James Heffernan

We are currently investigating biological processes that valorise waste carbon, typically gaseous compounds such as CO2, CO​, or CH4. Microbial biotechnology is our focus due to its scalability, efficiency, and stability - being capable of utilising typical catalysis contaminants such as NOx and H2S. Further, certain hydrogenotrophs and methanotrophs (H2 and CH4 utilising organisms) have metabolic properties that make them attractive for use in the circular carbon economy (e.g. co-uptake of CO2 and CH4 as sole carbon and energy sources). A wide-range of products can also be made, from short-chain alcohols to polymers and tailored animal feeds. To better understand their ability for real-world application, we characterise their metabolism using multi-omics analysis methodologies and then optimise it through data-driven hypotheses and testing. My main interests include

• identifying genes (and their regulation) essential for desirable traits, and methods for manipulation of those genes to enhance a bioprocess.
• (methods for) identifying and alleviating bottlenecks in metabolism.
• creating novel C1 metabolic pathways through culturing of synthetic microbial consortia and/or metabolic engineering.

​James recently submitted completed his PhD, where he was also working in the Marcellin Group. Prior to this, he studied for a BE(Hons.) in Chemical and Process Engineering (with Bioprocess minor) at the University of Canterbury (NZ) and became interested in further study after a summer research internship. His PhD research employed systems biology and bioprocess engineering principles to build datasets that expanded our understanding of gas fermentation in an industrially relevant manner. In partnership with LanzaTech, the World leader in commercial gas fermentation, this analysis focused on the industrially-relevant and model acetogen Clostridium autoethanogenum. Current interests in reducing global CO2 levels and high efficiencies encouraged us to investigate this biological system as a potential CO2 recycling platform.