Welcome to the Rao lab

We are a synthetic and systems biology research group at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Our aim is to investigate cell physiology via genetic engineering and mathematical modeling.

Meet our lab members or read about our research.

We are working with several different bacterial species on topics ranging from virulence to biofuels.

Our wet laboratory area is equipped with facilities and instruments for most biochemical protocols.

Large-scale computational simulation of Escherichia coli motion in a capillary chemotaxis assay.

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Our lab studies how cells process information. We are especially interested in understanding how decision-making processes are encoded within individual cells through feedback control.

We are also engineering bacteria and yeast for the production of biofuels. Specifically, our goal is to optimize the uptake and metabolism of C5/C6 sugars in bacteria by developing new genetic tools.

Our group also has a focus on other feedstocks such as C1 (methane, formate), C2 (acetate), and CN (aliphatic polymers like polyethylene) for remediation, valorization, and food-production purposes.

We are grateful for funding from Illinois, Department of Energy and Shell.