News


    • Cell-Free Synthesis of Peptidomimetic Drugs by International Research Team

      April 2023

      “Cell-free protein synthesis offers exciting benefits for making peptidomimetic drugs because of the freedom of design to incorporate non-canonical chemistries when working without the constraints of living organisms,” says one of the authors, Michael Jewett, PhD, professor of bioengineering at Stanford University (formerly at Northwestern University). “Put another way, we are able to repurpose the molecular machinery of the cell to make new-to-nature products that have therapeutic benefit.”

       

      Read more about it here!

 


    • How cell-free processes could speed up vaccine development

      March 2023

      Cell-free vaccines and other cell-free innovations step ever closer to becoming commercially viable, thanks to researchers like Mike Jewett. Biochemical engineering breakthroughs not only promise advances in manufacturing, but storage and transport as well!

       

      Read more about it here!

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      • Mike Jewett, TEDxChicago: Make anything, anywhere with just-add-water biotechnology

        January 2023

        Hey party people – the wait is over! Mike’s TED talk with TEDxChicago invites viewers into a world of scientific imagination, led by his vision to re-think how biotechnologies are created and shared, and made possible by biology without cells. Mike poses the questions, can just-add-water biotechnology turn us all into biomakers, and does it make possible on the frontiers of medicine, diagnostics and much more!

         

        Check it out here!

     

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      • “Just Add Water” – Low-Cost, Thermostable CFPS Biomanufacturing Platform Obviates Cold Chain

        January 2023

        An inexpensive, thermostable, cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) platform for decentralized vaccine production has been developed by the Jewett Lab and collaborators. Because glycosylated products now can be produced in a lyophilized CFPS system, “This creates opportunities to target many diseases and manufacture medicines for deployment in resource-limited settings that current economics simply do not allow,” says Jewett, calling this a “just-add-water” CFPS system. “Think of it like baking: we mix wet and dry ingredients along with a recipe encoded in DNA to make vaccines. This opens a lot of exciting opportunities to make medicines by just changing the DNA.”

         

        Read more about this exciting development here!

     

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      • Northwestern and MIT receive funding from Army’s synthetic biology center

        January 2023

        Collaborations between Northwestern and MIT have secured funding from the Army’s synthetic biology center. NU’s project, titled “The Center for Predictive Materials Design (PreMaDe),” is lead by Mike Jewett and hopes to combine synthetic biology and materials expertise with engineering and computational modeling strengths to create new biomaterials with precise control over their functional properties. Potential applications of such materials include electronic circuitry for wearable electronics, optical materials that dynamically sense and respond to their environment, and rugged cell-free materials with embedded sensing and actuation functions for molecular diagnostics.

         

        Read more about it here!

     

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      • ‘Mirror-image’ protein factories could one day make durable drugs the body can’t break down

        October 2022

        The re-engineering of a workhorse enzyme that synthesizes RNA so that it makes the mirror-image form is being used to construct all RNAs needed to make a ribosome. This breakthrough “could open the door to whole new types of diagnostics and other applications,” including novel drugs, says Jewett.

         

        Read more about it here!

     

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      • Expanding the Chemistry of Living Systems: how ribosomes can be used to make novel bonds with alternative backbone structures

        October 2022

        In his paper, “Ribosome-mediated Biosynthesis of Pyridazinone Oligomers In Vitro,” Mike Jewett and his colleagues demonstrated, for the first time, ribosome-mediated polymerization of pyridazinone bonds via cyclocondensation reactions. “Our work could lead to peptidomimetic drugs comprising backbone-modified analogs with increased stability and decreased immunogenicity or medicines that combat rising antibiotic resistance. We are only limited by our imagination,” says Jewett.

         

        Read more about this research here!

     

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      • For Ryan Fellows, pursuing scientific breakthroughs is the journey

        October 2022

        Program created by the Ryan Family invests in Northwestern graduate students who use nanotechnology to solve complex problems and benefit society.

         

        Read more about the program here!

     

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      • Northwestern Part of New Center for Multi-Scale Synthetic Biology

        Ocrtober 2022

        Collaborative efforts between LanzaTech, Northwestern University, Yale University and the NREL aim to research the fundamental rules that drive microbial systems and how new products can be created through biological design. This is expected to help support new approaches to biomanufacturing by developing performance-advantaged alternatives to materials, fuels, and solvents currently made exclusively from virgin fossil inputs.

         

        Read more about it here!

     

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      • Solving the Puzzle of Sustainable Energy

        August 2022

        Collaborative efforts between the Jewett and Tyo labs are applying methods derived from computational synthetic biology to optimize clostridium.

         

        Read more about it here!

     

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      • Blake Rasor named recipient of this year’s Distinguished Graduate Researcher Award

        August 2022

        Congrats to Blake! He will be giving a talk during the department retreat on September 16th.

     

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      • CSB Welcomes Ashty Karim, Director of Research

        July 2022

        Hey hey! Congrats to Ashty on joining the Center for Synthetic Biology!

         

        Read more about it here!

     

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      • Artificial Ribosome Continues Advancing

        July 2022

        Led by Northwestern Engineering’s Mike Jewett, researchers created a new version of an engineered tethered ribosome dubbed Ribo-T, which provides a foundation to propel broad, new efforts in synthetic biology. ‘If successful, our ribosomes could enable us to begin evolving non-protein medicines and materials in the ways that we, and nature, evolve proteins. This could lead to new classes of biotechnology products that address societal need,” says Jewett.

         

        Read about it here!

     

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      • Collaborative Research Shows Good Bacteria Can Be Protected in Fight Against Infections

        July 2022

        An interdisciplinary team of Northwestern Engineering researchers have shown that “the geometry and function of a bacterial organelle can be altered to inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria involved in illness.

         

        Read more about the Jewett Lab’s collaboration with the Tullman-Ercek Lab, the Mangan Group, and the Olvera de la Cruz Group, here!

     

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      • Covid-19 Nasal Spray Could Transform Medicine Delivery, Treatment

        June 2022

        A promising antiviral delivery system developed at Northwestern University in Illinois could be a “game changer” in preventing and treating COVID-19 infections.

         

        Watch Mike speak about his involvement spearheading this revolutionary research here!

     

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      • Vacuna en aerosol contra COVID-19 busca revolucionar tratamiento de la enfermedad

        June 2022

        Michael Jewett, médico de la Universidad Northwestern y quien está a cargo del proyecto afirma que éste “puede revolucionar la forma en que se pueden administrar las terapias antivirales”.

         

        Leer aqui!

     

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      • Repurposing the Cell Engine: Northwestern Announces the Cell-Free Biomanufacturing Institute

        June 2022

        The institute, in collaboration with the U.S. Army, aims to ‘remove the cell’ from synthetic biology research by ‘stripping the protein-making components out from the confines of the cell membrane, which allows them to be freeze-dried for future use. The result is a product that is shelf stable and easy to transport.’ “It’s like lifting the hood off the car, pulling out the engine and repurposing it for other things,” says Jewett, the institute’s director.

         

        Read more about the institute here!

     

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      • Save the date: Mike Jewett presents at TEDxChicago

        June 2022

        TEDxChicgao interview’s Mike ahead of September 10th event, where he’ll be discussing his groundbreaking research on freeze-dried cell-free biotechnology, which has potential to revolutionize medicine, diagnostics and science education.

         

        Read more about his interview here, and reserve your tickets to TEDxChicago here!

     

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      • Closing Gaps to Find New Engergy Sources

        June 2022

        Jewett and collaborators from LanzaTech and the University of South Florida (USF) optimized and implemented a cyclic reverse beta-oxidation (r-BOX) pathway for the specific production of butanol, butanoic acid, hexanol, and hexanoic acid across three biotechnological platforms. The three platforms include a cell-free system, a heterotrophic model organism (E. coli), and an autotrophic organism (C. autoethanogenum) capable of fixing carbon and using synthesis gas — a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen — as the sole carbon and energy source.

         

        Read more about this research here!

     

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      • NU honors award winners, Yejun Kim and Sarah Sobol, for winning the NSF Graduate Fellowship and Goldwater Scholorship, respectively – way to go!

        May 2022

         

     

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      • Three partners, two problems, one bioenergy research article published

        May 2022

        The DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office funds carbon-negative neutral research that uses microorganisms to convert carbon captured from agricultural, industrial, and societal waste streams into useful chemicals.

         

        Read more about the Jewett Lab’s role in this research here!

     

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      • New study finds that intranasal proteins could protect against COVID-19 variants

        May 2022

        The virus’ spike protein has three binding domains, of which, common antibody therapies only block one. The Jewett Lab has developed “minibinders”that “sit on top of the spike protein like a tripod and block all three,” says co-lead Mike Jewett.

         

        Read more about this incredible breakthrough here!

     

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      • Big updates on the Jewett Lab’s collaborative progress towards a Covid-19 nasal spray!

        April 2022

        Watch the update on Northwestern’s Facebook news page, here!

     

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      • Congratulations to Joey Galindo on being awarded the 2022 McCormick Summer Undergraduate Research Award for his proposal, Directed evolution of an efficient aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase for the incorporation of benzyl-acyl-hydrazyl-lysine!

        April 2022

         


      • Congratulations to Anika Gupta on being awarded the 2022 McCormick Summer Undergraduate Research Award for her proposal, Converting Carbon Dioxide into a Universal Building Block Using Cell-Free Protein Synthesis!

        April 2022

         


      • New COVID-19 nasal spray outperforms current antibody treatments in mice

        April 2022

        A new protein-based antiviral nasal spray has successfully reduced covid infection in mice, and is being advanced toward human clinical trials. Read about this exciting research led by Mike Jewett here!

     

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      • Congratulations to Yejun Kim on being awarded the NSF Graduate Fellowship!

        April 2022

         


      • Congratulations to Sarah Sobol on being awarded the Goldwater Scholarship!

