Dr Kang Lan Tee
School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
Senior Lecturer
Deputy Director of Student Support (PGT)
Full contact details
School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
Sir Henry Stephenson Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 4DT
- Profile
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In 2019, I established my independent research group at the University of Sheffield, the same year I was awarded the Global Challenges Research Fellowship to advance sustainable bioplastics production. Our research leverages engineering biology to drive the advancements in biomanufacturing, focusing on four primary areas:
1. Engineered Bacteria for Bioplastics Production and Recycling: We engineer bacterial strains to synthesize diverse polyhydroxyalkanoates and produce enzymes for efficient depolymerization.
2. Microbial CO2 Conversion: By converting carbon dioxide into high-value bio-products, we contribute to a sustainable biomanufacturing ecosystem.
3. Customized Microbial Chassis: Our work in strain adaptation creates tailored microbial platforms optimized for specific industrial applications.4. Virus-Like Particles for Therapeutics and Vaccines: We develop virus-like particles as innovative delivery systems for vaccines and therapeutics.
As an innovator and entrepreneur, I co-founded Evolutor Ltd (UK), a company that leverages proprietary adaptive laboratory evolution technologies to enhance and optimize industrial biomanufacturing strains. In 2024, I co-founded ReNewFood, a venture to develop novel protein-based flavour ingredients to transform the alternative food industry. Our passion is in bridging the gap between cutting-edge research and real-world applications, driving innovation and sustainable solutions across multiple industries.
Beyond academia, I am passionate about translating research into impactful real-world solutions. As an innovator and entrepreneur, I co-founded Evolutor Ltd to deploy proprietary adaptive laboratory evolution technologies, enhancing and optimizing strains for industrial biomanufacturing. In 2024, I co-founded ReNewFood Ltd, a venture dedicated to developing novel protein-based flavor ingredients to revolutionize the alternative food industry. Through these work, we aim to bridge the gap between pioneering research and transformative applications, fostering sustainable innovation across industries.
- Research interests
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Our team leverages cutting-edge biological engineering to tackle global challenges in biomanufacturing and human health. By harnessing the power of engineered microbes, we produce a diverse array of high-impact products, including bioplastics, biochemicals, and biopharmaceuticals. Our core expertise lies in several critical areas:
(1) development and production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs),
(2) carbon dioxide utilisation
(3) engineered virus-like particles (VLPs) for vaccine development.
We also design and develop new tools for engineering novel microbial strains, enabling the creation of even more robust and versatile biological solutions. Our ultimate goal is to drive biomanufacturing to deliver sustainable, scalable, and impactful solutions.Key research interests:
• Bioplastics production and recycling
• Microbial carbon dioxide conversion
• Customized microbial chassis
• Virus-like particles for therapeutics
- Publications
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Books
- Ein praktischer Leitfaden für Protein Engineering. Springer International Publishing.
- A Practical Guide to Protein Engineering. Springer International Publishing.
Journal articles
- Fast‐track adaptive laboratory evolution of Cupriavidus necator H16 with divalent metal cations. Biotechnology Journal, 19(7).
- Random and combinatorial mutagenesis for improved total production of secretory target protein in Escherichia coli. Scientific Reports, 11(1).
- Lignin to polyhydroxyalkanoate bioprocessing by novel strain of Pseudomonas monteilii. Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery.
- Author correction to ‘Design and application of genetically-encoded malonyl-CoA biosensors for metabolic engineering of microbial cell factories’ [Metab. Eng. 44 (2017) 253–264]. Metabolic Engineering.
- Accelerated directed evolution of dye-decolorizing peroxidase using a bacterial extracellular protein secretion system (BENNY). Bioresources and Bioprocessing, 6(1). View this article in WRRO
- Metabolic pathway analysis for in silico design of efficient autotrophic production of advanced biofuels. Bioresources and Bioprocessing, 6(1). View this article in WRRO
- Adaptive laboratory evolution of cupriavidus necator H16 for carbon co-utilization with glycerol. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 20(22). View this article in WRRO
- PTO-QuickStep : a fast and efficient method for cloning random mutagenesis libraries. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 20(16). View this article in WRRO
- Protein engineering for bioreduction of carboxylic acids. Journal of Biotechnology, 303, 53-64.
- An Engineered Constitutive Promoter Set with Broad Activity Range for Cupriavidus necator H16. ACS Synthetic Biology, 7(8), 1918-1928. View this article in WRRO
- An Efficient Transformation Method for the Bioplastic‐Producing “Knallgas” Bacterium Ralstonia eutropha H16. Biotechnology Journal, 12(11). View this article in WRRO
- Design and application of genetically-encoded malonyl-CoA biosensors for metabolic engineering of microbial cell factories. Metabolic Engineering, 44, 253-264. View this article in WRRO
- Catalytic Determinants of Alkene Production by the Cytochrome P450 Peroxygenase OleTJE. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 292, 5128-5143. View this article in WRRO
- Production of alkenes and novel secondary products by P450 OleT JE using novel H2O2-generating fusion protein systems. FEBS Letters. View this article in WRRO
- Single-step fermentative production of the cholesterol-lowering drug pravastatin via reprogramming of Penicillium chrysogenum. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(9), 2847-2852.
