Project Grant 2225877

The National Science Foundation awarded a $422,834 Project Grant to the University of California Irvine under the Engineering federal grant program (CFDA 47.041) for research titled "Collaborative Research: Data-Driven Engineering of the Thermotolerant Yeast Kluyveromyces Marxianus." The three-year project period runs from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2025.

The award will support applying machine learning and deep learning techniques to metabolic engineering of yeast for increased production of biochemicals and biofuels. Researchers will use synthetic biology and CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing approaches guided by computational models to genetically modify yeast strains and optimize production of malonyl-CoA, a precursor for polyketides. High-throughput screening at the Argonne National Laboratory Agile BioFoundry will generate large datasets for developing predictive "DeepMetabolism" algorithms linking genotypes to phenotypes. Results aim to advance both biomanufacturing and computational methods with broad applications for engineering microbial production of strategic metabolites.