        April 2022

         


      • Article: New research institute will utilize cell-free systems for global needs

        March 2022

        Mike Jewett is leading a public-private partnership between 12 of Northwestern’s science and engineering faculty, and the Department of Defense to advance the field of synthetic biology. Such biomanufacturing is responsible for the development of mRNA vaccines, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what’s possible. “There is an emerging and growing interest in being able to partner with biology to make what is needed, where and when it is needed, on a sustainable and renewable basis,” says Jewett.

         

        Read more about this research here!

     

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      • Article: Fermentation turns greenhouse gases into useful chemicals

        March 2022

        Collaborative research between LanzaTech, Oak Ridge National Lab and the Jewett Lab have successfully created a carbon-negative alternative to the production of acetone and isopropanol. This advancement “sparks hope for replacing an emissions-heavy process with a circular economic model in which the carbon from agriculture, industrial and societal waste streams is recycled into a chemical synthesis value chain and displaces manufacture of products from fresh fossil resources.”

         

        Read more here, and check out the publication in Nature Biotechnology here!

     

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      • The Living Revolution podcast features Mike Jewett

        March 2022

        Mike Jewett and LanzaTech’s Mike Koepke discuss their modular carbon negative method of turning CO2 into value-added chemicals like acetone and isopropanol.

         

        Read more here, and check out the podcast on Spotify here!

     

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      • Reprogrammed bacterium turns carbon dioxide into chemicals on industrial scale

        March 2022

        “The integration of this technology with established commercial infrastructure will be straightforward as both the bioreactor and much of the downstream product recovery infrastructure are already compatible with the products,” says Jewett. “We believe that the framework developed here will provide a blueprint for development of further carbon-negative chemical production processes and holds promise to redefine the future of biomaking for planet and societal health.”

         

        Read more here!

     

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      • Scientists Engineered Bacteria to Eat Carbon Dioxide and Spit Out Clean Chemicals

        March 2022

        Collaboration between Skokie’s LanzaTech and the Jewett Lab have engineered bacterium to ferment greenhouse gases into everyday chemicals.

         

        Read more here!

     

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      • The Federation of American Scientists weigh in on the Jewett Lab’s latest breakthrough

        February 2022

         

        Check it out on Twitter here!

     

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      • Engineered microbes put waste to good use — and help the climate

        February 2022

        Modified bacteria can turn waste gases, including carbon dioxide, into the valuable chemicals acetone and isopropanol — on a large scale! Read about the incredible research collaboration between LanzaTech and the Jewett Lab here!

     

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      • $10 billion industry could transform to carbon negative with nifty microbial trick

        February 2022

        Big news! The collaboration between LanzaTech and the Jewett Lab have figured out a fossil-free way to make chemicals found in plastics, cleaning agents, and even hand sanitizers. Such a discovery could have revolutionary implications on a global level.

         

        Read more here!

     

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      • LanzaTech and Jewett Lab have found a way to make the production of important chemicals more climate-friendly

        February 2022

        “A new biotechnological process offers a climate-friendly alternative to the production of acetone and isopropanol. Using a bacteria from the exhaust gases from steel mills, the process if not only climate-neutral, but also saves CO2.

         

        Read more here!

     

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      • Microbes convert industrial waste gases into commodity chemicals

        February 2022

        “Up to now engineering Clostridium has just been hard,” says Mike Jewett. “The bacteria are slow growing and die from exposure to oxygen.” Not anymore. Jewett and Michael Kopke of LanzaTech have found a strategy to create acetone and isopropanol from a bacterium called Clostridium autoethanogenum, a process scalable for commercial production.

         

        Read more here!

     

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      • LanzaTech research ready for pilot project!

        February 2022

        Collaborative efforts between LanzaTech and Jewett Lab have successfully used cell-free prototyping to speed up research from months/years to weeks!

         

        Read more here!

     

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      • Engineered bacteria produce chemicals with negative carbon emissions

        February 2022

        The Jewett Lab’s partnership with LanzaTech is producing bacteria chemicals with negative carbon emissions. “You can imagine the process similar to brewing beer, but instead of using a yeast strain that eats sugar to make alcohol, we have a microbe that can eat carbon dioxide,” says Michael Kopke of LanzaTech.

         

        Read more here!

     

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      • Review of technologies that repurpose carbon finds most aren’t Paris Agreement compatible

        February 2022

        While carbon capture and utilization (CCU) technology promises solution to the climate crisis, a review in One Earth calls into question the viability of those short-term and long-term promises.

         

        Read more here!

     

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      • New research from the group in sustainable biomanufacturing published in Nature Biotechnology

        February 2022

        Together with LanzaTech, we are accelerating the design of microbes to convert waste into commodity chemicals on an industrial scale.

         

        Read the research article here, along with news and perspectives on our work here!

     

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    • Article: Engineered bacteria convert captured carbon dioxide into chemicals for fuels, fabric and cosmetics

      February 2022

      Woah – seriously cool! Read about Mike’s newest study! “By harnessing our capacity to partner with biology to make what is needed, where and when it is needed, on a sustainable and renewable basis, we can begin to take advantage of the available CO2 to transform the bioeconomy,” says Jewett.

       

      Read more here!


    • Yejun Kim competes on Jeopardy!

      February 2022

      Tune in the week of 2/8 to watch undergraduate lab member and AIChE President Yejun Kim represent Northwestern in Jeopardy’s National College Championship! We’ll take GOOD LUCK for $1000

       

      Stay up to date here!


    • Article: Targeting repetitive sequences for gene editing

      January 2022

      Read about Mike’s work engineering orthogonal ribosomes for gene editing.

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Resilience Acquires SwiftScale Biologics, a Leader in Cell-Free Protein Synthesis Technology

      December 2021

      Read about Resilience’s acquisition of Mike’s company, SwiftScale, and their exciting plans for the future.

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Biology research, no cells required

      November 2021

      Read about the contribution our lab has made towards more effective vaccine production through cell-free research.

       

      Read more here!


    • Catch Up with former Jewett Lab member Sam Davidson!

      September 2021

      Read about how Sam’s time at Northwestern impacted his journey towards a PhD in Bioengineering from Caltech.

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Pollution to products? Recycled carbon emissions are coming to consumer shelves.

      September 2021

      Mike is quoted in an article from the Thomas Reuters Foundation about using carbon emissions to replace the “raft of products made from chemicals from petroleum” and its effect on climate change.

       

      Read more here!


    • How Northwestern Graduate Naomi Lisse is Helping Moderna Produce COVID-19 Vaccines

      September 2021

      Lisse’s team works to figure out how to produce a vaccine that’s tailor-made for the coronavirus. “I am very conscious of the fact that this is the most impactful thing I will ever work on in my career,” says Lisse.

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Can you spot the fake receptor? The coronavirus can’t either.

      August 2021

      Mike is quoted in an article from MIT Technology Review about therapeutic protein development and similar biotechnologies that use decoy receptors to trick the coronavirus. “Reengineering complex biological systems can be tricky. It’s kind of like solving a puzzle.”

       

      Read more here!


    • Andrew named Distinguished Graduate Researcher Runner-up

      August 2021

      Congratulations to Andrew Hunt for being named a Distinguished Graduate Researcher runner-up!

    • Article: Sortase A strategy could see ribosomal products reach further across chemical space

      June 2021

      Mike is quoted in an article from Chemistry World about ribosomally synthesised and post-translationally modified peptides, or RiPPs. “RiPP natural products are a very exciting class of potential drugs to address everything from antibiotic resistance to cancer…Thus, this approach may enable novel compound libraries to be built, which were previously inaccessible, to identify unique biotherapeutic activities.”

       

      Read more here!


    • Katie receives Chateaubriand Fellowship

      May 2021

      Katie Warfel has received a Chateaubriand Fellowship from the Embassy of France in the U.S. to pursue research in France for 6 months during the 2021-2022 academic year. She will be studying and engineering lectins, glycan binding proteins, at CERMAV, a French national lab focused on glycoscience, in Grenoble, France. Congratulations, Katie!

    • Article: Increasing yield for portable vaccine production method

      May 2021

      Research from the Jewett lab has been featured in an article in “The Chemical Engineer.” Researchers have discovered that by enriching cell extracts with vesicles they could increase production yield for vaccine components.

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Membranes unlock potential to increase cell-free vaccine production

      April 2021

      Researchers have discovered a new way to increase production yields of protein-based vaccines five-fold, significantly broadening access to potentially lifesaving medicines.

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Membranes unlock potential to vastly increase cell-free vaccine production

      April 2021

      In a new study, researchers discovered that enriching cell-free extracts with cellular membranes — the components needed to made conjugate vaccines — vastly increased yields of its freeze-dried bio-manufacturing platform. This research sets the stage for biotech to generate 1 billion doses in less than a month.

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Vaccines: Just Add Water

      April 2021

      iVAX is a portable production platform using cell free protein synthesis to generate shelf-stable, low-cost, on-demand, and effective vaccines at the point-of-care.

       

      Read more here!


    • Holly Ekas receives prestigious Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans

      April 2021

      Holly Ekas was chosen as one of 30 new Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows from a pool of 2,445 applicants. The program recognizes the potential for immigrants or children of immigrants to make significant contributions to the United States. Congratulations, Holly!

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: ETOPiA Zoom Play Reflects Present-Day Research Realities

      April 2021

      On April 9, ETOPiA (Engineering Transdisciplinary Project in the Arts) presented “Science Under a Pandemic,” two original one-act plays, written by Northwestern alumnae and directed by John Gawlik, that examine the challenges of research under a pandemic. The plays, commissioned to be performed via a Zoom-like web interface, explore original humanizing perspectives on research directly or indirectly impacted by a pandemic outbreak. Mike and Ariel Thames consulted on the play “The Little World.”

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Scientists Invented Freeze-Dried Vaccines That Can Be Rehydrated on Demand

      February 2021

      Jewett lab research on freeze-dried, shelf-stable vaccines is featured in an article on Vice. “We are freeze-drying cellular extracts that have the molecular machinery to make the vaccine,” explains Jewett. “This allows us to make the vaccine when you need it, where you need it. That said, the freeze-drying process is like that of freeze-drying fruit, where the goal is to remove all the water at low heat under vacuum.”

