Paul James

I am interested in combining biochemistry, structural biology, metabolic engineering and structural biology to develop bacteria into programmable cell factories that will act as the buildings metabolism with the HBBE. Much of my research to date has focused on the structural and biochemical characterisation of enzymes from thermophilic sources and has been done in collaboration with industry to help provide better biocatalysts for a range of different processes. In 2013 i was introduced to synthetic biology through the iGEM competition (iGEM) and after moving to the Exeter Microbial Biofuel Group my research focus shifted to look at the domestication of industrially relevant bacteria. This researched relied on strong industrial collaboration and i believe that strong stakeholder engagement is vital and something i hope to continue with the HBBE. My research aims to use a multi 'omic' approach to increase the number of tools we have available for novel industrially relevant bacteria so that we can increase their role as hosts for biotechnological applications. In the HBBE we want to be able to use these bacteria within the 'Living' house to metabolise waste and generate energy and other high value products. One of the elements of the HBBE I am most looking forward to is working with an interdisciplinary team of highly skilled researchers and bringing together a wide range of different technologies to create a new generation of living buildings.