“Engineering Electronic Connection Between the Living and Non-living Systems”

Online via Microsoft Teams

Hosts: Prof Sarah Coulthurst & Prof Nicola Stanley-Wall 

Abstract: 

“Life is nothing but an electron looking for a place to rest,” quoted from Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Albert Szent-Györgyi, underscores the critical role of electron movement in all living systems. In this seminar, I will introduce the fundamental principles of extracellular electron transfer (EET), observed in unique microbes capable of exchanging electrons beyond their cell boundaries. Through four compelling examples, I will showcase my contributions to uncovering novel EET pathways, enhancing electron transfer efficiency at interfaces through bioengineering and material engineering, engineering electron flux for rapid biosensing, and crafting biohybrid systems for solar chemical synthesis. Additionally, I’ll outline research plans focused on engineering biology for environment, energy, and healthcare, all from the perspective of electron transfer. I invite engaging discussions and collaboration with the audience to further explore these exciting frontiers. 

Biography   

Dr. Lin Su is currently a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Cambridge, where he has been working with the Reisner Lab in the Department of Chemistry since 2021. Lin holds a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Southeast University, which he obtained in 2021. His background is in bioelectrochemistry and synthetic biology, which he honed during a visit to Prof. Caroline Ajo-Franklin’s group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory since 2016. Lin's research focuses on engineering electron transfer at microorganism-material interfaces, intending to develop biohybrid systems for semi-artificial photosynthesis and bioelectronic sensors for information exchange. 
https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=XBwfd50AAAAJ