Moon recognized for research by Biotechnology & Bioengineering journal

The award, named for Daniel I.C. Wang, an Institute professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a pivotal leader in developing the biotechnology industry and in shaping biochemical engineering education and training for more than 50 years, honors an accomplished younger member of the biotechnology and bioengineering community for his or her commitment to the journal and to the community it serves.

Moon, who works with synthetic gene circuits to control and improve metabolic pathways for the production of biomass-based chemicals and drugs, will make a presentation and receive a plaque and honorarium at the American Chemical Society's annual meeting in March 2019.

Moon's research focuses on constructing programmable cells that are able to process multiple input signals and to produce desirable outputs to solve problems in energy, environment, agriculture and health. He has a broad background in systems and synthetic biology, with expertise in gene regulation as well as design and construction of synthetic metabolic pathways, biosensors and complex genetic circuits. Currently, he is conducting research in engineering probiotic bacteria for medical applications; systems engineering of bacteria to enable production of fuels and chemicals from lignocellulose; understanding biological robustness by building genetic sensors and complex circuits from the bottom-up; and engineering predictable RNA regulators. He received an NSF CAREER award in 2014 and an ONR Young Investigator award in 2017.

Moon earned a doctorate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and master's and bachelor's degrees from Seoul National University.

Click on the topics below for more stories in those areas

• Brief
• Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering