We do research in the fields of synthetic biology and systems biology. Particularly, our lab is focusing on i) the development of novel synthetic biology tools, ii) redesigning biological systems for the production of chemicals, fuels, pharmaceuticals, and therapeutics, for environmental bio-remediation, and for the biomedical applications, and iii) elucidation of complex regulatory networks in biological systems by using next-generation sequencing (NGS) based multi-omics analyses. Several microorganisms such as E. coli (including Nissle 1917), Vibrio natriegens, Corynebacterium glutamicum, Methanotrophs, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Yarrowia lipolytica, and Pichia pastoris are used as host systems. Learn more

We are located at the School of Chemical and Biological Engineering in Seoul National University, Korea

RECENT NEWS AND PRESS 

JAN 2025

Our recent work on engineering Yarrowia lipolytica for the production of beta-carotene has been published in Journal of Biological Engineering [Ariticle]. Congrats to Hojun!

Our recent work on developing synthetic translational coupling system for polycistronic gene expression in bacteria has been published in Metabolic Engineering [Article]. Congrats to Yong Hee and Hyeon Jin!

DEC 2024

Our recent work on developing a dynamic plasmid copy number control system has been published in Journal of Biological Engineering [Article]. Congrats to Geunyung!

NOV 2024

Prof. Seo participated in the Grand Quest 2025 with a topic titled 'Microbial Cell Factories for the Production of Plastics Using Greenhouse Gases.'  [Link]

Prof. Seo received a certificate of commendation from the Minister of Science and ICT for meritorious contributions to the advancement of biotechnology. [Link]

Our recent work on engineering Vibrio sp. dhg to consume raffinose has been published in Metabolic Engineering [Article]. Congrats to Yong Hee!

SEP 2024

Giho won the poster presentation award at 2024 KSBB Fall Meeting! Congrats Giho!

Our recent work on engineering E. coli W to consume sugarcane molasses faster has been published in Microbial Cell Factories [Article]. Congrats to Gi Yeon!

Dr. Yong Hee Han was appointed as an Assistant Professor @ Biological Science and Technology, Chonnam National University. Congrats! [Link]

Jimin Song, Min Ha Kim, and Junhee Jang join our lab as graduate students. Welcome Jimin, Min Ha, and Junhee!

JULY 2024

Prof. Seo gave a talk at the 2024 SNU-HU Joint Symposium (Sapporo, Japan).

Prof. Seo gave a keynote talk at the 2024 European Congress on Biotechnology (ECB) (Amsterdam, Netherlands) [LinkedIn].

JUNE 2024

Our recent work on developing a translation-level tunable CRISPRi system has been published in Nature Communications [Article][Press-KOR]. Congrats to Giho!

Our recent work on engineering Vibrio natriegens for the conversion of brown macroalgae into isopentenol has been published in Bioresource Technology [Article]. Congrats to Yungyu!

Prof. Seo gave a talk at the 2024 Synthetic Biology: Engineering, Evolution & Design (SEED) (Atlanta, USA) [LinkedIn].

APR 2024

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at the 2024 Korean Institute of Chemical Engineers (KIChE) Spring Meeting (Jeju, Korea).

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at the 2024 Korean Society for Biotechnology and Bioengineering (KSBB) Spring Meeting (Changwon, Korea).

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at the 2024 SynCell Asia workshop (Shenzhen, China).

FEB 2024

Congratulations to Yong Hee on receiving a PhD!

OCT 2023

Giho won the oral presentation award at 2023 KSBB Fall Meeting! Congrats Giho!

JUNE 2023

Yong Hee won the Daesang poster presentation award at 2023 KMB Annual Meeting! Congrats Yong Hee!

MAY 2023

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, UC Riverside (Riverside, USA) (Host: Prof. Ian Wheeldon and Prof. Robert Jinkerson) [LinkedIn]

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at Biological Design Center, Boston University (Boston, USA) (Host: Prof. Ahmad (Mo) Khalil and Dr. Joshua Finkelstein) [LinkedIn]

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at the Department of Chemical Engineering, MIT (Cambridge, USA) (Host: Prof. Kristala Prather) [LinkedIn]

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Tufts University (Medford, USA) (Host: Prof. Nik Nair) [LinkedIn]

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, UC Irvine (Irvine, USA) (Host: Prof. Nancy Da Silva) [LinkedIn]

APR 2023

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, UCLA (Los Angeles, USA) (Host: Prof. Jun Park) [LinkedIn]

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, USA) (Host: Prof. Julie Champion) [LinkedIn]

Our recent work on the development of tunable CRISPRi system in E. coli has been published in Nucleic Acids Research [Article][Press-KOR]. Congrats to Gibyuck!