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Cell-free biotech enables shelf-stable vaccines on demand

      February 2021

      Researchers from Cornell and Northwestern have devised a new method of using extracts derived from bioengineered bacteria to create vaccines that protect against life-threatening infections caused by pathogenic bacteria.

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Shelf-stable vaccines avoid waste, expand access

      February 2021

      Researchers in the Jewett lab and collaborators at Cornell have developed a new manufacturing platform that can quickly make vaccines at the point of care, ensuring they will not go to waste and expanding access to potentially life-saving medications. The new method uses cell-free components that are freeze-dried, remaining shelf-stable for six months or longer.

       

      Read more here!


    • Article featured on cover of journal

      January 2021

      “Cell-free systems for accelerating glycoprotein expression and biomanufacturing” is featured on the cover of The Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology.

       

      Read the article here!


    • Mike named NAI Fellow

      December 2020

      Mike has been chosen as a 2020 fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) – the highest professional distinction awarded solely to academic inventors. The program recognizes academic inventors who have demonstrated a “spirit of innovation” by creating or facilitating inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and social welfare.

       

      Read more here!


    • Mike named AAAS Fellow

      November 2020

      Mike has been chosen as a 2020 fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the largest general scientific society in the world. AAAS recognizes faculty who have made significant contributions to science and its applications.

       

      Read more here!


    • Podcast: Repurposing living systems to fight a pandemic

      October 2020

      Mike was interviewed for The Scientist’s podcast “The Scientist Speaks” and discussed how the Jewett lab pivoted their research to join the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: A zest for synthetic biology

      September 2020

      Limonene, which constitutes all but 5% of the essential oil of orange peels, is used industrially as a source of flavor for foods and of scent for cosmetics and household products. It also is used as a starting point for various pharmaceutical products and as a solvent and degreasing cleaner. In addition to price fluctuations due to disease and weather, increased demand for cleaning products during the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the price of limonene to spike around the world.
      This article discusses various difficulties in and methods for producing limonene synthetically, including work using cell-free systems by the Jewett lab.

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Expanding the Palette of Monomers for Ribosome-mediated Polymerization

      August 2020

      An article in Northwestern Engineering News discusses Jewett lab research into expanding the capabilities of engineered ribosomes as a vehicle to synthesize novel biopolymers, setting the stage for developing new medications and materials. “While a diverse set of non-natural alpha-amino acids have been used by the ribosome before, our work shows that the ribosome is capable of polymerizing so much more.” A paper about the work, “Ribosome-mediated polymerization of Long-carbon Chain and Cyclic Amino Acids into Peptides In Vitro” was published August 27 in the journal Nature Communications.

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Combating COVID-19 with Cell-Free Expression

      August 2020

      Mike and the Jewett lab are featured in an article for The Scientist about cell-free expression and its applications in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. “In this era of emergent and reemerging pandemic outbreaks, what we need is speed. Cell-free systems really offer this exciting component, and the technology is well suited to address that need.”

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Tiny Insects Provide Inspiration for New Biomaterials

      August 2020

      Assisted by symbiotic bacteria, leafhopper insects make a substance that makes their bodies water-repellant and anti-reflective. These bacteria help by producing soccer-ball-shaped nanostructures called bronchosomes. With support from an award from the Department of Defense’s Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI), researchers have been working to synthesize new materials by “hacking” the brochosome production process with engineered versions of the symbiotic bacteria. The artificially altered process could lead to biomaterials that could be used in many applications, including camouflage and water-purification.

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: National Science Foundation Grant Opens New Doors for Center for Synthetic Biology

      August 2020

      The National Science Foundation awarded $3 million to Northwestern’s Center for Synthetic Biology (CSB) to support a new graduate-level training program that focuses on PhD students. Students enter CSB from different backgrounds and disciplines, and with the grant’s support, the program can now provide a common framework to help students fit in their respective expertise.

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Going “Cell Free” Can Put a Rush on COVID-19 Antibody Therapies

      August 2020

      SwiftScale Biologics has developed a novel cell-free protein manufacturing technology which promises to speed antibody production as much as 10-fold. Whereas CHO-based manufacturing takes about 18 months to go from a DNA sequence to clinical doses, SwiftScale’s method goes from DNA sequence to individual patient doses in just a few months.

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Northwestern scientists publish guiding principles for COVID-19 vaccine development

      July 2020

      A group of Northwestern researchers, including Jewett lab members, has created a set of guidelines to assist in developing a safe and effective vaccine for COVID-19. Ariel Thames: “When the pandemic entered the U.S., we started thinking about how we could contribute with the tools that we have and felt a responsibility to do what we could to help.”

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: The perfect collaboration to accelerate biological design

      June 2020

      Ashty discusses the iPROBE approach (in vitro Prototyping and Rapid Optimization of Biosynthetic Enzymes) and rapid, modular, on-demand, cell-free protein synthesis in a behind-the-paper feature for the Nature Research Bioengineering Community.

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Accelerating Biological Systems Design for Sustainable Biomanufacturing

      June 2020

      Jewett lab researchers have developed a new rapid-prototyping system to accelerate the design of biological systems, reducing the time to produce sustainable biomanufacturing products from months to weeks. The new platform, called in vitro Prototyping and Rapid Optimization of Biosynthetic Enzymes (iPROBE), provides a quick and powerful design-build-test framework to discover optimal biosynthetic pathways for cellular metabolic engineering that could impact a range of industries (or issues) from clean energy to consumer products.

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Sewage may help predict future virus outbreaks

      May 2020

      A Northwestern team led by Julius Lucks is working to develop tests to detect SARS-CoV-2 in sewage. These tests could have the potential to generate results within hours after samples are collected, as opposed to the days or weeks it takes to process nasal swabs and other tests.

       

      Read the article here!


    • Article: Propelling Synthetic Biology into the Future

      May 2020

      Work being done by the Jewett lab and the Center for Synthetic Biology is featured in the most recent Breakthroughs newsletter from Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

       

      Read the article here!


    • Joon’s article on cover of Chemical Communications

      May 2020

      The article “Ribosomal incorporation of cyclic β-amino acids into peptides using in vitro translation” is featured on the cover of the journal Chemical Communications.

       

      Read the article here!


    • Article: Northwestern Researchers Take Unique Approach, looking Outside of cells for a COVID-19 treatment

      May 2020

      In a story by Anne Snabes, Mike is interviewed about using cell-free protein synthesis to speed up the discovery of COVID-19 anti-viral drugs. “We think that basically the cell-free system can accelerate the design and discovery cycle.”

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Voices of Chemical Biology

      May 2020

      Mike is featured in the article “Voices of Chemical Biology” in the journal Nature Chemical Biology. A collection of chemical biologists were asked: “What was the most exciting research achievement or technology innovation in chemical biology in the last five years?”

       

      Read more here!


    • Ashty selected for Distinguished Young Scholars Seminar at UW!

      May 2020

      Congratulations to Ashty Karim for being selected to present at University of Washington’s “Distinguished Young Scholars Seminar” series. Way to go!

    • Article: Synthetic Biology Comes of Age

      May 2020

      Mike discusses the field of Synthetic Biology and work being done by the Center for Synthetic Biology at Northwestern in an article featured in the Spring 2020 Northwestern Engineering Magazine. “Cell-free synthetic biology holds great promise. The field has evolved from a specialized research tool to the backbone of a variety of applications ready to tackle some of society’s greatest challenges, from COVID-19 to cancer to climate change. ‘The time for cell-free systems is here. It’s now.'”

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Northwestern Engineering synthetic biologists aim to create one-step diagnostic test for COVID-19

      May 2020

      Work being done by Center for Synthetic Biology faculty to develop a one-step test for COVID-19 is featured in a Daily Northwestern article by Vivian Xia. “Our goal is to create a test that enables simple operation and can be accomplished with minimal skill, even at places at work…So the idea is, how can you create just a couple-step test that gives results in tens of minutes, is highly sensitive and specific for the buyers, and does so in an inexpensive way.”

       

      Read more here!


    • Joon’s paper highlighted in Chemistry World!

      May 2020

      Joon’s paper “Ribosomal incorporation of cyclic β-amino acids into peptides using in vitro translation” in the journal Chemical Communications has been featured on Chemistry World!

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: How Blavatnik Awards Honorees are answering the call to stop the spread of COVID-19

      May 2020

      Mike and other former Blavatnik Awards Honorees are featured in an article by the New York Academy of Sciences discussing research being carried out to combat COVID-19.

       

      Read more here!


    • Skylar featured in Profile by ChBE Department

      April 2020

      Skylar Ladson-Gary has been featured by the Chemical and Biological Engineering department in a student profile. Skylar works in the Jewett lab helping to develop high-throughput technologies for engineering biology using cell-free systems.

       

      Read more here!


    • Skylar and Sarah receive Undergraduate Research Grants!

      April 2020

      Congratulations to Skylar Ladson-Gary and Sarah for receiving Northwestern University Undergraduate Research Grants! Way to go!

    • Article: How Chicago Is Uniting For The Greater Good

      April 2020

      Big companies, startups, universities and other organizations all over Chicago, including Northwestern and Swiftscale Biologics, are focused on combatting COVID-19 and serving their communities.

       

      Read more here!


    • Adam receives 2020 Presidential Fellowship!

      April 2020

      Congratulations to Adam Silverman for being a 2020 recipient of the Presidential Fellowship, the most prestigious fellowship awarded to graduate students by Northwestern University! Fellows were chosen for their demonstrated record of outstanding academic achievement, promise as scholars, teachers, and researchers, and the ability to communicate the significance and impact of their research to a broad academic audience.

