Plants produce hundreds of thousands of distinct small-molecule natural products, many of which are valuable nutrients, commodity products, and therapeutics.
At the heart of the beautiful Okanagan Valley, the Plant Bioactive Compounds Research (Plant BioCoRe) group, lead by Dr. Thu-Thuy Dang, integrates biochemistry, chemistry, bioinformatics, and molecular genetics to elucidate and engineer the biosynthesis of valuable small molecules from medicinal plants. Our ultimate aim is to learn and translate natural metabolism into innovative biotechnologies to meet the ever-increasing demands of high-value chemicals.
Our current projects involve discovering biosynthetic enzymes and pathways, generating alkaloid structural and functional diversities, and re-constituting natural products metabolism in synthetic biology chassis.
We are currently looking for talented and highly motivated students (undergraduate and graduate) with background/experience in one or more of the following: biochemistry, molecular biology, bioinformatics, and synthetic organic chemistry. We are only taking postdoctoral researchers with fellowships at the moment.
Please contact Dr. Thu-Thuy Dang for more information and opportunities to join us.