Laboratory of Algal Systems and Synthetic Biology

The Research Group of Kourosh Salehi-Ashtiani at New York University Abu Dhabi aims to explore fundamental questions on evolution, phenotype-genotype relations, and metabolism of algae.

We use Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as a model organism to explore these questions at systems level and extend our findings to other algae that we ourselves are isolating from the UAE and other locations.

We believe this alga may provide an environmentally sound alternative to the cultivation of palm oil once it is further developed, and can be of both commercial and environmental benefit to pursue with extensive investigations.

Kourosh Salehi-Ashtiani, Associate Professor of Biology
Projects Description  
Synthetic Biology Construction of chlamydomonas regulatory ORFeome; and improving diatom photosynthetic efficiency.
 
Systems Biology Chlamydomonas metabolic network reconstruction and analysis; therapeutic target gene prediction; and algal and plant stress response.
 
Algal Genomics and Biofuel Algal bio-prospecting in the UAE, and utagenesis and selection for increased lipid production in algae.