    • Article: The race to make vaccines faster

      April 2020

      In an article on Axios about developing vaccines, Mike is quoted discussing the benefits of cell-free production: “It sets the stage for being able to respond quickly to a variety of pandemics that could emerge by having capabilities for manufacturing without having to go through cell line development.”

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Body Armor Grown in a Lab? Why Not, Say Synthetic Biologists

      April 2020

      The Jewett lab and colleagues from the Center for Synthetic Biology are doing work to “repurpose the ribosome of the cell to make new kinds of polymers that address societal and, in this case, also Department of Defense needs.” The Army has an interest in two aspects: whether the research could lead to synthesizing new kinds of materials for use in everything from stronger soldier protection to better tents, and whether these investigations could lead to the ability to make products in austere conditions, on site and on demand.

       

      Read more here!


    • Former Jewett lab member wins Sigma Xi/IIT Award for Excellence in University Research

      April 2020

      Seok Hoon Hong has won the Junior Faculty Sigma Xi/IIT Award for Excellence in University Research. The award is given in recognition of the exemplary accomplishments in research, scholarship, and creative activity by faculty members and graduate students at Illinois Institute of Technology. Seok Hoon Hong is a biochemical engineer studying protein engineering and synthetic biology for controlling antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and resilient biofilms. His research has had a significant impact on strategies for preventing infectious diseases, improving food safety, and enhancing water treatment technologies. He has been published in top tier peer-reviewed journals, including Nature Communications, Nature Biotechnology, and Nature Chemical Biology.

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: One-step diagnostic tool receives NSF RAPID grant

      April 2020

      Members Northwestern’s Center for Synthetic Biology – PI Julius Lucks, Mike Jewett, Joshua Leonard and Niall Mangan – have received an NSF RAPID grant in order to develop and optimize an easy-to-use, quick-screen technology that can test for infectious diseases, including COVID-19, in the human body or within the environment.

       

      Read more here!


    • Mike and Swiftscale featured in Wired article on biotechnology and COVID-19

      April 2020

      Mike is featured in an article on Wired.com, discussing cell-free engineering and the work being done by Swiftscale Biologics. Swiftscale, a start-up co-founded by Mike, is in discussions with Centivax, a San Francisco antibody development company, with the aim to rapidly mass manufacture antibodies that could be deployed to treat COVID-19 patients.

       

      Read more here!


    • Mike featured on the news for work on COVID-19 drug!

      April 2020

      Mike was interviewed on WGNTV about work being done in the lab to produce valinomycin using cell-free bio-manufacturing. “I think right now more than ever it’s become clear we need to have manufacturing capabilities, even in particular domestic manufacturing capabilities that allow us to move incredibly fast. This is an urgent problem, we can’t sit on the sidelines. We need to throw everything we have at it to address it.”

       

      Watch and read here!


    • Article: Super-charging drug development for COVID-19

      April 2020

      Researchers from the Jewett lab and ShanghaiTech University have teamed up to produce the molecule valinomycin in a cell-free system, increasing production yields more than 5,000 times in just a few rapid design cycles, and achieving higher concentrations of the molecule than achieved previously in cells. Valinomycin has proven effective in obliterating SARS-CoV in cellular cultures and the team hopes that the drug might also be effective in the fight against SARS’s close genetic cousin, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Cell-free biotechnology could help accelerate COVID-19 therapeutics

      April 2020

      Researchers at SwiftScale Biologics, a start-up co-founded by Mike and Matthew DeLisa of Cornell University, have developed a platform that could produce new anti-viral drugs more than 10 times faster than current methods. They are working to mass produce a promising antibody therapy which binds to the part of the coronavirus that infects the host cells, stopping it in its tracks.

       

      Read more here!


    • Alex wins Goldwater Scholarship!

      March 2020

      Congratulations to Alex Wooldredge for winning a Goldwater Scholarship! Alex worked in the Jewett lab during summer 2019 as a participant in the NSF Synthetic Biology Research Experience for Undergraduates (SynBREU) program. Way to go!

    • Mike chosen as 2020 AIMBE Fellow

      March 2020

      The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) announced today the election of 156 new members of the AIMBE College of Fellows in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in medical and biological engineering. Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to a medical and biological engineer.

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Developing an Antibody Therapeutic ASAP to Confront the Pandemic

      March 2020

      SwiftScale Biologics has engaged with Centivax in a promising antibody discovery effort to treat Covid-19. SwiftScale, which was co-founded last year by Mike, David Mace and Matthew DeLisa, has developed a cell-free platform to enzymatically modify complex proteins. These modifications lead to proteins that closely resemble those found naturally in humans. With this technology, SwiftScale can produce vital antibody therapeutics at unmatched speed.

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Developing Cell-Free Ribosomes in a Test Tube

      March 2020

      Research on cell-free ribosomes from the Jewett lab has been featured on the front page of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News! “Right now, the ribosome is a chef that can only make certain meals…We want to create many chefs that can make many different cuisines. This is a huge step forward toward that vision.”

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Jewett lab research on ribosome engineering published in Nature Communications

      February 2020

      Jewett lab researchers have developed RISE – a system that can rapidly create cell-free ribosomes in a test tube, then select the ribosome that can perform a certain function.

       

      Read more here!


    • Mike named Walter P. Murphy Professor

      January 2020

      Mike has been named a Walter P. Murphy Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering. According to Dean Julio Ottino: “These professorships are reserved for some the most impactful and influential members of our community. Michael has made significant contributions to McCormick as both a researcher and educator, including helping position Northwestern as a leader in synthetic biology with an excellent team of faculty members.”

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Simple Test Could Prevent Fluoride-related Disease

      December 2019

      The Jewett and Lucks labs collaborated to develop a simple, inexpensive new test that can detect dangerous levels of fluoride in drinking water.

       

      Read more here!


      • Article: Boost that metabolomic confidence

        December 2019

        Mike is quoted in a new metabolomic data analysis story published in Nature Methods.

         

        Read more here!


        • Lauren and Maria receive NSF Travel Awards!

          December 2019

          Congratulations to Lauren Clark (left) and Maria Cabezas (right) for receiving NSF travel awards at the 2019 Cell-Free Systems Conference in Boston!

        • Congratulations, Adam!

          December 2019

          Congrats to Adam Silverman for winning a 1st place poster presentation prize at the AIChE Cell-Free Systems conference!

        • Congratulations, Jess!

          December 2019

          Congrats to Jess Willi on earning a Swiss National Science Foundation Postdoc Mobility grant!

        • Article: Cell-free Synthetic Biology Comes of Age

          December 2019

          In an article for Northwestern Engineering News by Alex Gerage, Mike discusses cell-free systems and a new review paper published in the journal Nature Reviews Genetics. The paper explores how cell-free engineering evolved from a specialized research tool to the backbone of a variety of applications in synthetic biology that stand to dramatically impact society, from the environment to medicine to education.

           

          Read more here!


          • Article: New Method Accelerates Development of Protein Therapeutics

            November 2019

            In an article for Northwestern Engineering News, Emily Ayshford discusses research on glycosylation recently published in Nature Communications. Glycosylation — the attachment of sugars to proteins — plays a critical role in both cellular function and in the development of therapeutics, like vaccines. Jewett lab members and collaborators have now developed a quick, cell-free system to build and study the biosynthetic pathways required to make these sugar structures. Called GlycoPRIME, the system could lead to faster development of therapeutics and a new, modular way to make medicines on demand in resource-limited settings.

             

            Read more here!


            • Mike delivers 18th Annual Fredrickson Lecture

              November 2019

              Mike was the featured guest speaker for the 18th Annual Fredrickson Lecture at the University of Minnesota on Thursday, November 7. His seminar, “Cell-free Systems for On-Demand Biomanufacturing, Molecular Sensing, and Education” explained that cell-free biology is the activation of complex biological processes without using intact living cells.

               

              Read more here!


              • Article: Army project may lead to new class of high-performance materials

                November 2019

                The Jewett lab and collaborators have developed a process that could lead to a new class of synthetic polymers that may create new high-performance materials and therapeutics for soldiers. According to Dr. Dawanne Poree, program manager, polymer chemistry at the Army Research Office: “The ability to harness and adapt cellular machinery to produce non-biological polymers would, in essence, bring synthetic materials into the realm of biological functions. This could render advanced, high-performance materials such as nanoelectronics, self-healing materials, and other materials of interest for the Army.”

                 

                Read more here!


                • Article: Briefcase-sized labs could transform medicine

                  November 2019

                  Mike is quoted in this article in Nature about “miniaturizing pharmaceutical production in the hope of making it portable and inexpensive.” UMBC’s Govind Rao has developed Bio-MOD, which uses a cell-free system to make on-demand biologics.

                   

                  Read more here!


    • Alex and Alysse at the 2019 Gulf Coast Undergraduate Research Symposium

      November 2019

      Jewett lab members Alex Wooldredge and Alysse DeFoe presented at the 2019 Gulf Coast Undergraduate Research Symposium at Rice University.

    • Article: New Design Rules for Ribosomal Monomers

      November 2019

      Mike featured in an article on research published in Nature Communications about “expanding the range of ribosomal monomers for protein synthesis to enable new directions in biomanufacturing.”

       

      Read more here!


      • Dr. Erik Carlson and Anne d’Aquino highlighted in Ribo-T interview and article

        October 2019

        Erik Carlson talks with Niko McCarty about his work with Jewett lab member Anne D’Aquino on improving Ribo-T and their paper “Engineered ribosomes with tethered subunits for expanding biological function” published in Nature Communications.

         

        Read more here!


        • Article: Top synthetic biology news from academic labs in 2019

          October 2019

          The Jewett lab has been featured for their work with Lanzatech in an article about top synthetic biology news in 2019.

           

          Read more here!


    • Congratulations, Anne!

      October 2019

      Congratulations to Anne D’Aquino for accepting a postdoc position with the Sattely lab at Stanford!

    • Congratulations, Luca!

      October 2019

      Congratulations to Luca Schulz for receiving the Zeno Karl Schindler Master Thesis Grant!

