Welcome to the Environmental Molecular and Synthetic Biology Laboratory (Wei Research Group) in Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
The overarching theme of our research is to understand and engineer microbial systems at the molecular level to address emerging environmental challenges.
We leverages the power of synthetic biology and AI-driven approaches to design programmable biological systems with new and enhanced functionalities.
Our vision is to integrate environmental engineering and synthetic biology to advance circular resource use, water security, and public health protection.
The major ongoing research areas in our lab include:
- Phosphorus (P) conversion and recovery for circular bioeconomy
The overarching theme of our research is to understand and engineer microbial systems at the molecular level to address emerging environmental challenges.
We leverages the power of synthetic biology and AI-driven approaches to design programmable biological systems with new and enhanced functionalities.
Our vision is to integrate environmental engineering and synthetic biology to advance circular resource use, water security, and public health protection.
The major ongoing research areas in our lab include:
- Waste-to-value transformation and resource recovery
- Phosphorus (P) conversion and recovery for circular bioeconomy
- Plastic biodegradation and upcycling
- Biosensing for public health protection
