Research and Applications
From New Biology to Real Applications
Evolution reveals biology we didn’t know was possible, from new traits and genetic content to unexpected ways genes shape traits. We use genome-scale models, multi-omics, targeted experiments, and quantitative phenotyping to understand how microbes work and adapt. These insights also help us engineer microbes for applications like melatonin production, specialty chemicals, and plastic degradation.
Research and Applications
From New Biology to Real Applications
Evolution constantly reveals biology we didn’t know was possible — new traits, novel genetic content, and unexpected routes from genotype to phenotype. Our platform lets us capture those discoveries systematically, deepening the fundamental understanding of how microbes adapt. That same work translates directly into application: strains evolved for commercial biomanufacturing — from melatonin and specialty chemicals to spores that break down plastic — proof that evolutionary engineering is a powerful tool for applied microbiology.
Our Mission
Evolving Strains, Modeling Cells, Engineering Both
What evolution discovers, computation explains, engineering delivers
Microbes can solve problems we don’t yet know how to design for. We put them under selection, then uncover which mutations mattered and how the cell adapted. Genome-scale models turn those discoveries into predictions we can test in new organisms and conditions. The result is a better understanding of genome evolution and strains engineered to perform beyond the lab.
Microbes can solve problems we don’t yet know how to design for. We put them under selection, then uncover which mutations mattered and how the cell adapted. Genome-scale models turn those discoveries into predictions we can test in new organisms and conditions. The result is a better understanding of genome evolution and strains engineered to perform beyond the lab.
Designing selections that make evolution produce what we want
Evolution only gives you what you select for. We design the selections — coupling target phenotypes to fitness, designing performance conditions, and tuning how much diversity a population can draw on — so that adaptation reliably produces strains we actually want.
Evolutionary Engineering
Designing selections that make evolution produce what we want
Evolution only gives you what you select for. We design the selections — coupling target phenotypes to fitness, designing performance conditions, and tuning how much diversity a population can draw on — so that adaptation reliably produces strains we actually want.
Evolutionary Engineering
Genome-scale models as design tools, explanations, and feature generators
A genome-scale model is a digital twin of a cell — a hypothesis about what it can do, in computable form. We predict growth, yield, production, and gene expression before a strain exists, and when a prediction misses, the gap shows what's missing.
Predictive Cellular Modeling
Genome-scale models as design tools, explanations, and feature generators
A genome-scale model is a digital twin of a cell — a hypothesis about what it can do, in computable form. We predict growth, yield, production, and gene expression before a strain exists, and when a prediction misses, the gap shows what's missing.
Predictive Cellular Modeling
Understanding what the mutations tell us, and how we reuse it
A handful of mutations can transform how a cell behaves. We find out which ones actually caused the change, why evolution keeps choosing them, and what that reveals about the rules connecting a genome to the organism it builds (i.e., genotype to phenotype).
Mechanisms of Adaptation
Understanding what the mutations tell us, and how we reuse it
A handful of mutations can transform how a cell behaves. We find out which ones actually caused the change, why evolution keeps choosing them, and what that reveals about the rules connecting a genome to the organism it builds (i.e., genotype to phenotype).
Mechanisms of Adaptation
Evolution-derived and model-guided biology, deployed
Bioengineering, to us, means getting cells to make something people need or do a job worth doing. That means strains producing melatonin, creatine, and bulk and specialty chemicals, plus microbes that break down waste plastics and agricultural residues into material worth recovering.
Strains for Real Applications
Evolution-derived and model-guided biology, deployed
Bioengineering, to us, means getting cells to make something people need or do a job worth doing. That means strains producing melatonin, creatine, and bulk and specialty chemicals, plus microbes that break down waste plastics and agricultural residues into material worth recovering.
Strains for Real Applications
Lab Locations
San Diego, CA
University of California San Diego
Copenhagen, Denmark
Technical University of Denmark
Get in Touch
In accordance with applicable Federal and State law and University policy, the University of California does not discriminate, or grant preferences, on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, and/or other protected categories. More information about Proposition 209 can be found here. More information about the University of California Anti-Discrimination Policy can be found here. Initiatives are open to all eligible members of the UC San Diego campus community and does not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, and/or other protected categories.
©2026 by Adam Feist and UC San Diego. All rights reserved.
Lab Locations
San Diego, CA
University of California San Diego
Copenhagen, Denmark
Technical University of Denmark
Get in Touch
In accordance with applicable Federal and State law and University policy, the University of California does not discriminate, or grant preferences, on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, and/or other protected categories. More information about Proposition 209 can be found here. More information about the University of California Anti-Discrimination Policy can be found here. Initiatives are open to all eligible members of the UC San Diego campus community and does not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, and/or other protected categories.
©2026 by Adam Feist and UC San Diego. All rights reserved.