    • Congratulations, Alysse!

      October 2019

      Congratulations to Alysse DeFoe on receiving a Northwestern University Office of Undergraduate Research Academic Year Fellowship!

    • Article: Biotech experts gather at the White House for ‘Summit on America’s Bioeconomy’

      October 2019

      Mike joined more than 100 other biotech researchers, industry executives and government officials at the White House on October 7th for a summit focusing on America’s bioeconomy — the range of products, services and data derived from biological processes and bioscience research.

       

      Read more here!


      • Mike named Director of the Center of Synthetic Biology

        October 2019

        Mike has been named the Director of Northwestern’s Center of Synthetic Biology!

      • Mike selected as 2019 Researcher to Know

        September 2019

        Mike has been selected as a 2019 Researcher to Know by the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition (ISTC)! This year’s honorees include 21 distinguished researchers from 10 universities and across Illinois.

      • Article: miniPCR bio™ launches BioBits™ system for synthetic biology and STEM education

        September 2019

        miniPCR bio™ launched BioBits™, an advanced synthetic biology system that can perform biological experiments without the need for living cells or specialized equipment. BioBits™ reactions contain all the biological components needed to carry out protein synthesis and thus remove the need for expensive equipment required to maintain living cells and “lower barriers to quality biology education.”

         

        Read more here!


        • Article: Improved Artificial Ribosome More Efficient

          September 2019

          The Jewett lab has developed a new version of the artificial ribosome, Ribo-T, that increases the efficiency of Ribo-T’s protein expression. “This new version of Ribo-T will allow us and other labs around the world to jumpstart the synthesis and evolution of new therapeutics and materials made from engineered ribosomes.”

           

          Read more here!


          • Congratulations, Weston!

            August 2019

            Congratulations to Weston Kightlinger for receiving the Distinguished Graduate Researcher Award in the ChBE Department! Terrific news!

          • Congratulations, Adam!

            July 2019

            Congratulations to Adam Silverman for receiving a Ryan graduate fellowship! Way to go!

    • Congratulations, Weston!

      July 2019

      Congratulations to Weston Kightlinger for winning a terminal year graduate fellowship! Way to go!

    • 10th Anniversary of the Agilent Early Career Professor Award

      July 2019

      As the 2011 recipient of the Agilent Early Career Professor Award (AECPA), Mike is highlighted in an article commemorating its 10th anniversary. The AECPA was initiated “as a way to foster the outstanding research being done by professors who, early in their careers, were already enabling science and technology of importance, not only to Agilent, but to the world.”

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Scientists chart course toward the next-generation bioeconomy

      June 2019

      The Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC) released a new, technical roadmap that lays out a path for achieving the promise of engineering biology, or synthetic biology. According to the new plan, strong government investments in engineering biology will ultimately improve public health, food crops, the environment and the economy. It will also anchor the United States’ leadership in this area of research.

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: Teaching CRISPR in the Classroom: A New Tool for Teachers

      June 2019

      BioBits was recently featured on the NSF MCB Blog!
      “BioBits kits contain materials to run hands-on lab activities designed to teach high school-aged students the basic concepts of synthetic and molecular biology through simple biological experiments…So far, three kits have been developed: BioBits Bright, Explorer, and Health, with activities covering topics from the central dogma of biology, to genetic circuits, antibiotic resistance, and CRISPR.”

       

      Read more here!


    • Article: New Method for Engineering Metabolic Pathways

      June 2019

      In an article by Emily Ayshford, Milan Mrkisch discusses results of research co-authored with Mike and recently published in the journal Science Advances. The newly-developed method detailed in the paper combines cell-free protein synthesis and self-assembled monolayer desorption ionization (SAMDI) to help engineers better understand the pathways to create molecules.

       

      Read more here!


    • Congratulations, Quentin!

      June 2019

      CFPS meets SAMDI-CoA analysis was just published in Science Advances. Way to go Quentin!

    • Mike chosen as finalist for Blavatnik National Award

      May 2019

      Mike and two other Northwestern faculty members have been named as finalists for the 2019 Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists. These 31 finalists are considered to be some of America’s most important young scientific researchers aged 42 years or younger, driving the next generation of innovation by addressing today’s most complex and intriguing scientific questions. Congratulations, Mike!

       

      Read more here!


    • Congratulations to Katie Duncker and Ashvita Ramesh!

      May 2019

      Congratulations to Katie for being awarded Northwestern’s Biomedical Engineering Award for Research, and to Ashvita Ramesh for being named the outstanding senior in the BME department. Way to go!

    • Mike and Andrew Ellington present at the Cambridge SynBio Forum

      May 2019

      Mike and Andrew Ellington discussed cell-free technologies, engineering and directed evolution of gene expression, and frugal, accessible science applications at the SynBio Forum in Cambridge, UK on May 14.

       

      Read more here!


    • BioBits featured in article on NSF website!

      May 2019

      “This is important work that helps students understand biological concepts such as how genetics maintain continuity while allowing for change,” said Devaki Bhaya, a program director in NSF’s Division of Molecular and Cellular Bioscience. “We need more pilot projects like this to inspire students who can advance our understanding of life processes.”

       

      Read more here!


    • Rafael Torres wins Summer Research Grant

      May 2019

      Congratulations to Rafael for receiving a Weinberg Summer Research Grant! Way to go!

    • Article: Teaching CRISPR and antibiotic resistance to high school students

      May 2019

      In an article by Amanda Morris, Jess and Mike discuss BioBits, “a suite of hands-on educational kits that enable students to perform a range of biological experiments by adding water and simple reagents to freeze-dried cell-free reactions. The kits link complex biological concepts to visual, fluorescent readouts, so students know — after a few hours and with a single glance — the results of their experiments.” After launching BioBits last summer, the kit has been expanded to include modules for CRISPR and antibiotic resistance.

       

      Read more here!


    • Shaelyn Iyer and Yejun Kim receive Undergraduate Research Awards

      May 2019

      Congratulations to Shaelyn and Yejun for receiving 2019 Summer McCormick Undergraduate Research Awards! Way to go!

    • Michael Hammerling receives Best Oral Presentation Award at Spring MRS 2019

      May 2019

      Michael was presented with the Best Oral Presentation Award for Growing Next-Generation Materials with Synthetic Biology at the Spring MRS 2019. Congratulations, Mike!

    • Erik named Northwestern University Beckman Scholar

      April 2019

      Congratulations to Erik Bidstrup for being selected as a Northwestern University Beckman Scholar. Only two students are selected annually. Way to go!

    • Article: Synthetic biology breaks out of the cell

      April 2019

      In an article by Fiona Mischel for SynBioBeta, Mike discusses advances in high-yield cell-free gene expression and cell-free systems. “[These systems] are the next stage in the evolution of metabolic engineering…[and] offer exciting opportunities to debug and optimize biosynthetic pathways before implementation in live cells and scale-up.”

       

      Read more here!


    • Blake Rasor named Brady Fellow!

      March 2019

      Congratulations to Blake for being named a Brady Fellow. Way to go!

    • Article: ACS Editors Reflect on the Impact of Women Mentors

      March 2019

      Mike and other ACS Editors respond to the question: “Who has been an impactful woman mentor in your career and what have you learned from them?”

       

      Read more here!


    • Jess Stark wins poster award at Glycobiology GRC!

      March 2019

      Congratulations to Jess for receiving a poster award at the Glycobiology GRC. Way to go!

    • Article: DNA’s Coding Power Doubled

      February 2019

      By combining four synthetic nucleotides with the four found naturally in nucleic acids, researchers have created eight-letter DNA molecules that look and behave like the real thing.

       

      Read more here!


    • Anne receives Ribosome 2019 Meeting Fellowship!

      December 2018

      Congratulations to Anne for receiving a Ribosome 2019 Meeting Fellowship. Way to go!

    • Jess defends her thesis!

      December 2018

      Dr. Jessica Stark successfully defends her thesis on developing cell-free systems for on-demand biomanufacturing. Congratulations, Jess!

    • Mike Distinguished Speaker for IC-CSYNB launch

      November 2018

      Mike was the Distinguished Speaker for the launch of the expanded Imperial College London Centre for Synthetic Biology.

      • Article: Synthetic Biology Basics, Bit by Bit

        December 2018

        Emily Ayshford covers BioBits synthetic biology educational kits in an article for the Fall 2018 Northwestern Engineering Magazine.

         

        “As scientists and engineers, we all had that one teacher in high school who got us excited about science,” says Jewett, Northwestern Engineering professor of chemical and biological engineering. “We had hands-on experiential, visual experiences that made us think, ‘I need to learn more about that.’ My students and I are dedicated to finding ways to inspire others to get excited about science in that same way.”

        Read more here!


        • Anne selected for Stanford PRISM program!

          November 2018

          Anne d’Aquino has been selected for the 2019 Stanford University Postdoctoral Recruitment Initiative in Sciences and Medicine Program (PRISM). Congratulations, Anne!

          • Bastian awarded Swiss National Science Foundation Scholarship

            November 2018

            Congratulations to Bastian for being awarded a Swiss National Science Foundation Early Postdoc.Mobility Scholarship. Way to go!

            • Article: From The Old Chemistry Set To New ‘BioBits,’ Cutting-Edge Kit To Teach Biology

              November 2018

              In an article and radio story, Carey Goldberg discusses the BioBits synthetic biology kits for high school students. “I just think it’s really important that microbiology education is accessible for everyone, and that everyone, regardless of their resources, has access to things like this.” – BioBits kit developer Ally Huang

               

              Read more here!


              • Mike co-chair of Future Directions workshop and report

                November 2018

                Michael Jewett co-chaired a Future Directions workshop and report funded by the Basic Research Office, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering titled “Future directions of synthetic biology for energy and power.”
                Read the report here.

