People

In 2018, Yuchen joined Prof. Dongguang Xiao’s laboratory at the School of Biological Engineering, Tianjin University of Science and Technology. Under Prof. Xiao’s mentorship, she acquired extensive knowledge in molecular biology, biochemistry, and microbial metabolism and fermentation engineering. During her senior year, she was recommended for admission to the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, where she joined Prof. Wuyuan Zhang’s laboratory to focus on the construction of the microbial cell factories and the catalytic oxidation of aromatic heterocyclic compound. She implemented CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing to perform metabolic polygenic co-editing and multicopy fluorescent tracing in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Concurrently, she integrated insights from her electron microscopy-based membrane structural analyses to optimize the biosynthetic yield of steroid compounds. Furthermore, she conducted comprehensive enzymatic characterization of the catalytic oxidation of aromatic heterocyclic compounds.

Her undergraduate and master’s research experiences led her to realize that this type of work has certain limitations. First, after switching hosts, there is no systematic method for predicting the synthesis of target products, and it is difficult to predict the direction and rate of metabolic fluxes catalyzed by unknown genes. Second, it remains unclear whether many of the isolated compounds are effective in treating human diseases, and it is also difficult to determine the pathways for synthesizing specific secondary metabolites using certain model systems. Fortunately, Yuchen crossed paths with—a mentor and friend in one. Prof. Xuhang Li’s lab distinguishes itself by integrating experimental and computational methodologies, leveraging cutting-edge technologies like single-cell sequencing and artificial intelligence to systematically dissect metabolic complexities. This interdisciplinary framework strongly aligned with Yuchen’s research aspirations, prompting her to pursue advanced inquiries into metabolic dynamics under Xuhang’s supervision.

Representative publications:

Han, H. Gao, S. Wang, H. Ju, R. Ge, C. Xue, W. Liu, X. Jiang*, W. Zhang*. Pathway refactoring for efficient 7-dehydrocholesterol production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. ACS Synth. Biol., 2025.

Han, N. Geng, J. Sha, H. Li, C. You, W. Liu, J. Zhang, J. Shi, X. Wu, Wuyuan Zhang*. Aldehyde dehydrogenase from Klebsiella pneumoniae: A robust biocatalyst for preparing heteroatom-containing carboxylic acids. Adv. Synth. Catal., 2025.

Han, Y. Huang, M. Israr, H. Li, W. Zhang*. Advance of biosynthesis of 7-dehydrocholesterol by de novo cell factory strategy. Bioresour. Technol., 2024.

Shen, J. Yan, Y. Han, Z. Zhang*, H. Li, D. Kong, J. Shi, C. Cui*, W. Zhang*. Peroxygenase enabled reductive kinetic resolution for the enantioenrichment of organoperoxides. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2024.