User:Norman Wang

Senior Research Scientist at Universal Bio Mining.

Education

• 2006-2012, PhD, Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa
• 2001-2003, MS, Bioinformatics, Northeastern University
• 1996-2000, BS, Biology, University of California Santa Barbara

Relevant Career Experience

• 2013-, Senior Research Scientist
• 2012-2013, Universal Bio Mining Senior Research Scientist
• 2011 Brown-Stanford iGEM Team Graduate Student Advisor
• 2008 Hawaii iGEM Team, Graduate Student Advisor
• 2003-2006, Biogen Idec, Boston, Protein Evolution, Antibody Engineering, Cheminformatics, Protein Engineering
• 2002, Pharmacopeia, New Jersey, Cheminformatics

Current Research

• Massively parallel gene synthesis, verification and assembly platform

Past Research

• Bioleaching of sulfide ores for gold and copper using chemolithotrophic bacteria
• In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) of Lunar & Martian regolith
• Horizontal transfer and characterization of carboxysomes from Halothiobacillus neapolitanus to E. coli
• Cyanobacteria Synechocystis sp. PCC6803, inorganic carbon uptake and fixation, PHB biosynthesis.
• Hawaiian Algal Database (HADB): database specializing on morphology and DNA sequence data of Hawaiian algae.
• Hawaiian Fresh Water Algal Database (HfwADB): database on freshwater algae of the Hawaiian Islands.

Research Interests

• Carbon fixation and carboxysome structure of cyanobacteria and chemolithotrophic bacteria
• Synthetic Biology: Modularization of Biological Components & Pathways for Synthesizing Biofuels & Polymers
• Computatonal Biology/Bioinformatics
• Protein Engineering

Awards & Scholarships

• MIT iGEM 2011 Competition, Brown-Stanford: Best Presentation, Americas; Best New Application Area; Gold Medal
• MIT iGEM 2008 Competition, Hawaii: Best Rookie Team, Bronze Medal
• 2011 NASA Planetary Biology Internship award
• UCSB College of Creative Studies fellowship

Publications

1. Montague, M., McArthur IV, G.H., Cockell, C.S., Held, J., Marshall, W., Sherman, L.A., Wang, N., Nicholson, W.L., Tarjan, D.R., Cumbers, J., 2012. The role of synthetic biology for in situ resource utilization (ISRU). Astrobiology. Pubmed

2. Sherwood, A.R., Wang, N., Carlile, A.L., Neumann, J.M., Wolfgruber, T.K., Presting, G.G., 2012. The Hawaiian Freshwater Algal Database (HfwADB): a laboratory LIMS and online biodiversity resource. BMC Ecology 12, 22. PubMed

3. Wang, N., Sherwood, A.R., Kurihara, A., Conklin, K.Y., Sauvage, T., Presting, G.G., The Hawaiian algal database: a laboratory LIMS and online resource for biodiversity data, BMC Plant Biology 9, 117(2009). PDF / File / PubMed

4. Wang, N., Smith, W. F., Miller, B. R., Aivazian, D., Lugovskoy, A. A., Reff, M. E., Glaser, S. M., Croner, L. J., Demarest, S. J., Conserved amino acid networks involved in antibody variable domain interactions, Proteins: Structure, Function, and Bioinformatics, 2009, 76, 99-114. PDF / File / PubMed

5. Wang, N., DeLisle, R. K. & Diller, D. J., Fast small molecule similarity searching with multiple alignment profiles of molecules represented in one-dimension. J. Med. Chem., 2005, 48, 6980-90. PDF / File / PubMed

6. Wang, N. & Tiffney, B. H., Seeds of Rhododendron (Ericaceae) from the Late Eocene of California. Palaeontographica, 2001, 245-254.

Laboratory

• Protocols
• Projects
• Resources

Other Relevant Accomplishments

• United States Patent Application 11/283,650 20060206269: One-dimensional QSAR models (Pharmacopeia Drug Discovery, Inc.)
• United States Patent Application 11/725,970 20080050370: Stabilized Polypeptide Compositions (Biogen Idec, Inc.)
• Graduate Student Organization (GSO) Treasurer ‘07-‘09
• Introduced the GSO Campus Greening Initiative bill. Successfully advocated for and passed the bill in Dec. 2008 by the GSO Assembly (representing over 5000 graduate students) to create a $75k revolving fund to support oncampus efficient energy usage, renewable energy generation, and sustainability related projects.

Misc

• Interview in the Apr '07 Audrey Magazine

Contact Info

Norman Wang <br\> Universal Bio Mining <br\> 665 3rd Street, Suite 230 <br\> San Francisco, CA 94107 <br\> Email me through OpenWetWare