                • Article: Making biologics on demand

                  November 2018

                  An article by Celia Henry Arnaud discusses the research being done by teams funded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). These researchers are working towards making systems that make biopharmaceutical production faster and easier, potentially enabling personalized medicine. “In addition to allowing biopharmaceuticals, also known as biologics, to be produced in remote settings for military physicians, the same type of technology might make it easier and cheaper to supply drugs and vaccines around the globe.”
                  Read more here!

                  • Video: The Air Force Center of Excellence for Advanced Bioprogrammable Nanomaterials at Northwestern

                    November 2018

                    The U.S. Air Force Center of Excellence for Advanced Bioprogrammable Nanomaterials, or C-ABN, was established at Northwestern University in 2015. The only Center of its kind in the country, the C-ABN represents an exciting new synergistic collaboration between researchers at Northwestern University and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). Check out a promotional video (including an appearance by Mike) here!

                    • Erik wins Undergraduate Research Grant!

                      November 2018

                      Congratulations to Erik for receiving a University Office of Undergraduate Research Academic Year Undergraduate Research Grant. Erik will be conducting research over the course of this school year on the topic of ribosomal design with graduate student mentor Do Soon. Way to go!

                    • Anne wins IBiS travel award!

                      November 2018

                      Anne d’Aquino has been awarded an IBiS travel award to present at the ASCB|EMBO 2018 meeting! Congratulations, Anne!

                      • Ashty wins Peterson award from ACS!

                        November 2018

                        Ashty has received the W.H. Peterson Best Student Oral Presentation award from ACS BIOT. Congratulations, Ashty!

                        • Mike recognized as one of “10 Biotechnology and Bioenterprise Professors to Know”

                          October 2018

                          Mike was recently recognized by MHAonline.com in their post “10 Biotechnology and Bioenterprise Professors to Know.” The list is comprised of outstanding professors and universities, and aims to recognize some of their great contributions to academia, as well as the rise in online education.

                          Read more here!

                          • Article: How Sweet It Is: GlycoSCORES Speed Drug Development

                            September 2018

                            In conjunction with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Chemical and Biological Technologies Department, Mike has been working with Matthew DeLisa at Cornell and fellow Northwestern professor Milan Mrksich to develop the Glycosylation Sequence Characterization and Optimization by Rapid Expression and Screening (GlycoSCORES) system. This system utilizes rapid protein synthesis, glycosylation and characterization to determine the function of newly discovered proteins for accelerated drug discovery.
                            Read more here!

                            • Article: From the factory to the front lines: Combating superbugs and other threats through on-demand medicine

                              September 2018

                              In an article by Lisa La Vallee, advances in cell-free protein engineering by the Jewett lab and collaborators are discussed as steps toward manufacturing personalized therapies and vaccines in a resource-limited setting. “Imagine a time…when you go to the doctor and somewhere back in behind the counter you sit for an hour while someone makes a therapeutic designed just for you.”

                              Read more here!

                              • Ben’s Thesis Defense Celebration!

                                September 2018

                                The lab joined Ben to celebrate the successful defense of his PhD thesis! Congrats, Ben!

                              • Article: From Waste to Fuel: Researchers to Develop Next-Generation Biofuels and Bioproducts

                                September 2018

                                In an article by Julianne Beck, Mike discusses a multi-institutional project funded by the Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI) that aims to combine recent technological advancements in bioengineering to develop a transformative production system for next-generation biofuels and bioproducts.

                                Read more here!

                                • Inaugural Central US Synthetic Biology Workshop takes place at Northwestern

                                  September 2018

                                  The inaugural Central US Synthetic Biology Workshop took place September 6-7, 2018 to build community and foster a vibrant synthetic biology bioeconomy in the Central US. Read more here (article by Alex Gerage).

                                  • Jess receives Distinguished Graduate Researcher Award

                                    September 2018

                                    Jessica Stark has received the 2018 Distinguished Graduate Researcher Award, an honor bestowed on the most outstanding graduate researcher in Northwestern’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Jess’ outstanding publication and patent record highlights her PhD research to create enabling technologies for on-demand production of personalized medicines and vaccines. In addition, Jess is a co-creator of BioBits kits, inexpensive and user-friendly educational kits for teaching molecular and synthetic biology concepts, which have recently been spun out into a non-profit company. Congratulations, Jess!

                                    • Jess presents her work at the 1st Central US Synthetic Biology Workshop

                                      September 2018

                                      Jess presented her research on glycoconjugate vaccines at the inaugural 2018 Central US Synthetic Biology Workshop held at Northwestern. Great job!

                                      • Ashty receives award at ACS Fall National meeting!

                                        August 2018

                                        Congratulations to Ashty for receiving the first place paper at the Industrial & Engineering Chemistry’s Graduate Student Award Symposium during the ACS Fall National Meeting! Prizes were awarded to the top three talks out of 18 at the symposium. Way to go!

                                        • Sam named NIH Biotechnology Training Fellow

                                          August 2018

                                          Congratulations to Sam for being named an NIH Biotechnology Training Fellow. Way to go!

                                          • BioBits educational kits bring synthetic and molecular biology experiments into K-12 classrooms

                                            August 2018

                                            Biobits, a collaboration among Northwestern University, MIT and the Wyss Institute at Harvard University, aims to bring synthetic biology to K-12 classrooms. The educational biology kits use freeze-dried cell-free reactions, which enable students to perform a range of simple, hands-on biological experiments, “introduc[ing] molecular and synthetic biology concepts without the need for specialized lab equipment, at a fraction of the cost of current standard experimental designs.”
                                            Read more here (article by Amanda Morris).

                                            • Jessica Stark, Anne d’Aquino, and Jasmine Hershewe lead BioBuilder workshops on campus!

                                              August 2018

                                              Jessica, Anne, and Jazzy hosted BioBuilder workshops where they taught Chicago teachers about Synthetic Biology and how to bring SynBio to their classrooms.

                                            • Ashty receives award for best talk at the ACS Spring National Meeting

                                              July 2018

                                              Ashty received a “Best of BIOT” award for his talk – Building a bridge between cell-free experimentation and cellular metabolic engineering – presented at the recent ACS National Meeting in New Orleans in April 2018. The presentation was very well received and of interest to the broader BIOT community.

                                               

                                              Read more here.


                                              • Mike receives Young Investigator Award

                                                July 2018

                                                Mike has received the 2018 Young Investigator Award from the Biochemical Engineering Journal! This annual award recognizes outstanding excellence in research and practice in the field of biochemical engineering.

                                                 

                                                Read more here (article by Amanda Morris).


                                                • Jess’ paper on glycoprotein synthesis published in Nature Communications

                                                  July 2018

                                                  Jess’ paper “Single-pot Glycoprotein Biosynthesis Using a Cell-Free Transcription-Translation System Enriched with Glycosylation Machinery” was just published in Nature Communications!

                                                   

                                                  Read more here about how cell-free glycoprotein synthesis provides a cheaper, more rapid way to make medicines (article by Tom Fleischman).


                                                  • Jewett lab alum Quentin Dudley using CFPS to express plant proteins

                                                    June 2018

                                                    Quentin Dudley (PhD, 2017), currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Earlham Institute/John Innes Centre (Norwich, UK), has received funding from the OpenPlant fund to use E. coli cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) for expressing wheat transcription factors. Read about this project here!

                                                  • Jewett Lab graduating seniors receive Honors

                                                    June 2018

                                                    Sam Davidson, Emily Roney, and Samantha Crowe (not pictured) were honored for their membership in Tau Beta Pi, an honor society for academic excellence in engineering, at the Northwestern University Honors Ceremony for graduating seniors. They credit the Jewett lab for going above and beyond to support them through their time as undergraduates at Northwestern. Congratulations!

                                                  • Tasfia Azim a top-3 finalist for the Northwestern Gotaas Award

                                                    June 2018

                                                    The Northwestern Gotaas Award is given to one graduating senior in McCormick who has demonstrated excellence in research as an undergraduate. Congratulations, Tasfia!

                                                  • Jess selected for MIT Chemical Engineering Rising Stars Workshop

                                                    June 2018

                                                    Congratulations to Jessica Stark for being selected to attend the inaugural MIT Chemical Engineering Rising Stars Workshop in October 2018. Way to go!

                                                  • Jewett lab members inspire young women in STEM during HerStory 2018!

                                                    May 2018

                                                    Jewett lab members Anne d’Aquino, Jess Stark, Charlotte Abrahamson, and Katie Warfel volunteered with HerStory 2018 at the MSI — HerStory is an event aimed to inspire young women in STEM.

                                                  • Tasfia Azim and Rachel Dubner present posters on their research

                                                    May 2018

                                                    Tasfia and Rachel presented their research projects at the Northwestern Research & Arts Undergraduate Resarch Expo. Congratulations Tasfia and Rachel!

                                                  • Lab members headed to grad school!

                                                    May 2018

                                                    Congratulations to the members of the Jewett lab who will be attending graduate school next year! Thank you for your work and we look forward to watching your graduate careers unfold.

                                                     

                                                    • William Grubbe: University of Chicago, Molecular Engineering PhD
                                                    • Sam Crowe: University of California-Berkeley, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering PhD
                                                    • Sam Davidson: California Institute of Technology, Bioengineering PhD
                                                    • Tasfia Azim: Rice University, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering PhD
                                                    • Rachel Dubner: New York University School of Medicine, MD

                                                  • Ashty defends his dissertation

                                                    May 2018

                                                    Ashty Karim has successfully defended his dissertation entitled “A cell-free framework for rapid enzymatic prototyping and discovery” and will be graduating as Dr. Ashty Karim. Congrats, Ashty!

                                                  • Alysse receives Weinberg Summer Research Program Award

                                                    May 2018

                                                    Congratulations, Alysse! Alysse will be conducting research full-time with Anne d’Aquino for 10 weeks this summer. In her work, she will be building and characterizing ribosomal variants in vitro.