MAR 2023

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at the Institute of Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Urbana, USA) (Host: Prof. Huimin Zhao) [LinkedIn]

Our recent work on the characterization of the newly isolated Rhodotorula toruloides LAB-07 for cosmetic applications has been published in Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal [Article]. Congrats to Junyeob! 

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware (Newark, USA) (Host: Prof. Mark Blenner) [LinkedIn]

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at the Princeton Bioengineering Initiative (PBI), Princeton University (Princeton, USA) (Host: Prof. Jose Avalos) [LinkedIn]

Our recent review on synthetic biology tools for engineering Corynebacterium glutamicum has been published in Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal [Article]. Congrats to Gi Yeon and Jinyoung! 

Hyeonwoo Mun, Junsu Jang, Chanju Kang, HoJoon Kim, and Yoo Jeong Kang join our lab as graduate students. Welcome Hyeonwoo, Junsu, Chanju, HoJoon, and Yoo Jeong!

Feb 2023

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at the Department of Bioengineering, Rice University (Houston, USA) (Host: Prof. Jeff Tabor) [LinkedIn]

Our recent review on programmable synthetic biology tools for developing microbial cell factories has been published in Current Opinion in Biotechnology [Article]. Congrats to Yong Hee and Giho! 

Jan 2023

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark (Lyngby, Denmark) (Host: Dr. Michael Krogh Jensen) [LinkedIn]

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at Center for Synthetic Biology, Imperial College of London (London, UK) (Host: Dr. Rodrigo Ledesma-Amaro) [LinkedIn]

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Cambridge (Cambridge, UK) (Host: Prof. Lisa Hall) [LinkedIn]

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at Center for Synthetic Biology, University of Washington (Seattle, USA) (Host: Prof. James Carothers) [LinkedIn].

Dec 2022

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at 2022 YABEC conference (Online).

Nov 2022

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at 2022 AIChE conference (Phoenix, USA).

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, Arizona State University (Tempe, USA) (Host: Prof. Xiaojun Tian).

SEP 2022

Prof. Seo works at UC San Diego as a visiting professor for a research sabbatical leave (until July 2023).

Seongjun joins our lab as a graduate student. Welcome Seongjun!

MAR 2022

Dr. Jeongchan Lee (a KIURI postdoc @ Bio-MAX) works with our lab for dye production. Welcome Dr. Lee!

Keonwoo Kim, Dawon Seo, and Hyeon Jin Kim join our lab as graduate students. Welcome Keonwoo, Dawon, and Hyeon Jin!

Nov 2021

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at 2021 YABEC conference (Online).

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at 2021 AFOB Virtual Conference (Online).

Oct 2021

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at 2021 Cold Spring Harbor Asia (CSHA) Synthetic Biology (Online).

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at 2021 KRIBB Conference (Daejeon).

Sep 2021

Dr. Jina Yang was appointed as an Assistant Professor @ Chemical and Biological Engineering, Jeju National University. Congrats! 

AUG 2021

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at 2021 Microbiological Society of Korea Meeting (Changwon).

APR 2021

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at 2021 Korean Society for Biotechnology and Bioengineering (KSBB) Spring Meeting (Jeju).

MAR 2021

Prof. Seo gave an invited talk at 2021 Korean Metabolomics Society Meeting (Jeju).

Our recent work on engineering Vibrio sp. SP1 for the production of carotenoids directly from brown macroalgae has been published in Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal [Article]. Congrats to Sungwoo, Sung Won, and Yungyu!

Junyeob and Yoo Ho join our lab as graduate students. Welcome Junyeob and Yoo Ho!

FEB 2021

Our recent work on developing a synthetic protein quality control system has been published in Nature Chemical Biology  as a cover of April issue [Article][Press-KOR][Press-Eng]. Congrats to Dr. Yang and Yong Hee!