Research Interests and Accomplishments

Yo Suzuki is an Assistant Professor in the Synthetic Biology and Bioenergy Department at the JCVI. He uses the 'Green Monster' method for genome engineering. In this method, GFP-marked genomic alterations such as deletions and insertions are assembled into a single genome via repeated rounds of mating, meiosis, and flow-cytometric enrichment of yeast cells harboring the alterations. He is interested in (1) generating yeast multi-mutants to reveal previously unidentified genetic interactions, (2) introducing exogenous biosynthetic pathways into yeast to make valuable compounds, and (3) engineering bacterial genomes residing in yeast to help characterize the minimal cellular life.

Yo earned his Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Colorado for his work on a C. elegans TGF-b gene with Bill Wood. While in Colorado, he became interested in the problem of multi-gene genetic interaction. As a postdoctoral fellow with Min Han, he identified genes that act in parallel with a C. elegans homolog of the tumor suppressor gene PTEN. He switched to yeast and developed the Green Monster method for multi-locus engineering in Fritz Roth's lab at Harvard Medical School. He joined the JCVI in 2010.

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