Yixin Huo

Distinguished Professor (Level 2), Doctoral Supervisor, Beijing Institute of Technology
National Leading Talent (selected in 2022), National Young Talent (selected in 2015)
Vice Dean of the School of Life Sciences, Council Member of the Chinese Society of Biotechnology
Discipline and Professional Responsible Professor of Beijing Institute of Technology (Biology discipline, Biotechnology undergraduate program)
Supervisor of the Gold Award Winner in the Main Track of the 14th "Challenge Cup" China College Students Entrepreneurship Plan Competition in 2024

Computational Biology: Deep learning-based DNA and enzyme design; microbial evolution mechanisms
Gene Editing: Gene editing in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, construction of high-robustness chassis hosts; methodology development
Carbon Neutrality: Resource utilization of carbon dioxide, high-value conversion of carbon dioxide by carbon-fixing microorganisms
Metabolic Engineering: Construction of microbial synthesis pathways and efficient production of bulk chemicals and pharmaceutical intermediates
Enzyme Engineering: Plastic-degrading enzymes; research and development of biosensors

August 2023 - Present, Distinguished Professor (Second Class Professor), School of Life Sciences, Beijing Institute of Technology
2021-01 to August 2023, Beijing Institute of Technology, School of Life Sciences, Professor (Third Grade)
2019-10 till now, Deputy Dean (Graduate Student, Discipline), School of Life Sciences, Beijing Institute of Technology
2019-09 to now, Professor of Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Beijing Institute of Technology
2019-01-Now, Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and Biological Diagnosis and Treatment, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, Deputy Director
2017-09 to 2020-12, Professor of Bioengineering, School of Life Sciences, Beijing Institute of Technology
2015-09 to 2020-12, School of Life Sciences, Beijing Institute of Technology, Professor
2014-11 to 2015-09, Laboratory Director, BioEnergy Research Center, Suzhou Institute for Advanced Technology, UCLA
2011-08 to 2015-09, Nantworks Group Easel Biotechnology Company, Project Director, Senior Researcher

Representative Works

[1] Yan Xia, Xiaowen Du, Bin Liu, Shuyuan Guo*, Yi-Xin Huo*. Species-specific design of artificial promoters by transfer-learning based generative deep-learning model. Nucleic Acids Research. 2024 May 23:gkae429. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkae429. Online ahead of print. (Impact factor in publication year: 16.6, Publication date: June 2024)
Abstract: Addressing the shortage of training datasets for non-model organism promoters, a transfer-learning-based generative deep-learning model was used to generate species-specific promoters for 27 prokaryotic species.

[2] Tingting Ding, Zeyu Liang, Yu Yang, Jing Liu, Wenting Li, Yuhui Du, Zhenya Chen, Yi-Xin Huo*. Rapidly engineering an osmotic-pressure-tolerant gut bacterium for efficient non-sterile production of bulk chemicals. Chemical Engineering Journal. 2024 July 1. doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2024.152076. (Impact factor in publication year: 13.3, Publication date: July 2024)
Abstract: A salt-tolerant chassis strain isolated from insect intestines was engineered, with a complete set of gene editing methods established for efficient production of bulk chemicals under high-salt, non-sterile, and non-grain substrate conditions.

[3] Zeyu Liang, Chaoyong Huang, Yan Xia, Zhaojin Ye, Shunhua Fan, Junwei Zeng, Shuyuan Guo, Xiaoyan Ma, Lichao Sun, Yi-Xin Huo*. Identification of functional sgRNA mutants lacking canonical secondary structure using high-throughput FACS screening. Cell Reports. 2024 May 31;43(6):114290. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114290. Online ahead of print. (Impact factor in publication year: 8.8, Publication date: June 2024)
Abstract: Over 2000 functional sgRNA mutants were identified, completely lacking canonical secondary structures, highly sequence-divergent (up to 80% sequence difference), and fully active, to overcome recombination and off-target issues in gene editing.

[4] Zhenya Chen, Shengzhu Yu, Jing Liu, Liwei Guo, Tong Wu, Peifeng Duan, Dongli Yan, Chaoyong Huang, Yi-Xin Huo*. Concentration Recognition-Based Auto-Dynamic Regulation System (CRUISE) Enabling Efficient Production of Higher Alcohols. Advanced Science. 2024 Apr 16:e2310215. doi: 10.1002/advs.202310215. (Impact factor in publication year: 15.1, Publication date: April 2024)
Abstract: A dynamic regulation system for intracellular amino acid concentration was implemented during amino acid derivative production, overcoming growth inhibition of chassis cells caused by concentration deficiencies from conversion.

[5] Zeyu Liang, Zhaojin Ye, Yan Xia, Xiaowen Du, Shunhua Fan, LiChao Sun, ShuYuan Guo* Yi-Xin Huo*. Low-cost and rapid construction of green energy overproducers based on the CRISPR system. Chemical Engineering Journal. (Impact factor in publication year: 13.3, Acceptance date: December 2024)

[6] Yan Xia#, Lichao Sun#, Zeyu Liang, Yingjie Guo, Jing Li, Dan Tang, Yi-Xin Huo*, Shuyuan Guo*, The construction of a PAM-less base editing toolbox in Bacillus subtilis and its application in metabolic engineering, Chemical Engineering Journal, 2023, 469:143865. DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2023.143865 (Impact factor in publication year: 16.744, Publication date: May 2023)

[7] Hao Guo#, Ning Wang#, Tingting Ding, Bo Zheng, Liwei Guo, Chaoyong Huang, Wuyuan Zhang, Lichao Sun, Xiaoyan Ma*, Yi-Xin Huo*. A tRNA Modification-based strategy for Identifying amiNo acid Overproducers (AMINO). Metab Eng. 2023. 78: 11-25. (Impact factor in publication year: 8.4, Publication date: July 2023)

[8] Ning Wang, Yi-Xin Huo*. Using genome and transcriptome analysis to elucidate biosynthetic pathways. Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2022, 75: 102708. (Impact factor in publication year: 10.279, Publication date: June 2022)

[9] Tong Wu#, Zhenya Chen#, Shuyuan Guo, Cuiying Zhang, Yi-Xin Huo*. Engineering transcription factor BmoR mutants for constructing multifunctional alcohol biosensors. ACS Synth Biol. 2021 (Impact factor in publication year: 5.11, Publication date: February 2022)

[10] Xiaoyan Ma#, Lianjie Ma#, Yi-Xin Huo*. Reconstructing the transcription regulatory network to optimize resource allocation for robust biosynthesis. Trends Biotechnol. 2021 (Impact factor in publication year: 21.932, Publication date: November 2021)