Speaker: Huimin Zhao, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Title: AI for Synthetic Biology

Abstract: 

Synthetic biology aims to design novel or improved biological systems using engineering principles, which has broad applications in medical, chemical, food, and agricultural industries. However, due to the complexity of biological systems, performing synthetic biology in a quantitative and predictive manner remains a challenge. In recent years, thanks to advances in data science, artificial intelligence (AI) that allows computers to learn from experience has emerged as a potentially powerful tool to address this challenge. In this talk, I will highlight our recent work on the development of AI tools and an AI-powered self-driving biofoundry to accelerate the design-build-test-learn cycle in synthetic biology. Examples include but are not limited to: (a) ECNet: a deep learning model for protein engineering (Luo et al. Nature Communications 2021); (b) CLEAN: an AI tool for enzyme function prediction (Yu et al. Science 2023); (c) EZSpecificity: an AI tool for enzyme substrate specificity prediction (Cui et al. Nature 2025); (d) design of novel mitochondrial targeting sequences using generative AI (Boob et al. Nature Communications 2025), and (e) BioAutomata: an AI-powered self-driving biofoundry for protein engineering, pathway engineering, and metabolic engineering (Hamedi et al. Nature Communications 2019; Singh et al. Nature Communications 2025).

Bio:

Dr. Huimin Zhao is the Steven L. Miller Chair of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He is the director of the NSF AI Institute for Molecule Synthesis, NSF iBioFoundry, and the NSF Global Center for Biofoundry Applications, and serves as Editor-in-Chief of ACS Synthetic Biology. Dr. Zhao received his B.S. in Biology from the University of Science and Technology of China and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology under Nobel Laureate Frances Arnold. Before joining UIUC in 2000, he was a project leader at Dow Chemical Company. He has authored over 480 publications, delivered more than 550 invited lectures, and mentored many trainees who have gone on to become faculty and principal investigators worldwide. His research focuses on synthetic biology, artificial intelligence, and laboratory automation for addressing challenges in health, energy, and sustainability.