                                                  • Lab receives DoE/USDA grant to advance biofuels, bioenergy, and bioproducts

                                                    May 2018

                                                    Through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI) the lab has been awarded a grant to develop a new platform for engineering reversal of β-oxidation in clostridia for synthesis of bioproducts from biomass syngas. This is an exciting and collaborative endeavor with colleagues at Rice University, GeorgiaTech, and LanzaTech.

                                                  • Erik receives McCormick Summer Research Program Award

                                                    May 2018

                                                    Congratulations, Erik! Erik will be conducting research full-time with Do Soon for 10 weeks this summer. He will be developing methods for high-throughput building and testing of ribosome variants.

                                                  • Article: New Biotech Technique Accelerates Protein Therapy Research

                                                    May 2018

                                                    In an article by Stephan Benzkofer, Mike and Milan Mrksich discuss their collaboration and new technique GlycoSCORES, which rapidly screens sequences for making glycoproteins.

                                                  • Mike and Jess visit Glenbard East High School

                                                    May 2018

                                                    Mike and Jess Stark visited Tom Martinez’s advanced biology class at Glenbard East High School in Lombard, IL to discuss the Jewett labs research and synthetic biology. Go Rams!

                                                  • Ashty receives ME-12 Junior Researcher Grant

                                                    April 2018

                                                    Ashty has received a competitive travel grant to attend the Metabolic Engineering 12 conference in Munich, Germany this June. He will present a poster on his work developing cell-free systems for pathway prototyping. Congrats, Ashty!

                                                  • EU-US meeting on synthetic biology

                                                    April 2018

                                                    Approximately 20 scientists met in Brussels as part of an EU-US High-Level Expert Meeting to examine opportunities to advance basic science, emerging technologies and standards in biomanufacturing. A key focus was on cell-free biomanufacturing.

                                                  • Weston is awarded NSF GROW award

                                                    April 2018

                                                    Weston was awarded a National Science Foundation grant to work for 6 months in the lab of Prof. Hans Wandall at the Copenhagen Center for Glycomics in Denmark through the Graduate Opportunities Worldwide (GROW) program. Congratulations, Weston!

                                                  • Lauren selected for “Leadership Fundamentals” course

                                                    April 2018

                                                    Congratulations to Lauren Clark for being selected to participate in the “Leadership Fundamentals” course by the Center for Leadership!

                                                  • Rachel wins poster award at CAURS

                                                    April 2018

                                                    Rachel Dubner’s poster was recognized as the best biological sciences presentation at the 2018 Chicago Area Undergraduate Research Symposium. Congratulations, Rachel!

                                                  • Jess presents at AACR in Chicago

                                                    April 2018

                                                    Jessica Stark presented her research on cell-free glycoprotein synthesis as a poster at the American Association for Cancer Research National Meeting in Chicago!

                                                  • Undersecretary of the Army visits the lab

                                                    April 2018

                                                    Undersecretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy visited the Jewett lab as part of a roundtable discussion on increasing university-military research collaboration held at Northwestern. McCarthy (pictured with Jess) and other delegates learned about ongoing research and participated in a hands-on cell-free protein synthesis activity.

                                                  • Jewett lab members awarded NDSEG graduate fellowships

                                                    April 2018

                                                    Blake Rasor and Katie Warfel have received prestigious National Defense Science & Engineering Graduate fellowships. Congratulations!

                                                  • Lab receives MURI to design stimuli-responsive proteins

                                                    April 2018

                                                    With NU collaborators Mrksich and Dravid, the lab was awarded a new grant to develop new approaches to control dynamics of proteins and protein assemblies using modular, stimuli-responsive chemical switches.

                                                  • Lab wins DURIP Award!

                                                    April 2018

                                                    Congratulations to the lab for receiving an equipment grant for automatic ribosome design.

                                                  • Jewett lab members receive NSF fellowships

                                                    March 2018

                                                    Congratulations to Blake Rasor (current Jewett Lab member) and Natalia Majewska (Jewett lab undergrad) for receiving the NSF graduate fellowship. Also, congrats to Katie Warfel for receiving an honorable mention. Way to go!

                                                  • Article about cell-free systems project funded by JGI

                                                    March 2018

                                                    The latest project funded by the Joint Genome Institute (JGI) is headed by Mike and Hal Alper of the University of Texas at Austin.

                                                     

                                                    Alper: “What we’re trying to develop is a generic platform that’s pathway-agnostic, a seamless pipeline from DNA design to prototype…It’s a tool for both discovery and understanding, but always a way to speed up cell engineering.”

                                                    Mike: “People have used cell-free frameworks to understand biochemistry for decades. What’s new is idea of treating a pathway as something that can be built from enzyme cocktails…In our design-build-test cycle, the unit isn’t a plasmid or a construct, but a lysate enriched with pathway enzymes. You have freedom and flexibility; direct access to reaction conditions because you don’t have cell walls, and it’s useful for non-model organisms.”


                                                • Mike discusses cell-free protein synthesis research

                                                  March 2018

                                                  In an article by Stephan Benzkofer, Mike discusses new innovations in cell-free biotechnology, recently published in the journal Nature Communications.

                                                • Jess Stark presents her educational tools work at EBRC!

                                                  March 2018

                                                  Jessica Stark gave an oral presentation at EBRC where she shared her work on generating cell-free educational tools!

                                                • Jewett lab attends EBRC retreat at UW

                                                  March 2018

                                                  Jewett lab members gave oral and poster presentations at the 2018 EBRC conference at the University of Washington!

                                                • Ashty wins ACS BIOT Peterson Travel Award!

                                                  March 2018

                                                  Ashty has won the ACS BIOT Peterson Travel Award! Way to go Ashty!

                                                • Anne receives honorary Presidential Fellowship

                                                  March 2018

                                                  Anne has been selected for an honorary Presidential Fellowship, the most prestigious fellowship awarded to graduate students by Northwestern University. Congrats, Anne!

                                                • Sam receives Brady Scholars Program Fellowship

                                                  March 2018

                                                  Sam has received a graduate fellowship in the Brady Scholar’s Program. Congrats, Sam!

                                                • SynBREU is seeking applicants!

                                                  March 2018

                                                  The new Synthetic Biology Research Experience for Undergraduates is seeking applicants from around the country for a 10 week summer program. SynBREU provides students with the chance “to work in Northwestern Engineering’s Center for Synthetic Biology, an interdisciplinary research hub at the intersection of engineering, medicine, physics, and computer science.” (Article)

                                                  More information HERE!

                                                • Tasfia presents at AIChE Midwest Regional Conference

                                                  March 2018

                                                  Tasfia gave a talk at the 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Midwest Regional Conference at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Congrats, Tasfia!

                                                • Anne is awarded an NU BonD Travel Award

                                                  December 2017

                                                  Anne was awarded the NU BonD Travel award to give an oral presentation at ICBE Asia 2018 in Singapore! Congratulations, Anne!

                                                • Tasfia wins 2017 AIChE Undergraduate Poster Award

                                                  October 2017

                                                  Tasfia’s poster won 2nd place in the Biotechnology, Food, and Pharma III Division at the 2017 AIChE Undergraduate Student Poster Competition held in Minneapolis, MN, where about 330 undergraduates from all over the nation presented their research. Congratulations, Tasfia!

                                                • Anne and Andrea d’Aquino featured in Northwestern Now

                                                  September 2017

                                                  Anne and her twin sister Andrea are interviewed about their work inspiring young girls and minorities to pursue science.

                                                • Ashty receives Distinguished Graduate Researcher Award

                                                  August 2017

                                                  Ashty has received the 2017 Distinguished Graduate Researcher Award, an honor bestowed on the most outstanding graduate researcher in Northwestern’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. In addition to his outstanding publication and patent record that has highlighted his research dedicated to advancing new paradigms for biomanufacturing sustainable chemicals, he served as a Teaching Apprentice for the undergraduate process controls course, working with Josh Leonard, to high acclaim. Congratulations, Ashty!

                                                • Mike discusses Custom-Made Molecules

                                                  August 2017

                                                  In a recent article published in The Scientist Magazine, Mike comments on the power of making custom molecules through DNA synthesis in an automated fashion. This is in regards to new work being conducted by Synthetic Genomics in La Jolla, CA. Check it out!

                                                • Anne wins Ryan Fellowship

                                                  July 2017

                                                  Anne was selected as one of this year’s Ryan Fellows. The fellowship is awarded to the finest graduates students working in the realm of nanotechnology. Congrats, Anne!

                                                • Anne and Weston represent the Lab at SEED

                                                  July 2017

                                                  Anne presented a poster on her ribosome work and Weston gave a talk in the student session at SEED in Vancouver, Canada this year. Awesome job!

                                                • Quentin defends his dissertation

                                                  June 2017

                                                  Quentin Dudley has successfully defended his dissertation and will be graduating as Dr. Quentin Dudley. Congrats, Quentin!

                                                • Rey defends his dissertation

                                                  June 2017

                                                  Rey Martin has successfully defended his dissertation and will be graduating as Dr. Rey Martin. Congrats, Rey!

                                                • Thinking Differently: Northwestern’s Center for Synthetic Biology featured in news story

                                                  June 2017

                                                  Mike and the rest of the synthetic biology professors are the subject of one of the featured stories in the most recent issue of McCormick School of Engineering’s Spring publication. Congrats, Mike!

                                                • Erik defends his dissertation

                                                  May 2017

                                                  Erik Carlson has successfully defended his dissertation and will be graduating as Dr. Erik Carlson. Congrats, Erik!

                                                • Making antibodies minus the cells

                                                  May 2017

                                                  Rey’s recent publication in ACS Synthetic Biology was just highlighted in C&EN news. This work shows the development of a cell-free platform for rapid, high-throughput prediction of mAb expression ranking to accelerate design–build–test cycles required for antibody expression and engineering.

                                                • Mike joins Cell Systems Editorial Board

                                                  April 2017

                                                  Mike has joined the expanded editorial board of the journal Cell Systems. As featured in this editorial, Mike joins several others in expanding the scope of what Cell Systems has to offer!

