Chang Liu (synthetic biologist)
Chang C. Liu | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | Harvard University (BA) Scripps Research Institute (PhD) |
| Known for | Orthogonal DNA Replication, Continuous evolution, Synthetic biology |
| Awards | NIH Director's Transformative Research Award (2020) Moore Inventor Fellow (2019) Sloan Research Fellowship (2016) NIH Director's New Innovator Award (2015) Beckman Young Investigator Award (2015) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Biomedical engineering, Chemical biology, Synthetic biology |
| Doctoral advisor | Peter G. Schultz |
| Website | liulab |
Chang C. Liu is an American chemist and biological engineer. He is a Professor and Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), holding joint appointments in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry, and Molecular Biology & Biochemistry. He serves as the founding Director of the UCI Center for Synthetic Biology and the founding Director of the Engineering + Health Institute.[1]
Liu's work integrates principles from chemistry and engineering to create genetic systems capable of rapid evolution and molecular recording.
Education
Liu graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University in 2005 with a B.A. in Chemistry. He completed his Ph.D. at the Scripps Research Institute in 2009 under Peter G. Schultz, focusing on expanding the bacterial genetic code.[2] From 2009 to 2012, he was a Miller Postdoctoral Fellow at University of California, Berkeley, working with Adam Arkin on RNA-based regulatory systems.
Research
Liu's laboratory at UC Irvine focuses on synthetic biology, protein engineering, and molecular evolution.[1]
Continuous evolution and orthogonal DNA replication
Liu is best known for developing orthogonal DNA replication, a genetic architecture that achieves durable continuous mutation and evolution of target genes in vivo.[3] This is exemplified by OrthoRep, a highly error-prone, orthogonal DNA replication system in yeast.[4][5] OrthoRep allows for the targeted mutagenesis of specific genes at rates orders of magnitude higher than the genomic mutation limit. By decoupling the evolution of user-selected genes from the host genome, OrthoRep enables the continuous in vivo evolution of proteins and enzymes, accelerating the discovery of new biological functions and the study of sequence-function relationships.
Molecular recording
His group engineers specialized genetic systems to record transient biological information as heritable mutations.[6][7] Such "molecular ticker tape" approaches utilize high mutation rates to track cellular lineages and developmental events in animal models and cancer progression at high cellular resolution.
Career
Liu joined the UCI faculty in 2013. In 2024, he was appointed the inaugural Director of the UCI Engineering + Health Institute.[8] He also served as a Chancellor's Fellow at UCI for the 2022-2025 term.
Awards and honors
- Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists Finalist (2022)[9]
- Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (2022)[10]
- NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award (2020)[11]
- Moore Inventor Fellow (2019)[12]
- ACS Synthetic Biology Young Innovator Award (2019)
- Sloan Research Fellowship (2016)[13]
- NIH Director's New Innovator Award (2015)[14]
- Beckman Young Investigator Award (2015)[15]
- Hertz Foundation Fellowship (2005)[16]
References
- ^ a b "Faculty Profile: Chang Liu". Samueli School of Engineering, UC Irvine. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
- ^ Liu, C.C.; Schultz, P.G. (2010). "Adding new chemistries to the genetic code". Annual Review of Biochemistry. 79: 413–444. doi:10.1146/annurev.biochem.052308.093131. PMC 3079308.
- ^ Ravikumar, Arjun; Arrieta, Adrian; Liu, Chang C. (March 2014). "An orthogonal DNA replication system in yeast". Nature Chemical Biology. 10 (3): 175–177. doi:10.1038/nchembio.1439. ISSN 1552-4469.
- ^ Ravikumar, A.; Arzumanyan, G. A.; Dutton, M. K.; Liu, C. C. (2018). "Scalable continuous evolution for the generation of diverse enzyme variants". Cell. 175 (7): 1946–1957. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2018.10.021. PMC 6343851.
- ^ Rix, Gordon; Williams, Rory L.; Hu, Vincent J.; Spinner, Aviv; Pisera, Alexander (Olek); Marks, Debora S.; Liu, Chang C. (2024-11-08). "Continuous evolution of user-defined genes at 1 million times the genomic mutation rate". Science. 386 (6722): eadm9073. doi:10.1126/science.adm9073. PMC 11750425. PMID 39509492.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link) - ^ Loveless, Theresa B.; Grotts, Joseph H.; Schechter, Mason W.; Forouzmand, Elmira; Carlson, Courtney K.; Agahi, Bijan S.; Liang, Guohao; Ficht, Michelle; Liu, Beide; Xie, Xiaohui; Liu, Chang C. (June 2021). "Lineage tracing and analog recording in mammalian cells by single-site DNA writing". Nature Chemical Biology. 17 (6): 739–747. doi:10.1038/s41589-021-00769-8. ISSN 1552-4469. PMC 8891441.
- ^ Loveless, Theresa B.; Carlson, Courtney K.; Dentzel Helmy, Catalina A.; Hu, Vincent J.; Ross, Sara K.; Demelo, Matt C.; Murtaza, Ali; Liang, Guohao; Ficht, Michelle; Singhai, Arushi; Pajoh-Casco, Marcello J.; Liu, Chang C. (April 2025). "Open-ended molecular recording of sequential cellular events into DNA". Nature Chemical Biology. 21 (4): 512–521. doi:10.1038/s41589-024-01764-5. ISSN 1552-4450. PMC 11952980. PMID 39543397.
- ^ "Chang Liu Named Inaugural Director of Engineering + Health Institute". UCI Samueli School. 2024-02-15.
- ^ "Chang Liu: 2022 Blavatnik National Awards Finalist". Blavatnik Awards. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
- ^ "AIMBE College of Fellows: Chang Liu". AIMBE. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
- ^ "Transformative Research Award Funded Research". NIH Common Fund. National Institutes of Health. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ "2019 Moore Inventor Fellows". Moore Foundation. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
- ^ "Past Sloan Research Fellows". Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
- ^ "NIH New Innovator Award Recipients 2015". National Institutes of Health.
- ^ "Beckman Young Investigator: Chang Liu". Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation.
- ^ "Hertz Fellow Profile: Chang Liu". Hertz Foundation.