became a professor for the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at University of California, Los Angeles.

Research

Liao’s research[6] interests include biological synthesis of fuels and chemicals, carbon and nitrogen assimilation, metabolic engineering and synthetic biology, transcriptional and metabolic networks analysis, fatty acid metabolism.

Protein based biofuels

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]

Electrofuels

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 glycolysis

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

Personal

Liao is originally from Taiwan. He is married to Kelly Liao and has two daughters, Carol and Clara Liao.

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-10-22. Retrieved 2014-09-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "James C. Liao, Metabolic Engineering and Synthetic Biology Laboratory".
  3. "About | Easel Biotechnologies, LLC".
  4. Chung, Jake (4 June 2016). "Liao named Academia Sinica head". Taipei Times. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  5. Tsao, Edward; Wu, Lilian (7 June 2016). "New Academia Sinica head ready to deal with problems". Central News Agency. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  6. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Qi06GzQAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
  7. "Newsroom".
  8. 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. doi:10.1126/science.1217643.
  9. "Final Report | Second-Generation Isobutanol Producing Biocatalyst | Research Project Database | Grantee Research Project | ORD | US EPA".
  10. 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.
  11. Lin, Chia-nan (18 December 2019). "World science academy elects three Taiwanese". Taipei Times. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  12. "James Liao".
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2014-09-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. "Professor James C. Liao".
  15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2014-09-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. "Eni: Impresa dell'energia". 2017-01-12.
  17. http://www.whitehouse.gov/champions/innovators-in-renewable-energy/james-liao
  18. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2014-09-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  19. "James E. Bailey Award". 2012-06-07.
  20. "Alpha Chi Sigma Award for Chemical Engineering Research". 2012-03-28.
  21. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-03-12. Retrieved 2014-09-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  22. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-07-11. Retrieved 2014-09-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  23. http://www.simbhq.org/docs/PastAwardees2013.pdf
  24. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-07-14. Retrieved 2014-09-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  25. "Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Division Award in Chemical Engineering". 2012-03-28.
  26. "James C. Liao, Ph.D. COF-0579 - AIMBE".
  27. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-11-27. Retrieved 2014-09-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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