                                                • Mike receives the 2017 Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence Award

                                                  April 2017

                                                  Mike was one of seven professors from Northwestern University to be selected for his commitment to and excellence in teaching. This award was highlighted in McCormmick news. Congrats, Mike!

                                                • The Jewett Lab Marches for Science

                                                  April 2017

                                                  Tasfia, Jess, Anne, and Jazzy make Northwestern’s website’s front page in their video clip contribution to Northwestern’s March for Science video. Great representation of the Jewett Lab!

                                                • Adam defends his dissertation

                                                  April 2017

                                                  Adam Hockenberry, co-advised with Mike and Luis Amaral, has successfully defended his dissertation and is graduating as Dr. Adam hockenbery. Congrats, Adam!

                                                • Jazzy and Andrew win prestigious national fellowships

                                                  April 2017

                                                  Jazzy and Andrew have each received the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship. This fellowship is only awarded to 150 graduate students national-wide who have demonstrated the ability and special aptitude for advanced training in science and engineering. Congrats to both Andrew and Jazzy!

                                                  Andrew also was awarded the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program recognizes and supports 2,000 outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics each year. Congrats, Andrew!

                                                • The lab is funded by highly competitive Human Frontier Science Program award

                                                  April 2017

                                                  The lab has been funded by the Human Frontier Science Program to create an ancient version of a cell. The team includes Andrew Ellington, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, at The University of Texas at Austin; Philippe Marliere, synthetic biologist at Genopole Evry in France; and Hiroaki Suga, professor of chemistry, at the University of Tokyo. The plan is to create a cell that uses ribozymes for transcription and tranlsation. This award was highlighted by Northwestern Engineering News.

                                                   

                                                  The Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) is an international program of research support, funding frontier research on the complex mechanisms of living organisms. Research is funded at all levels of biological complexity from biomolecules to the interactions between organisms.

                                                • The EBRC hosts their second retreat at Northwestern

                                                  March 2017

                                                  Northwestern hosted this year’s retreat for the Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC) at Norris University Center. Nearly 170 faculty, researchers, and students attended from multiple universities including MIT, Harvard, Columbia University, Caltech, Cornell, Stanford, and the University of California at Berkeley. Many exciting talks and posters were presented and our very own Ashty Karim won a poster award. It was a great event for the Center for Synthetic Biology and for our lab!

                                                • Jess represents the lab at EBRC

                                                  March 2017

                                                  Jess gave a talk on her research at the spring 2017 EBRC retreat held at Northwestern. Great job!

                                                • Ashty to attend Lindau Nobel Laureates Meeting

                                                  February 2017

                                                  Ashty was selected to attend the 2017 Lindau Nobel Laureates Meeting in June this year. Once every year, 30–40 Nobel Laureates convene at Lindau to meet the next generation of leading scientists: 400-500 undergraduates, PhD students, and post-doc researchers from all over the world. The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings foster the exchange among scientists of different generations, cultures, and disciplines. Congrats, Ashty!

                                                • Ribo-T appears in Textbook

                                                  February 2017

                                                  Work done in the lab on Ribo-T was recently highlighted with an interview with Mike in the textbook, Microbiology: An Evolving Science, by Slonczewski and Foster.

                                                   


                                                • Jessica starts her new job as an Associate Director

                                                  January 2017

                                                  Jessica Perez started her new job this month as the Associate Director of Education and Inclusivity with the Center for Power Optimization of Electro-Thermal Systems Research (POETS). POETS is an Engineering Research Center (ERC) with the long term goal of increasing the power density of current mobile electrified systems by 10-100 times over current state of the art systems. Jessica will work on the Center’s strategic education and workforce development plans including diversity/inclusivity in Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics (STEM). Congrats, Jessica!

                                                • Jessica is awarded top prize for AIChE Talk

                                                  November 2016

                                                  Quentin Dudley, Ashty Karim, and Jessica Stark attended the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California to give talks on their work. All were well received, and Jessica Stark was awarded one of four total awards given this year in Division 15 (Food, Pharmaceutical, and Bioengineering). Congrats, Jessica!

                                                • Mike awarded 2017 ACS BIOT Young Investigator Award

                                                  November 2016

                                                  Mike Jewett is awarded the American Chemical Society’s Division of Biochemical Technology (BIOT) Young Investigator Award, sponsored by Genentech, Inc. Mike will give an award lecture at the 253rd ACS National Meeting in San Francisco, California in April. Congrats, Mike!

                                                • Ashty and Anne present at the EBRC Inaugural Retreat

                                                  November 2016

                                                  Ashty and Anne attended the inaugural retreat for the Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC) at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA. Ashty presented a talk in the public webcast session, and Anne presented a poster. Anne won a first place poster award for her work on engineering ribosomes!

                                                  The EBRC aims to bring together an inclusive community committed to advancing biological engineering to address national and global needs. It is comprised of academic members from over two dozen U.S. universities and biotechnology firms ranging from start-ups to multinational conglomerate companies.

                                                • Jessica defends her dissertation and graduates

                                                  November 2016

                                                  Jessica Perez has successfully defended her dissertation and is graduating as Dr. Jessica Perez. Congrats Jessica!
                                                • dosoon

                                                • Weston passes his qualifying exam

                                                  October 2016

                                                  Weston Kightlinger passes his qualifying exam. He is now a Ph.D. candidate. Congratulations!
                                                • dosoon

                                                • Do Soon passes his qualifying exam

                                                  September 2016

                                                  Do Soon Kim passes his qualifying exam. He is now a Ph.D. candidate. Congratulations!
                                                • mellichamp

                                                • Mike gives Mellichamp Distinguished Lecture

                                                  September 2016

                                                  Professor Michael Jewett gave the inaugural Suzanne C and Duncan A Mellichamp Distinguished Lecturer in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Jewett’s lecture titled” Repuposing ribosomes for synthetic biology” offered an exciting vision towards new directions in harnessing the translation apparatus of the cell to manufacture medicines and functional materials.

                                                  In the photo left to right are David Scholl (Chair Chemical and bimolecular engineering GaTech), Suzanne Mellichamp, Duncan Mellichamp, and Michael Jewett.

                                                • Inspired by Nature: Northwestern Medicine Feature

                                                  Summer 2016

                                                  With the launch of the Center of Synthetic Biology (CSB) we are organizing a team and the infrastructure to solve big problems. The Northwestern Medicine Magazine is featuring our endeavors to retool biological systems to develop new materials and therapeutics. Read more about this here.
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                                                • Lab has huge presence at SEED 2016 in Chicago

                                                  July 2016

                                                  Our lab attended the 2016 Synthetic Biology: Engineering, Evolution & Design (SEED) conference held in Chicago sharing research endeavors with the SynBio community. One highlight includes Jessica Stark giving a well-received talk on cell-free glycosylation. In addition, Erik Carlson and Ashty Karim received poster awards for their research.

    • reserach_ribosomes_v2-copy

    • The Lab gets funding from the DOD’s MURI program

      July 2016

      New funding from the Department of Defense’s Multidisciplinary University Research Initiatives (MURI) program helps the lab extend our research to engineer and repurpose the ribosome to make new kinds of polymers for flow batteries. Read more about this here.
    • JEKThesisDefense

    • Jennifer defends her dissertation

      June 2016

      Jennifer Kay has successfully defended her dissertation and is graduating as Dr. Jennifer Kay. Congrats Jennifer!
    • JenGraduation

    • Jen graduates

      June 2016

      Jen Schoborg has officially graduated and gets ready to start her job as a Research Scietist at Pfizer. Congrats and good luck, Jen!
    • XB2Presentation

    • Mike presents at XB2

      May 2016

      Mike presented a talk on repurposing ribosomes at XB2, The Second Conference on Xenobiology in Berlin. Pictured from left to right are Tobias Erb (max plank), Farren Isaacs (yale), Chang Liu (UCI), Abhishek Chatterjee (BC), and Mike jewett (NU)
    • JenThesisDefense

    • Jen defends her dissertation

      April 2016

      Jen Schoborg has successfully defended her dissertation and is graduating as Dr. Jennifer Schoborg. Congrats Jen!
    • dosoon

    • Do Soon and Jazzy receive NSF GRFP recognition

      April 2016

      Do Soon has been awarded the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, and Jazzy received an Honorable Mention. Congrats Do Soon and Jazzy!
    • csb2

    • Center for Synthetic Biology Launch

      March 2016

      Northwestern launched it’s Center for Synthetic Biology this month bringing together faculty and students from the McCormick School of Engineering, the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, and the Feinberg School of Medicine. The Center provides a midwest hub for scientists and engineers working to program biological systems to solve some of the world’s biggest problems. Check out more about the center.
    • dosoon

    • Lauren’s two-year anniversary

      January 2016

      Lauren Clark has been with the lab for two years serving as lab manager and as research staff. She is essential to the research the lab does. To years to come!
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    • James and Justin join the lab

      January 2016

      James Kath, postdoctoral researcher, and Justin Wang, Masters in Biotechnology student, join the lab. Welcome to the Jewett Lab!
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    • Ashty Passes his qualifying exam

      January 2016

      Ashty Karim passes his qualifying exam. He is now a Ph.D. candidate. Congratulations!
    •  

    • Jess passes her qualifying exam

      October 2015

      Jessica Stark passes her qualifying exam. She is now a Ph.D. candidate. Congratulations!
    •  

    • Javin’s publication in Nature Communications gets press

      September 2015

      Javin Oza’s new publication on CFPS of phosphoproteins is out in Nature Communications. This article has garnered press highlighting the newfound ability to study special proteins associated with disease.
    •  

    • Professor Jewett is promoted

      September 2015

      Professor Jewett has been promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. Congratulations!
    •  

    • Seok Hoon is an Assistant Professor at IIT

      August 2015

      Seok Hoon Hong, former postdoctoral researcher, has accepted a position at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). Congratulations to him and the start of the Hong Lab at IIT.