On May 17, 2025, Teacher Wang Ying from Tianjin University was invited to visit the Hainan Provincial Engineering Research Center for Algal Bioactive Substances and Bioproducts to conduct academic exchange activities.
During the visit, Wang Ying gave a special academic report titled "Efficient Synthesis of 7-Dehydrocholesterol in Yeast." The report systematically introduced the research conducted by the National Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biotechnology at Tianjin University on the synthesis of 7-dehydrocholesterol (7-DHC), especially using Yarrowia lipolytica as a chassis cell and utilizing kitchen waste as a substrate to synthesize 7-DHC. This provides an innovative solution for the high-value utilization of waste oils and fats. Wang Ying elaborated on the construction and optimization of the chassis for 7-dehydrocholesterol production. This provides an important scientific basis for the biosynthesis of various steroid compounds, including 7-dehydrocholesterol.
The report aroused strong interest among faculty and students. Both sides engaged in heated discussions and in-depth exchanges on frontier issues such as metabolic pathway reconstruction, compartmentalization research, and the adaptive relationship between lipid metabolism and product synthesis, creating a strong academic atmosphere on site.
After the exchange, Center Director Lu Yandu presented Teacher Wang Ying with a letter of appointment as an expert for the Academic Forum, thanking her for her active support for the center's scientific research development and talent cultivation work.
Wang Ying works at the National Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biotechnology at Tianjin University. She completed her Ph.D. under the supervision of Academician Zhao Guoping. She is dedicated to the field of natural product biosynthesis, focusing on bottleneck problems in the construction of artificial cell factories, such as poor chassis adaptability, difficult metabolic flux control, and low P450 enzyme performance, and conducts research on common key technologies for platform strain construction. She has published more than 40 papers in journals such as Science, Metabolic Engineering, Green Chemistry, and ACS Synthetic Biology, and holds more than 20 authorized invention patents. She has successively undertaken multiple National Key R&D Programs, National Natural Science Foundation projects, and major tackling projects.
This visit not only deepened mutual understanding and cooperation in the field of scientific research but also laid the foundation for future cooperation in synthetic biology and other directions.
