Research
Systems and Synthetic Biology
We aim to understand microbial gene regulatory networks and engineer microbes for addressing energy, environmental, and health issues. Specifically, we are interested in developing synthetic biology tools, constructing genetic circuits, and engineering regulatory RNAs in diverse bacteria. Learn more
Tae Seok Moon
Postdoctoral research at MIT and University of California-San Francisco provided Dr. Moon with expertise in the design and construction of genetic circuits. As a graduate student at MIT, he learned how to construct and optimize novel metabolic pathways to produce biochemicals that can replace oil-based chemicals. Combining his research experiences with more than five years experience in the biotechnology industry, he envisions his career as transforming biology research from an “observation” approach to a “synthesis-based engineering” activity to address energy, environment and health issues. Learn more about Dr. Moon
Recent News & Announcements
2021
December
Prof. Moon expressed his opinion on discrimination in academia and embracing each other in an interview with St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis. Link
Welcome, Yuxin Tian, Stephen Chiu & Nadiyah Alamri who join as PhD students!
Welcome, Dahlia Abdulsattar, Yuefeng Ma & Bingdi Liu who join as rotation students!
Prof. Moon chaired a radical paper review process workshop during which audiences can provide open comments on submitted papers.
Prof. Moon gave a keynote talk at the “Synthetic Biology as a Bioeconomy Prospect” workshop.
Prof. Moon gave an invited talk at the 2nd International BioDesign Research Conference.
Prof. Moon gave a keynote talk at BIOS2021.
Prof. Moon gave an invited talk at the Gogec conference.
Our paper “Engineering ligand-specific biosensors for aromatic amino acids and neurochemicals” was recommended by Faculty Opinions!
November
Prof. Moon gave an invited talk virtually in the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability at the Technical University of Denmark.
Prof. Moon serves as an editorial member of Biomolecules (MDPI) & an editor of BioDesign Research journal (AAAS).
The high school iGEM team, which the Moon and Ling labs advised, received a Bronze medal. Congrats! Link
Prof. Moon serves as an editorial board member for two more journals: Metabolic Engineering Communications, Elsevier, and Synthetic Biology, Oxford University Press.
Prof. Moon gave an invited talk at the AFCC Global Biobased Economy meeting.
Prof. Moon gave an invited talk at Columbia University.
Moon gave an invited talk at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Congrats, Austin, Chenggang et al.! Our paper is published in Cell Systems! Link | Press Release
Austin gave a talk at the 2021 AIChE meeting.
Prof. Moon gave a seminar at MIT.
Prof. Moon gave a seminar at Boston University.
Prof. Moon gave 3 talks at the 2021 AIChE meeting.
Prof. Moon gives a talk at the 4th International Conference on Microbiome Engineering.
October
Prof. Moon gave an invited talk at Reliance Industries Limited.
Gloria Zhou, Nadiyah Alamri, and Bojing Jiang join the Moon lab as Grad Rotation students! Welcome!
Prof. Moon gave an invited talk on the Nature Inspired & Biotechnology University Day at Doolittle Institute (AFRL).
Prof. Moon gave a keynote talk along with the plenary talks by Profs. Jim Collins, David Baker, Jay Keasling, Jens Nielsen et al. at the KSBB conference. Link
Prof. Moon gave a keynote talk with Chris Voigt et al. at the inaugural International Synthetic Biology & Biosecurity Conference in Uganda. Link
Prof. Moon gave a presentation at 4th International Conference on CRISPR Technologies.
September
Prof. Moon gave an invited talk at Seoul National University.
Prof. Moon & the lab are featured at Voice of America. Link
Prof. Moon’s life story and work are featured in Student Life. Link
Prof. Moon gave an invited talk at JBEI.
Prof. Moon gave an invited talk at Central Synthetic Biology Workshop (Northwestern U).
Shri and Stephen join our lab as PhD rotation students. Welcome!
DOE features our plastic upcycling research on its page. Link
The Moon lab project is featured as the top story on 9/7 by UPI. Link
Prof. Moon gave a talk at the 2021 DOE JGI meeting.