- Polishing the craft of genetic diversity creation in directed evolution. Biotechnology Advances, 31(8), 1707-1721. View this article in WRRO
- The role of active-site Phe87 in modulating the organic co-solvent tolerance of cytochrome P450 BM3 monooxygenase. Acta Crystallographica Section F Structural Biology and Crystallization Communications, 68(9), 1013-1017.
- Directed Evolution of an Antitumor Drug (Arginine Deiminase PpADI) for Increased Activity at Physiological pH. ChemBioChem, 11(5), 691-697.
- Exploring genetic diversity in enzyme engineering using Sequence Saturation Mutagenesis (SeSaM). New Biotechnology, 25, S123-S123.
- A p-nitrothiophenolate screening system for the directed evolution of a two-component epoxygenase (StyAB). Journal of Molecular Catalysis B: Enzymatic, 50(2-4), 121-127.
- Transversion-enriched sequence saturation mutagenesis (SeSaM-Tv+): A random mutagenesis method with consecutive nucleotide exchanges that complements the bias of error-prone PCR. Biotechnology Journal, 3(1), 74-82.
- Directed Evolution of Oxygenases: Screening Systems, Success Stories and Challenges. Combinatorial Chemistry & High Throughput Screening, 10(3), 197-217.
- A Screening System for the Directed Evolution of Epoxygenases: Importance of Position 184 in P450 BM3 for Stereoselective Styrene Epoxidation. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 45(32), 5380-5383.
- Sequence saturation mutagenesis (SeSam) of a gene. BioSpektrum, 12(3), 277-279.
- Sequence saturation mutagenesis with tunable mutation frequencies. Analytical Biochemistry, 341(1), 187-189.
- Sequence saturation mutagenesis (SeSaM): a novel method for directed evolution. Nucleic Acids Research, 32(3), 26e-26.
- Crafting Genetic Diversity: Unlocking the Potential of Protein Evolution. SynBio, 2(2), 142-173.
- Evaluating oleaginous yeasts for enhanced microbial lipid production using sweetwater as a sustainable feedstock. Microbial Cell Factories, 23(1).
- Directed evolution for improved total secretory protein production in Escherichia coli.
- Production of Trimeric SARS‐CoV‐2 Spike Protein by CHO Cells for Serological COVID‐19 Testing. Biotechnology and Bioengineering.
- Ionic liquid effects on the activity of monooxygenase P450 BM-3. Green Chem., 10(1), 117-123.
Chapters
- Rapid Cloning of Random Mutagenesis Libraries Using PTO-QuickStep, Methods in Molecular Biology (pp. 123-135). Springer US
- Microbial Utilization of Glycerol for Biomanufacturing, Engineering of Microbial Biosynthetic Pathways (pp. 245-302). Springer Singapore
- Back to Basics: Creating Genetic Diversity, Directed Enzyme Evolution: Advances and Applications (pp. 201-227). Springer International Publishing
- Biological Diversity of Cytochrome P450 Redox Partner Systems, Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology (pp. 299-317). Springer International Publishing
- Directed evolution: A powerful algorithm for advancing synthetic biology. In Singh V (Ed.), Biotechnology Volume 4: Applied Synthetic Biology (pp. 465-497). USA: Studium Press LLC.
Conference proceedings papers
- Biotechnological applications of cytochrome P450 enzymes. FEBS OPEN BIO, Vol. 8 (pp 21-21)
Other
- Building global health with lego vaccines. Open Access Government, 42(1), 32-33.
- Microbe development for the biomanufacturing age. Open Access Government, 41(1), 378-379.
- CO2 bioeconomy: Creating value from carbon dioxide. Open Access Government, 40(1), 422-423.
Preprints
- Microbial Synthesis of Polyhydroxyalkanoate Blends with Engineered Pseudomonas Putida, Elsevier BV.
- Crafting Genetic Diversity: Unlocking the Potential of Protein Evolution, MDPI AG.
- Fast-track adaptive laboratory evolution ofCupriavidus necatorH16 with divalent metal cations, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- Sweetwater: an underrated crude glycerol for sustainable lipid production in non-conventional yeasts, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- Production of Trimeric SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein by CHO Cells for Serological COVID-19 Testing, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- Production of Trimeric SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein by CHO Cells for Serological COVID-19 Testing, Authorea, Inc..
- Purification of recombinant SARS-CoV-2 spike, its receptor binding domain, and CR3022 mAb for serological assay.
- Ein praktischer Leitfaden für Protein Engineering. Springer International Publishing.
- Teaching activities
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CPE61016 Bioresources and Bioprocessing
- Professional activities and memberships
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- Associate Editor for Frontiers in Microbiology
- Editorial board member for Bioresources and Bioprocessing
- Member of EPSRC Peer Review College
- BBSRC Pool of Experts