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Bio
Yo Suzuki is an associate professor working in the Synthetic Biology group. Dr. Suzuki’s research is focused on systematic investigation of gene functions in various organisms. This includes studies of phenotypes involving inactivation or hyperactivation of multiple genes that can reveal novel gene functions. In some cases, these functions can be incorporated into microbial organisms through genome engineering to serve specific purposes in industrial or biomedical applications.
Prior to his appointment at JCVI, Dr. Suzuki was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School. He began is career as a research associate with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Boulder, Colorado.
He received his PhD from University of Colorado at Boulder in molecular biology. His undergraduate degree is from Nagoya University in Japan.
Related Information
Research Priorities
Understanding cellular life
- Systematic analysis of gene functions for all genes in the genome using conditional gene inactivation via CRISPRi in a minimal bacterial cell.
Engineering deep-skin microbiotas toward a treatment for type 1 diabetes
- Construction of bacteria that can respond to rising blood glucose levels and produce a variant of insulin in a suitable layer of the skin to serve as a surrogate for the insulin-producing cell in the body.
- Eventual development of a safe, non-invasive, non-immunoreactive, and fully automated system for glucose sensing and insulin administration.
Developing organisms for producing fuels and valuable compounds from biomass
- Establishment of synthetic biology pipelines for designing, building, and testing organisms and other biological systems.
- Application of advanced genome engineering technologies to the engineering of bacteria with the capacity to utilize aromatic compounds derived from lignin.
- Identification of synergistic interactions among cellulases and incorporation of these interactions into designer cellulosomes for efficient release of sugar from biomass.
Using drug-sensitive yeast strains to rapidly identify mechanisms of action for drugs
- Identification of candidate targets for antimalarials and anti-cancer compounds using whole genome sequencing in yeast strains that acquired mutations to resist these compounds.
- Validation of causal mutations for the resistance phenotypes using genetic engineering.
- Acceleration of the identification of compound targets in native organisms with information from facile yeast experiments.
Publications
Publications
Journal of bacteriology. 2025-03-20; 207.3: e0041524.
Robust and highly efficient transformation method for a minimal mycoplasma cell
Frontiers in microbiology. 2024-05-31; 15.1411609.
Cloning and sequencing analysis of whole Spiroplasma genome in yeast
ACS synthetic biology. 2023-09-15; 12.9: 2778-2782.
Improved Combinatorial Assembly and Barcode Sequencing for Gene-Sized DNA Constructs
Communications biology. 2022-02-11; 5.1: 128.
Adaptive laboratory evolution in S. cerevisiae highlights role of transcription factors in fungal xenobiotic resistance
Cellular microbiology. 2021-12-01; 23.12: e13392.
Blockade of endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced cell death by Ureaplasma parvum vacuolating factor
Current opinion in biotechnology. 2021-10-01; 71.25-31.
Biotechnology for secure biocontainment designs in an emerging bioeconomy
Cell systems. 2020-01-22; 10.1: 25-38.e10.
Highly Combinatorial Genetic Interaction Analysis Reveals a Multi-Drug Transporter Influence Network
ACS synthetic biology. 2018-06-15; 7.6: 1538-1552.
Tuning Gene Activity by Inducible and Targeted Regulation of Gene Expression in Minimal Bacterial Cells
Cancer prevention research (Philadelphia, Pa.). 2017-04-01; 10.4: 226-234.
The Human Microbiome and Cancer
PLoS pathogens. 2016-07-28; 12.7: e1005763.
Open Source Drug Discovery with the Malaria Box Compound Collection for Neglected Diseases and Beyond
Scientific reports. 2016-06-13; 6.27806.
Comparative chemical genomics reveal that the spiroindolone antimalarial KAE609 (Cipargamin) is a P-type ATPase inhibitor
Science (New York, N.Y.). 2016-03-25; 351.6280: aad6253.
Design and synthesis of a minimal bacterial genome
Journal of virology. 2015-04-01; 89.8: 4706.
Correction for Joseph et al., Adaptation of pandemic H2N2 influenza A viruses in humans
Genome research. 2015-03-01; 25.3: 435-44.
Bacterial genome reduction using the progressive clustering of deletions via yeast sexual cycling
Journal of virology. 2015-02-01; 89.4: 2442-7.
Adaptation of pandemic H2N2 influenza A viruses in humans
Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy. 2015-01-01; 59.1: 536-43.
Genomic and transcriptomic analyses of colistin-resistant clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae reveal multiple pathways of resistance
PloS one. 2015-01-01; 10.9: e0137466.
Cloning Should Be Simple: Escherichia coli DH5α-Mediated Assembly of Multiple DNA Fragments with Short End Homologies
Nature protocols. 2014-04-01; 9.4: 743-50.
Transferring whole genomes from bacteria to yeast spheroplasts using entire bacterial cells to reduce DNA shearing
Frontiers in microbiology. 2014-01-01; 5.369.
Rescue of mutant fitness defects using in vitro reconstituted designer transposons in Mycoplasma mycoides
Nature methods. 2013-05-01; 10.5: 410-2.
Direct transfer of whole genomes from bacteria to yeast
ACS synthetic biology. 2012-07-20; 1.7: 267-73.
Assembly of large, high G+C bacterial DNA fragments in yeast
Molecular systems biology. 2011-11-08; 7.544.
Systematic exploration of synergistic drug pairs
Nature methods. 2011-02-01; 8.2: 159-64.