August
Prof. Moon gave 4 talks at ACS.
Prof. Moon gave a presentation at the Cold Spring Harbor meeting (Genome Engineering: CRISPR Frontiers).
Prof. Moon is organizing SynBYSS with the kickoff on 8/26. See details under Education & Outreach. Link
Franklin Zhong joins as a Grad student. Welcome!
Andrew Martin joins as an undergrad student. Welcome!
The Moon lab receives a DOE grant for “Developing a consolidated biological process to upcycle plastics” starting September. Link
Prof. Moon visited MIT, Yale U, Boston U, Manus Bio, Synlogic, and Ginkgo to give an invited talk, discuss a startup opportunity, and collaborate.
Dr. Abhijit Manna joins as a postdoc scholar. Welcome!
Puneet Dhatt joins as a Grad student. Welcome!
July
Prof. Moon gave an invited talk at an EPA workshop.
Prof. Moon gave an invited talk at Synlogic.
Prof. Moon serves as an iGEM Grant Committee Member.
EPA Region 7 Administrator Edward Chu visits the Moon lab to give the EPA grant to Prof. Moon and CoPI Kim Parker. Link Link Link
Prof. Moon serves as an MIT Educational Counselor, conducting interviews and writing interview reports for MIT Undergrad Admissions.
The Moon lab receives an EPA grant with CoPI Dr. Parker. Link
Prof. Moon & Dr. Diao give three presentations at Metabolic Engineering 14.
Prof. Moon serves as an Editorial Board Member for Biotechnology Notes.
Prof. Moon serves as a Special Issue Editor for BioDesign Research (AAAS). Link
June
Prof. Moon is chairing and organizing the inaugural Synthetic Biology Young Speaker Series (SynBYSS), a year-long or even longer, weekly event that consists of a short inspiring talk by a global thought or synthetic biology leader, followed by a long talk by a rising star in synthetic biology. See the advertisement under Education & Outreach.
The Moon lab is selected as the winner for the microbiology category of 2021 ATCC Photo Contest! Congrats! We received 1015 votes! See our winning photo under PEOPLE!
Professor Moon gave three presentations at the SEED conference.
Matt and Chenghao join the lab as PhD students. Welcome!
Moon Research Group receives a grant from DOD ONR for “Engineering microbes to control heat production.” Link
Professor Moon participated in 3 EBRC Roadmap Assessment Workshops.
Professor Moon is nominated to join the Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC) Council this fall. Link
Jordan and Joshua join the lab, Welcome!
May
Prof. Moon serves as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for ACS Synthetic Biology.
Our collaboration work with Prof. Parker is published. Link
Professor Moon gave a talk (virtually) at the USDA NIFA BRAG Meeting.
Austin gave a talk (virtually) at the EBRC Seminar Series.
April
Professor Moon gave a talk (virtually) at the spring EBRC meeting, regarding our neurochemical sensors (provisional patent application).
JinJin gave a poster presentation at the spring EBRC meeting, regarding muconate production using Rhodococcus.
Professor Moon gave an invited talk & a contributed talk (virtually) at the 43rd SIMB-SBFC conference, regarding plastic upcycling (provisional patent application) and lignin valorization.
Rhiannon gave a poster presentation at the 43rd Symposium on Biomaterials, Fuels and Chemicals (SIMB-SBFC) conference, regarding our improved CRISPR interference tool to engineer Rhodococcus opacus.
March
Congratulations to Drew et al. for their paper published:
DM DeLorenzo, J Diao, R Carr, Y Hu and TS Moon. An improved CRISPR interference tool to engineer Rhodococcus opacus. ACS Synth. Biol. Link
Yuxin Tian joined our lab as a rotation student. Welcome!
February
Our alum Tatenda Shopera is among the researchers who developed one of the first vaccines for COVID-19 at Pfizer! He is featured on the news! Link
January
Alden Filko, Matt Lima, and Xinyue Mu joined our lab as rotation students. Welcome all!