B.Tech. (Indian Institute of Technology), Ph.D. (Delaware)
Principal Investigator, Laboratory for Metabolic Systems Engineering and
BioZone - Centre for Applied Bioscience and Bioengineering
Room: WB326 | Tel.: 416-946-0996 | Email: email@example.com
Systems Analysis and Engineering of Biological Processes
Research Interests: modeling and analysis of metabolic and regulatory networks, bioinformatics and systems biology, engineering biological systems for applications in metabolic engineering, bioremediation, bioenergy and bioprocess optimization.
Although detailed models of cellular processes have been constructed in the past, research in this area has attained a new dimension in the last few years due to the development of novel high-throughput experimental techniques for both sensing and manipulating cellular processes at a molecular level. As an example, both steady state genome scale models and smaller dynamic models of metabolism of several industrially important organisms including Escherichia coli have been developed in the past. More recently, such models have been developed for a metal reducing bacteria (Geobacter sulfurreducens) with applications in bioelectricity and bioremediation and have been used to rationally engineer the metabolism for improved electricity generation. However, further research is required to extend such models of metabolism to represent the inherent dynamics of biological systems and to account for the increased complexity in multi-cellular organisms and microbial communities.
Metabolic Engineering using Systems and Synthetic Biology
Availability of genome-scale metabolic models can accelerate the optimization of metabolism for the synthesis of biochemicals and fuels. A key requirement for sustainable development is the ability to synthesis chemicals and fuels from renewable feedstocks. We are using these genome-scale models to optimize microbial metabolism for the production of fuels and chemicals. In addition, we are also develop novel synthetic biology tools using genetic circuits such as toggle switch for the dynamic control of metabolic pathways in order to optimize metabolism effectively for biochemicals production.Optimization and control of biological processes
Gawand P, Hyland P, Ekins A, Martin VJ, Mahadevan R. Novel approach to engineer strains for simultaneous sugar utilization. 2013, Metab Eng. 20, 63-72.
N. Anesiadis, H.Kobayashi, W. R. Cluett, R. Mahadevan, “Analysis and design of a genetic circuit for dynamic metabolic engineering”, 2013, ACS Synthetic Biology, 2(8):442-52.
T. Khaezei, A. McGuigan, R. Mahadevan, “Ensemble Modeling of Cancer Metabolism”, 2012, 3,1-14, Frontiers in Computational Physiology and Medicine.
K. Zhuang, G. Vemuri, R. Mahadevan*, “Economics of Membrane Occupancy and Respiro-fermentation”. 2011, 7:500, Nature Groups’ Molecular Systems Biology.
R. Mahadevan*, B. O. Palsson, and D. R. Lovley, “In situ to in silico and back: elucidating the physiology and ecology of Geobacter spp. using genome-scale modelling”, Nature Reviews Microbiology, 2011, 9(1), 39-50. (Featured on the cover page)
K. Zhuang, C. Risso, M. Izallalen, H. Richter, P. Mouser, R. Mahadevan, and D. R. Lovley, “Genome-Scale Dynamic Modeling of Competition among Rhodoferax and Geobacter in anoxic environments”, Nature Groups’ ISME Journal, 2010, 107, 352.(*: corresponding author)